How bad is it to pull thistles (creeping thistle specifically) out with your bare hands?

I pulled some out. It hurt a little, and I removed some spikes that were in my hands.

Is the only concern the needles, or can you get some sort of infection from doing that?

this was a few thistles that were at least a foot long, and were covered in sharp needles. Google says its a Canada/creeping thistle