Poison oak & ivy.... any tips or remedies?

A

afee

Joined
Apr 8, 2000
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Soap and Water are hands down the best way to remove the oils. If you know you've come in contact with it, wash thoroughly and pat dry. I say pat because if some oil is left, dripps or rubbing may spread them. Same for cloths that have it. After washing, the thing about not having that part touch others so not to have it spread is bunk. One the oil is gone, its gone. The only spreading happens when you stilol have the oil. Scratching will however inflame and possibly open the area, depending on your reaction, so don't do it. Take care of itches the same way you do for a healing tattoo (if that means anything to you) and slap it. Less damage done for the same effect. By washing within a few hrs of contact, most people will not show a reaction. If you do, clamine lotion, a product called caladril, and most aloe- products work to releive the itchinmg (but stay away from the heavy greasy ones, you want this bad boy to dry out and heal). If your in the backwoods and don't have these, but you did bring along toothpaste or the bug bite stuff "afterbite" (wich is really just amonia) they work well to. If you have nothing else, cold compresses help keep swelling down.

I'd also talk to your doctor about a possible antihistamine (not a false antihistamine that only makes you feel better, but what is termed a real antihistamine that actually regulates your bodies reaction to allergens). He or she may have a brand or type, either over the counter or perscription, that will fit your needs best.

Two more tips- wear pants if your in areas were there is a lot of over growth, as poison ivy is just one of the nasties that hide in brush. Secondly, if your doing ground clearing, do not burn areas were there may be poison oil spreaders of any name, and don't toss them into the burn pile. I know several people who broke that last one, and had oil in the smoke get into their eyes and lungs. Most stay in bed for several days on antihistamines, one was in the hospital for a bit because his throat was swelling closed. Nasty little plants.

Hope that helps, E.
 
Prevention:
- Wear long pants and long sleeved shirts.
- Learn what they look like and don't touch them
- Stay on trails. They are usually cleared of poison oak (we don't have any poison ivy in California)

Treatment:
- Pad dry.
- Wash off with soap an water regularly
- TecNu. Use in the shower to wash off oils.
- Use Calumine Lotion during the day
- DO NOT SCRATCH. It will only get in deeper and develop pus.
 
The minute I find poison ivy on my body, I soak a wash cloth in rubing alcahol and rub the poison ivy until it bleeds. The PI is gone the very next day. I don't know if this is the smartest thing to do but it works wihout fail with no ill effects.

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Louis Buccellato
http://www.themartialway.com
Knives, Weapons and equipment. Best prices anywhere.
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"only the paranoid will survive"
 
TMW:

Bleeding is never good, it means you've opened your skin up to other nasties. The alchohol without the bleeding will most likely be just as effective, and have less chance for a secondary infection.

Stryver
 
1. Avoidance:

a. know how to ID it and stay away from it.
b. Wear long sleeve shirts and long pants when in an area that it is present.

2. Prevent the oils from seating into the skin:

When in an area that it is present... take baby wipes with you and every 30 to 45 minutes wipe off all areas of exposed skin (it takes the oils about 45 to seat into the skin and once this occurs it is almost too late).

3. Prevent the oils from causing harm at a later time (secondary contact that occurs from the oils being transferred to your car seat, bed, couch, etc.)

a. Put a towel over your car seat when returning from an area where they are present.
b. Once back home take the towel and all your clothes and immediately put them in the washer... (don't sit on anything! the oil will transfer and you could be exposed at a later time and not even know it). Use felsnaptha soap to wash your clothes.
c. Immediately take a shower and wash completely with felsnaptha soap (it will remove resins if they can be removed... however, the damage may have allready been done.... that's why the baby wipes are so important).

Other treatment issues when exposure has caused a contact dermititis:

a. if only a small area is involved... benadryl tablets for the itch and hydrocortisone cream will help.

b. If a large area or the face is involved... seek medical advice.

c. watch out for secondary infections!!!

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Greg Davenport
http://www.ssurvival.com
Are You Ready For The Challenge?
Are You Ready To Learn The Art Of Wilderness Survival?

