Poison Ivy tips?

[polock]

lye soap is great, i am highly highly allergic and nothing works great, but washing with lye soap 2 times a day, and then putting a calamine type medicine on overnite is my best remedy, works better than the shots and the steroids.

I wouldn't suggest eating any amount if allergic. two cases i know of,

1. a boy in the town i grew up in got dared to eat ivy leaves and it swelled his throat shut so severe it was fatal

2. i have seen a few people come into the ER at the hospital i work that have gotten poison ivy in their month, and it has swollen up so much they have had to have breathing tubes until the meds kicked in to conteract the reaction. the inside of your mouth and throat are the same kind of tissues as in the intestines, wouldn't recommend this

[bubbaray]

When I was younger I could look at poison ivy and get it. My dad gave me a handful of the leavse and told me to chew them up and swallow the juice. Never had it since. I would not try this on my own kids but it worked for me.

[gonefishin]

I take it that was a Cure ya or Kill ya type of thing?

[bubbaray]

I take it that was a Cure ya or Kill ya type of thing?

My be right. My dad was from old school and had all kinds of cures. Two I remember most is the Lysol bath which was good for chiggers and most anything else. Also he use to give me a teaspoon of sugar with a drop of turpentine in it but I don't know what for.

[Murdoc]

I know everyone's going to love this one but anyway use the inside of a bananna peel. Rub it on and leave it for a while. It will dry it up. Some use the same thing to get rid of warts.

[Robert]

An old Boy Scout here. If you get in poison ivy make sure you have a cake of Fell's Naptha soap. That soap will do the job. I hope they still sell the stuff.

Brown cake of soap.

[BrianK]

wow,i knew there were some funky remedies out there but i haven't heard of some of those!

As a family practice doc and one who has had it severely, i had to throw my $0.02 worth....

A lot of good advice above. some not as good. I definitely agree with the 'don't eat it' part.

The Missouri conservationist had a pretty good article (Mar 05 I think) that I sometimes give to patients.

This is what i tell folks:

-Avoid it

-If you think you got into it, yes, get it off your skin as soon as possible.

Some people will be doomed after a few minutes, others have 2-4 hrs.

Any soap will probably work fine. some listed above may be better than others.

If no soap, try to at least rinse off with water.contrary to popular belief, "water rapidly inactivates urushiol" according to one wilderness medicine text.

Bleach, etc probably no better than soap/water.

-wash, clean or toss whatever has oil on it. just don't keep re-exposing yourself

-Unless you take steroids (prednisone, etc)and start very early, the rash generally lasts 10-14d.

if you want to tough it out then take otc benadryl or Claritin and try any of the otc topicals to help with itch. Prescription topical steroids may help a little more. Can take cool showers, Aveeno baths to help itch also.

-caution: even if you've never had it, the next exposure may be your lucky day. You can develop a sensitiviy any time in life.

And the opposite is true. You can have it severely as a kid and develop more tolerance to it as you get older (I'm in that fortunate category)

-i haven't tried the banana trick but why not...I'm willing to try new therapies!

(Now "itch-weed" (stinging nettle i think is it's real name) that should be whole other thread - that stuff is 30 min of pure misery!)

BrianK

[river rat]

if you want to get rid of the problem with ivy use remedy and grazon to gether it pricey but it will work the best 2 4 D easter or low value works pretty good but not like this mix . if u need some literature on it email me and i can seed u some lables on it .

[LostMyWife]

I use to be extremely allergic to poison ivy. My Dad got a small vile of poison ivy extract from a friend that worked for Illinois Power. They give it to their lineman, or they did 35 years ago. This was purified, doctor prescribed extract. No leafs to eat. I drank it in a glass of water. Tasted very nasty! I had to do it 3 times that summer. I never had it again.

Check with a doctor that speializes in allergies.

BTW, when Robbie was a kid, her step dad told her to eat a poison ivy leaf. She did an never got it again. Her Mom ate one and ended up in the hospital near death. So I would avoid that.

LMW

[Robert]

Soaping down with Fell's Naptha soap will stop the stuff in its tracks. As said before it was even in the Boy Scouts manual. This is no old funky remedie. It works and has for years. Now, the problem is finding the soap. The lye content was very high.