There are many reasons why people may end up in a doctor's surgery after a party - too much alcohol, food poisoning , a fall. But what about the lesser known ‘taking a bite out of a houseplant?'

A case report highlighted in the Irish journal, Forum, tells the story of a 29-year-old male, who ended up in a GP on-call service at 3am after being dared to take a bite out of a houseplant at a party he was hosting.

He said as soon as he sank his teeth into the plant's leaves, ‘he felt a burning pain in his lips and tongue', at which point he spat the plant out.

"He described how within 10 minutes, his mouth, lips, lateral mouth wall and palette were painful and swollen. Fortunately, the plant only made contact with the anterior aspect of his mouth and he did not swallow any of it," the report noted.

He went to his local out-of-hours GP service, where he was given something for inflammation and pain. He then went to his own GP the following Monday morning with painful blisters all over this mouth.

As this point, he was unable to speak clearly as his mouth was so inflamed and he was unable to eat solid foods. He could drink, ‘but with significant pain'.

He was again given medicine for the pain and was also given something to prevent infection. He went back to his doctor three days later and his symptoms had ‘significantly improved'.

The larger blisters in his mouth had healed, he could drink with less pain and he could speak more clearly, although he still could not eat solids. Four days after that, he reported that his mouth ‘had almost completely recovered'.

"The plant in question was a Dieffenbachia plant, or Leopard Lily, purchased two weeks previously in a branch of a well known hardware chain. Dieffenbachia is a common houseplant as is thrives indoors and requires very limited care.

"Due to the poisoning effect of the plant it is also known as ‘Dumb Cane'. Handling the plant is generally safe, but ingestion or chewing of the stalk or leaves of the plant results in intense swelling and irritation of skin or mucous membranes," the report noted.

Symptoms tend to come on within five minutes of exposure and if swallowed, the gastrointestinal tract can be damaged.

"Treatment of Dieffenbachia ingestion includes removing any plant matter still in the oral cavity along with assessment of airway function and level of pain. It is recommended to wipe out the mouth with a cold wet cloth and rinse the eyes and skin well if they touched the plant and it is recommended that affected persons be given milk to drink," the report said.

While this type of poisoning is rare, the moral of the story is do not bite into houseplants, no matter how harmless they appear.

This report was written by Athlone-based GP, Dr Conor Lynam, and appears in Forum, the journal of the Irish College of General Practitioners.