 
As a kid growing up in the gold rush country of California I mannaged to get into poison oak on a real regular basis. My mom used a remedy that may be geographical do to the ingredient, but here it is. The plant that was a used in this tea was called wild peach, it had dark green leaves with yellow viens and grew about six feet high. Take the leaves and boil up a tea, daub this liquid on the rash and it dries it up and also lessens itching.
If anyone in the Sonora, CA area can identify this plant it might be a real help.

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P.J.
P.J. Turner Knife Mfg, Inc.
Uluchet, What's an Uluchet? Find out at...
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Once blisters develop, use bleach to dry them up. Nasty, but quickly efective.

One can also use Jewel Weed or Plantain on poison ivy. Plantain works very well for me, jewel weed does not.
 
You guys are good! I would suggest a search for this subject, as it was covered in excruciating depth a few months back.

Prevention is indeed the key. It may be that 45 minutes is all it takes for the irritant to bind to your skin, but my experience with poison oak (which has the same irritant as poison ivy) is that washing up to four hours after exposure will prevent any outbreak. I weed whack along my creek, and have routinely done so for four hours with poison oak up to my shoulders, but showering after four hours has always worked for me. Incidentally, I turn my clothes inside out and put them directly into the washing machine to prevent spread of the oil.

If you do indeed break out, take an antihistamine if you itch a lot. Chlorpheniramine maleate (Chlor-Trimeton [r]) is as effective as any other, available over the counter, and doesn't sedate as does diphenhydramine (Benadryl [r]).

You are free to smear or scrub anything you wish onto the lesions, but any attempt at removal of the oil, once you have broken out, is futile. Rubbing with alcohol until the lesions bleed is perhaps best left to those who have had good results with the technique, or for people from whom you wish to extract information.
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Alcohol destroys tissue, however, so I cannot recommend this.

What works is a steroid cream. Ask your MD for a fluorinated steroid (there are literally dozens) of highest potency. This will knock down the inflammation in several days. If you are seriously allergic to plant irritants, you should consider carrying oral prednisone if you are going to be on the trail for a while. Sixty to eighty milligrams per day to start, rapidly tapering as symptoms subside, is a typical regimen.

Hope this helps, Walter Welch MD
 
MartialWay,
Bleeding is not good for me. If I break out from Poison oak or ivy and I touch the rash to an unexposed part of my body, it spreads like wildfire. If I get it into a cut then it is off to the hospital. If you get this stuff into your bloodstream you will really suffer (at least I do).

Greg,
Where do you get that soap?

Walt,
If I am exposed, I can and have broken out in as little as 10 minutes. Washing up does not do me any good. I am so allergic that when I get into the shower it spreads as the water runs down my body. I have also been on Prednizone and I am not sure which is worse, the poison oak rash or that.

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Barry
Jones Knives
http://albums.photopoint.com/j/AlbumIndex?u=126319&a=926274
"For DUTY and HUMANITY!"
Curly, Moe, & Larry
 
After having p.i. on my ankles that took more than one YEAR for the itch to go away(although it did diminish over time), I became a self-proclaimed authority on recognizing it in all seasons (except winter). P.i. does not have to be red or shiny or in "vine" form. It can grow in single plants, it loves hedges and hedge rows, it is sneaky. Go to a spot where you know it exists and check out the variations in its growth stages and formats. The leaves can be broad and huge or narrow and small. There are defining characteristics that you will immediately see when you have seen it enough. There all always 3 leaves off a single stem, the leaves can be real glossy or semi- gloss or even flat looking, they do not have(in my experience), serrated leaf edges. It is nasty $h*t...but studying it really helps. Since I learned it, I have followed Gregg' #1 rule: avoidance. When you cant avoid it or accidentally encounter it, the advice on treatment here can't be beaten...IMO, quick and thorough washing is critical. Be well...and itch free
 
I'll second the see and avoid. I've never been affected by it, either through luck or avoidance, but I have had a good number of scouts under my responsibility that were vulnerable.

