Note: Not recommended for use within 3 feet of the cabin...
Posted on 06/14/2007 5:01:50 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
My girlfriend got poison ivy on her brain. The only way she could scratch it was to think about sandpaper. (S.Wright)
Spray the leaves to kill the plants.
Do NOT burn the stems as the smoke can carry the oils that can then get into your lungs where your next reaction will be bad.
Apparently deer like the leaves ?
Poison ivy oils can swell up your face, close your eyes...the oils travel well on dogs or clothing . Be careful.
Some are somehow immune ?
I used to pick berries in the midst of poison oak. I am very sensitive to this stuff, but washing EVERYTHING once I was done (for my clothes and me, soap and water; for the berries, just lots of water) averted problems (after the first mis-hap). In those days, all we had was calomine lotion (not sure of the spelling) and baking soda baths, but I think they have better stuff today. And someone else mentioned chiggers—the soap and water helps get rid of them too.
deep woods - an insistent call of nature - no toilet paper - inattention to the leaves being grabbed...
Note: Not recommended for use within 3 feet of the cabin...
Soap didn’t make it worse for me. I think that’s an old wives tale or something. Plus it gets rid of the chiggers.
Since we have property and a second home in the Smokies, I am all too familiar with poison ivy. About 50 - 100 years ago, most of the land had been cleared for pig farms and subsistence farming. The regrowth over bare areas allowed a great deal of poison ivy to take root — literally.
From my experience, when I have to work in the woods/edges to keep our land and paths clear, I NEVER work outside for more than 30 minutes, and then hot-water launder my clothes, hose off my boots, gloves and face shield (I wear a hard hat with a face shield/screen for general protection from flying debris, saw briars, etc) and take a hot shower with a real soap - not Dove or similar.
The key is to get the poison ivy oil OFF your skin before the urushiol poison has time to bind with the skin. Despite rumors to the contrary, urushiol is a contact allergen/poison AND ONCE BOUND TO THE SKIN IT (the rash) DOES NOT spread due to itching the skin.
The reaction caused by poison ivy, urushiol-induced contact dermatitis, is an allergic reaction. In one extreme case I had on my forearms (winter-time stupidity stacking firewood with remains of poison Ivy vines not yet removed), I needed corticosteroids to treat the rashes and severe itching.
WRT to washing after exposure — The poison can be washed off within a **short time** after contact, but once bound to the skin, it cannot be washed away.
IT’s worth noting that the blisters and oozing result from blood vessels that develop gaps and leak fluid through the skin; if the skin is cooled, the vessels constrict and leak less. <— so getting hot enough to sweat exacerbates the outbreak, but sweating DOES NOT spread anything.
HAHA!! Same thing happened to me (I was about 7 years old). Our family was hiking in the woods. Parents told me to "pee in the bushes". I must have squatted right over poison ivy, because that's where it started. It spread everywhere - including inside my ears! I ended up at the doctors. Seem to remember he had to give me a shot of something, and I remember being plastered with calamine lotion. I avoid poison ivy at all costs!
Then, shortly thereafter, I seemed to get it just a little bit. I kept pulling the stuff. Then I got it a bit more. I started using gloves, and got PI a bit more.
Nowadays, I seem to get PI upon any exposure. So, if you seem to have immunity, you can develop a reaction just the same with enough exposure.
Went to a drive through animal park where the animals stick their heads inside the car and got it bad for at least two weeks. Everyone said cold water to me but they were wrong and you are right. My only relief came from the hot water.
My grandma used to take a wedge of watermelon & rub it over the infected area a few times and let the juice dry on the area, my mother swore it worked. They lived on a farm & someone always seemed to have it.
I use Vick's vapor rub for quite a few things & have heard it works on poison ivy. I know it works on itchy areas & bug bites. I would use disposable gloves while applying anything to the area. ~P~
I have the same serious allergic reaction to all that stuff (except VA creeper, which is harmless).
My suggested solutions:
1. kill it. get a spray can (or 2 or 3) of Ortho Brush-B-Gone from a harware/Lowes/Home Depot, etc. and spray the leaves of all the poisonous plants. The leaves will wither and die AND the poison will go into the roots and kill them too. Don’t spray the VA creeper — eventually it will cover the area and inhibit return of the other “stuff.” After it’s safe to go farther from the path, repeat this process — necessary because the stuff spreads through its roots and it will try to come back from the healthy plants.
2. if you get the rash anyway, the quickest response is cortisone tabs (prescription — from dermatologist) — either as a Medrol dosepak (pricey) or generic cortisone tabs — get instructions from your dermatologist on how to make up your OWN dosepak (much cheaper). Don’t hurt yourself or catch a “bug” while on cortisone though — it suppresses your immune system (which has over-reacted to the “poisonous” plants and caused the rash/blisters).
Good luck!
-iMacMan
Regarding ‘soap spreads the oils’.
Let me offer an alternative thought —
First put all your clothes in the washer. Then ...
When you shower (NOT BATH!!! DO NOT TAKE A BATH!!) wash yourself purposefully and carefully from the elbows down to the tips of your fingers with soap and water, twice. THEN wash yourself from head down to feet. RINSE your face very well. Do this twice.
I would offer that it is critical to use soap as the urusoil is hydrophobic (doesn’t dissolve in water) and needs a surfactant/detergent to be adequately removed from the skin, fingernails, hair, etc.
The key is to get the oil OFF your skin before it binds to the skin, because then even the soap/bleach/ 100 grit won’t help.
Much like a surgical scrub, the key is the process of cleansing, strong soap, hot water — and lather rinse repeat— in time to get it off you.
Now start the washer, and clean your clothes with hot water wash and rinse.
FWIW, I safely and judiciously use a weed-eater/bush-whackerblade/ and bush-hog on my property to keep paths, road-sides and septic fields clear of brush, including poison ivy, and I have been poison-ivy dermatitis-free for four years now.
Just my opinion, based on good experiences and chemistry ;-)
You ain't had nuthin' till the Georgia "noseeums" get on you. Hideous little gnats with bites like piranhas.
Well, my mom was white water rafting once and during the lunch stop, went into the woods to pee. . . that is apparently not a fun place to get poison ivy.
Mythbusters had an episode in which they tested cures for poison ivy/oak. Apparently vodka does not work. The best solution was one the commercial rememdy they used.
I’ll go dig up my Yma Sumac albums...shatter a few windowns in the house..
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