The edges of many grasses are sharp. My husband and I both cut our hands and arms the first time we cut them back after the winter. Not quite a burning welt, but nasty scratches.

My daughter gets rashes from playing on certain lawns from the grass, so I wouldn't be surprised if ornamental grass can cause allergies too.

Not allergies (except for from pollen) but mechanical damage -- that is, scratches from those fine sawtooth-edged blades.

This morning I removed old blades from my red fountain grass and it does the same thing to me. It also irritated my skin when I first planted it. I find that washing my arms off and applying hydrocortizone helps.

They look so pretty in the garden that I guess it was worth the "burn," but when it comes time to divide them in the future I think I'll give the job to dh--or wear long sleeves and rubber gloves!

They make gauntlet gloves, especially for Rose growers, which protect your forearms. If they work for Rose thorns, they'll work for grass. I have to use arm covers, which go from wrist to armpit, to clear English Ivy. It affects me the same way Poison Ivy does, and I still have a lot to eradicate. Even after killing it with RoundUp, I get contact dermatitis from it.

I've reacted the same way to my miscanthus. I planted three last summer and got a few nasty scratches on my forearms, which turned red and burned. I now wear long sleeves when I touch miscanthus.

Interesting... I was going the the grasses at Meijer today and my arms were itching for hours.... Like I had 20 mosquito bites.... I thought something must have eaten me up at the store... and then I ran across this thread!

I brushed my should against my Zebra grass while on my riding mower. I now what a horrible, raised, oozing rash where my skin came in contact with it. Itches like crazy and looks like alligator skin like dgb59 indicated. Grass is coming out when weather cools down....hate it!!

I just found out I'm allergic to Zebra grass,tied a few up and noticed welts where it cut me a few days later. Then last week I tied up a few more and the grasses were wet so I didn't notice any cuts. Now the arm that held the grass looks like I have poison. It's been over a week and still itches and burns. The sad thing is I don't get poison ivy! I guess ill have to wear long sleeves. I have 8 of them!

Has anyone experienced a more severe occurrence with these plants in which the blades sliced into the body and are now causing pieces of the plant being stuck in and under the skin?

Japanese Silver Grass can cause serious skin rashes and welts if you have a compromised immune system. I was pulling out some of this grass and got scratched on my neck. (I was wearing gloves and long sleeves / pants.) Within 8 hours, the rash intensified and now covers my entire body. It looked like I had raspberries stuck to my skin. A trip to the urgi-med clinic freaked out the doctors and they did an entire review of my current meds and everything I did prior to this episode. There was talk of putting me in quaritine! I was then sent to a dermatologist because the urgi-med staff didn't know the cause of the acute reaction. It wasn't until I read the prior message entries did I connect the dots. Ask your doctor to prescribe "Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment USP, 0.1% It is an oily cream in a tube and it takes about 2 weeks to see results. I will be eradicating this grass come fall.

I read the above comments in my search for allergic reaction experiences to feather grass, Mexican feather grass. I have just determined (not the doctor) that I have been experiencing a rash on my lower arms that are itchy, red type welts caused by this grass. I have an entire tree lawn area of Mexican feather grass. I had been pulling out the old grass due to invasive nature of the new growth. Like HU in the previous chats, I was wearing gloves and arm protectors. I am still in the process of healing and have been using first aid crème with antibiotics, triamcinolone, & rubbing alcohol and taking allergy pills 10 mg. Others ???

Not to be one-up-manship ! But I was googling this since I'm in day 3 on Prednisone blast..., I knew after 10 yrs tying up/cutting about 6 big japanese silvergrass & adagio, each year getting progressively worse rashes, so i knew. & my boys eradicated them a couple yrs ago. Then, last wkend i cleared a ton of yard overgrowth for most of 2 days. The blasted grasses are still hiding somewhere. The allergic reaction came on slow over 3, 4 days, systemic. Huge rashes all over but main my eyes swelled I to balloons & pressured hideously. Urgent care got me a prednisone blast (60 mg, 18-day taper). (Thank you nurse practitioner.) It's slowly going away. I've got a black eye from swelling. THE PLANT BEAT ME UP.

Every time I touch the miscanthus grass in my yard anywhere it touched me swells up and burns and you can see the exact lines where it touched the skin. I have looked all over the internet to find out if this has happened to anyone else and this is the first case that has been relevant to my issue.

Thanks to all who have commented here about the dangers of miscanthus. I volunteer at a local display garden. A week ago on a warm fall day (I had short sleeves and gloves), two of us removed a large miscanthus that was planted in the wrong place long ago. Within a day I had stinging red welts and bumps on my forearms that itched more than any poison ivy I have ever suffered. An integrative pharmacist suggested Benadryl salve that contained camphor. That salve saved my sanity but just now the scabs are forming and I am recovering. No wonder the deer leave this plant alone! I will warn my park buddies about this. Thanks again.

its been almost 3 months. but if anyone is interested. I had good results with white distilled vinegar. no dilution. waited over an hour and used a fine wide sharp needle. and punchered at an angle. And I was finally able to drain it. Best I can tell I was stabbed in the stomach with one of those sharp grass points. And gave me a nasty burnt like welt. It did become infected. But vinegar is what finally allowed me to drain it.