I usually dig them out with a needle and razor blade – just be careful and shave away only tiny layers of skin until you have enough of the bur to pull it out with tweezers. I usually ask my wife to do it for me 🙂 The bur will eventually dissolve on its own, but it could be bothersome for several days before it goes away.

Becca: They are quite painful and annoying – but they will not cause any lasting harm. It may take a week or so, but your body will eventually dissolve and absorb the sandspur barb if you are unable to remove it.

If the barb is buried deeply, your success in removing it will depend on how much you are willing to dig in to the skin to get it. I usually prefer to dig it out – even if I cause some collateral damage to the surrounding skin. Since yours is on your heel, you will probably need to get someone who is trustworthy, gentle and patient to try to excavate the barb with tweezers.

Before you start hacking at the barb with tweezers, examine the area with a magnifying glass or some reading glasses to determine if there is enough of the barb above the surface of the skin to grab with tweezers. Use a light and try to view the area from the side to see the barb. If you are lucky, you will have enough of the barb to carefully grab and pull with tweezers. If you just start grabbing at the barb without examining how it is embedded, you may break off the end – and then you will need to dig for it…

We use a razor blade to carefully scrape away the surface layers of dead skin until enough of the barb is exposed to grab it with tweezers. It really helps to use a reading glasses and a headlight for this kind of micro-surgery. You want to be minimally invasive with the procedure and remove only tiny shavings of the surface layers of skin. If you are careful and patient, you can excavate the barb without much pain or damage to the surrounding flesh.

I have also heard of people using hot wax to “draw out” the barb. I’ve tried it a couple of times and it never worked for me. I would imagine that you could also try applying glue to the area – and peel it off after it dries. But these methods are not very effective because the barb is so tiny and there is usually very little above the skin for the glue to grab.

Like I said, you can leave it alone and your body will eventually absorb and heal it on it’s own.

Good Luck 🙂

Great information – Thank you! (and sorry for not clearing your posts in a timely manner – I think I have it configured to properly notify me from now on.)

Sand spurs do very well in poor soil conditions (sandy, low nutrients). Grass on the other hand needs a good fertilized healthy soil.

To prevent them from spreading, cut the lawn low and use a leaf catcher to discard the cutting properly. This prevents the seeds from sowing again.

BTW, the seeds without their spines are edible and can be used in recipies just like pine nuts. However, to remove the stickers you need to burn them off.

Alternatively, you can use a herbicide like Bayer “All in one weed and crabgrass killer” http://www.bayeradvanced.com/lawn-care/products/all-in-one-lawn-weed-crabgrass-killer

Homemade weed and pant killers is a mixture of 1 gallon vinegar, 1cup of salt, 2 tablespoons of dishwasing soap. The vinegar lowers the PH, the salt extracts the moisture from the plant and the soap helps to keep it on the plant long enough to work. Careful, it will kill good plants too.

Once you have it under control, it’s easy to recognize any stray saplings and they pull out pretty easily so the can be discarded.

To finish and recap most sandspurs are prevalent in soils or lawns that are not being taken care of. Great lawns require proper watering, deep roots, fertilizer and minerals to grow healthy. http://www.ecoamen.com/wp/product/sea-crop-organic-concentrate-8-oz-includes-shipping/