I've seen poison ivy in a ground-cover form mostly. It would take over rocky slopes. I also knew of at least one poison ivy tree, with a base trunk about two inches in diameter. All has three leaves, smooth edged, and frequently looked rather pitiful, like it really needed a drink. That was how I noticed it mostly.

The colors on healthy poison ivy are primarily green, with some red season depending. Poison (we sprayed it in the campsights at a park I worked at) would yellow the leaves before they died, but I never tested to see if they were still effective at this point.

Know the terrain it inhabits in your neck of the woods (Where I've played it like slopes and rocky areas) and know what it looks like.


Stryver
 
Another thing to look out for. You've been hiking and your dog has been tramping through the underbrush and he comes running up to you and rubs on you or you pet him. Unfortunately he's got the oils all over his fur and now its on you. This is more problematic for extremely sensitive people. I have no problem with the dogs getting me but my brother does. He won't let the dogs near him when we're hiking.

FWIW, my brother and my mom are both extremely sensitive to poison oak. They use a product called "Shield" that they say works well. That's in addition to avoidance which works the best but isn't always accomplished.

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This may sound stupid,but I get this crap often,I work in trees everyday.If I get a break out,I scratch it with the serated edges of a knife"steak knife works good"till it bleeds.Then I soak a rag in Gas and wipe it down.Doesn`t work 100%,but it gets rid of most of the itch.I dont suggest anybody do it,this is what "I" do.

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Jay
Life is like a box of chocolates,never know what your gona git!
 
To stop the itch for a while if you don't have the antihistamines, put the hottest damn water you can on the rashy area for as long as you can stand it. I say for as long as you can stand it beecause it is going to get teeth gritting eye watering itchy within a few moments. Afterwards it won't itch for quite some time. (For the sadomasochist in us all!)

Also don't forget the green soap in the brown bottle from the pharmacy. It helps quite a bit to stop the spread. Ask my sister. She mistakenly used some poison ivy for toilet paper at one point. Bad mojo for the (_!_)

-Sam.
 
If wearing long pants isnt an option you use spray on deoderant as a protective coating, sorta needs to be applied rather thick to work well. I had a rather nasty run in with the evil little plant earlier today, washed up and bagged the clothing I was wearing, well see if I got home in time tomorrow most likely. First time I got it My eye swelled shut and I had to go to the hospital cuz I couldnt see (my other eye isnt so great to begin with) and it lasted most of the summer
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You had better wheelie drop off that...
 
Tecnu soap is available at most drug stores and grocery stores in the pharmacy (over the counter) area. It is good stuff, but expensive. In my experience a good grease cutting dish detergent works great, and is less expensive. Dawn and Sun Light are the two brands that I've used. I just discovered that there is a boat load of PI in my fence row, and growing up a huge tree (the horrors of rental property). BTW, just because it's dead doesn't mean it is safe to touch.

Also, wipe your footwear down, or wash it somehow. Don't forget your laces either! The oils are potent for at least a year.

IMPORTANT-- If you think you may have it on your hands be very careful using the bathroom until you can wash your hands first.
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Paul Davidson

Them:"What's that clipped to your pocket, a beeper?"
Me:"Uuh....yeah, something like that."
 
Barry,

Man, I feel for you!!!! I am also very allergic to poison ivy.... I know exactly what it looks like, but I usually get a bad case of it atleast once or twice a year... And yes, it spreads all over me like wildfire!!!

The best advice I can give you is.... If, or should I say when, you get it again --- go to your family doctor before it gets too bad.... I usually go each and every time I have an outbreak.... The last time I went I had it so bad they gave me a shot (some type of steroid), a prescription, and this spray for the itching.... The spray is by prescription only. It is called Kenalog.... I have the can right in front of me.. It says Triamcinolone Acetonide Topical Aerosol USP, and believe me it works wonders as far as the itch goes... Atleast it does for me!!!

Good luck!!!!

Gene

 
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