Poison Ivy tips?

[hornyheadchub]

I was one of those hypersensitive kids when I was young. Several trips to the ER, repeated rounds of steroids, gallons of benadryl and calamine. I would develop a rash if the wind blew it at me.

-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)

Brian brings up a great point. I had a friend who was not allergic for more than 30 years and often bragged about it until one day he decided to rub it on his arms to show off a bit. He ended up in the ER. Not so high and mighty anymore. This is simply the way allergies, all allergies, work- one day you aren't, the next day you are.

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.

You can still buy the Urushoil extract(www.oralivy.com)at many natural foods stores, but don't do it all at once. Instead it is reccomended that you add a drop to a glass of water each day, increasing to two drops the next day, and then three drops, and so on until you are at something like 10 drops/glass/day. I've never done it, but then I tend to avoid the stuff these days by knowing what Im looking for.

Another rookie mistake is to use warm or hot water when tryng to wash it off of your skin. This opens your pores and puts you at risk for a severe case of PI. Cold water is best, even if you are at the pond/creek/lake use the nearest water, if there is fine gravel or sand you can use as an abraisive, use it.

Using Bleach and Lye soap on someone with sensitive skin is not smart. Both chemicals are highly basic and will dissolve your skin, and severe chemical burns may result. Many people may still believe that a bleach bath is the best way to get rid of the rash, but in reality, you are burning the affected (as well as the uneffected) skin off, not drying out the rash (and if you still believe that bleach is the best, I'd bet you are still convinced that a Daddy Long legs is the most venomous spider there is, except it's fangs aren't long enough to penetrate the skin, right?). We will all agree that when the rash is dried out, it is less itchy and seems to be on the mend.

After years of battling this misery every spring, summer, and fall, try this: 1)Learn what it looks like, all of it, Oak, Ivy, Sumac. Note that the appearance of the plants can vary wildly based in the soil chemistry they are found in. Some will get viny and climb, some will form a large bush or shrub, and some will stay low and hug the ground. Colors and leaf nubers are 'rules of thumb' and should be recognized as such and are subject to exceptions.

2)Keep it clean- wash yourself immediately, or as soon as possible after known or suspected exposure. Remember, no warm or hot water, soap helps to break the oil down. Now wash your clothes and don't forget your shoelaces, that's right- one of the most insidious places that will harbor the oil is your shoelaces (personl experience).

3) If you develop a rash, keep it clean. Lot's of peroxide (helps with the drying out too), a topical ointment and be sure to re-apply, re-apply, re-apply. I have tried them all, but the two I like best are Rhuli Gel (now made by Band-Aide http://www.bandaid.com/treatment_products.shtml) and Tecnu (http://www.teclabsinc.com/). After the itching phase wanes a bit, use copious amounts of Aloe Vera, straight from the plant is far better than anything you can buy.

4)Protect yourself. Tecnu and a few other companies now make lotions that act as barriers for your skin. Put it n before you get exposed to the stuff and you won't get it. Or just wear long sleeves/pats.

[jjtroutbum]

Ok I fall in the severely allergic portion of this and unfortunately Iv been required to work around the stuf(<~would prefer to use another four letter word) and I no for my self that the water additives don't work much if at all and clothes do if your careful as does a quick shower if available, but if all has failed and you have what appears to be a huge welting rash from direct exposure ie. infested tree removal arrg or stream cleaning just to name afew of my worst exposers (I wont name the one as a kid that are still em-"bare-butt"-ing stories that my mother loves to tell at all public camping outings.) Is that for some reason the If i can go swimming in a chlorinated pool during the rashes worst that it seem to help dry them out much faster than if not able to. The bleach bath is going to be given a try the next time i have a major one. Good thread even better if it hadn't made me so itchy.

JJ

[superfly]

When in the field I carry hand sanitizer which is basically rubbing alcohol. It works well at removing the oil of poison ivy. Superfly

[creek wader]

Ah, poison ivy. I grew up in rural SE Nebr. Lived there for 30 yrs. Hunted, fished, trapped, mushroom hunted, worked in the fields, put up hay, cut wood, etc. Never got posoin ivy. Moved to Missouri, 15 yrs. ago, bought a farm and got the rash every year since. I average over 6 x, a year. Sold my farm several years ago, but wade fish many streams. Always getting it. I probably have it somewhere on my body at least 6 mos. of the year. Used to get shots to get rid of it, but get it right back, the next time out. Tried all sorts of over the counter remedies and home remedies. No success. Finally, learning to live with it. The smallie fishing in Missouri, is worth it.

Building up an immunity, maybe the answer, but, I think I'd let the medical community try it first, before I'd experminet on my child. .. Good luck with it. Let me know if any of you find a real cure for it.

[Randall]

i got a bad case last summer while bass fishing. i was in the category of those immune until then. what made it worse was that i had cut the area on my right leg that contacted the leaves. the stuff spread from my ankle down to my toes and up to about mid-thigh. the doctor said something about it traveling through the blood stream... thoughts anybody?

the swelling was awful and the cut got infected. when i finally went to the doctor, i was a week into it. the rash lasted about 3 more weeks, and they had me on an ingested steroid, some kind of skin cream and antibiotics. the scarring lasted for a couple months too.

as for the bleach, i tried it... wouldn't recommend it. it hurt like hell, and the only thing it did for me was introduce me to a new and exciting type of pain . my buddy had some kind of numbing ointment he gave me that was clutch when i was trying to sleep, the ingredient was something "caine", can't remember.

after that, the few more cases i got were real mild.

[Kyle Kosovich]

use Technu soap after you have come incontact with it. Washes off the oils.

hope it helps.

[Kayser]

Randall, maybe it's lidocaine. Common ingredient in several aloe vera lotions for sunburn, like Ocean Potion. Works wonders.

Rob

[SilverMallard]

Best poison ivy tip? Sure! DON'T TOUCH IT!

[MrsDucky]

I have had it, but my mother gets it every year...from the fire wood, from the dog, from looking out the window... The doctor told her that yes, it CAN travel in the bloodstream, but generally DOESN'T. She did have one case that did that. She kept getting new outbreaks in exotic and exciting locations of her body! They now just schedule her for a shot in mid-April, because by then she will have gotten it from somewhere! The Fels-Naptha soap is good for a lot of uses, and poison ivy is one. It is worth the money. Anything that can dry the area will help, but may cause damage to other skin, so don't go crazy with anything.

Personally, I once mistook poison ivy for a fallen sassafras leaf. Now I don't pick up any leaves!

[Randall]

Randall, maybe it's lidocaine. Common ingredient in several aloe vera lotions for sunburn, like Ocean Potion. Works wonders.

Rob

i think that's right. it wasn't an aloe lotion though. it was specifically for itches like poison ivy and mosquito bites. i might have to break down and actually ask what it was because i can't find it.