Posted on 06/14/2007 5:01:50 AM PDT by MississippiMasterpiece
I agree — I hose off the shoes/boots before I go inside. I drop the leather gloves in a bleach bucket.
Just disrobing is a risk. That’s why in my process I place the clothes directly in the washer, then first wash arms and hands twice, then body. Prevents accidental transfer of oils to ‘wrong’ body parts.
It’s all about being conscious of exposure and contamination risks.
I was immune most of my life, too - and camped out and did a ton of outdoor things. Never broke out.
Then I had it in my yard without knowing it. Laid down in the grass with the side of my face on it to take a picture - didn’t break out for 3 days, then nearly had to be hospitalized.
It lasted 6 weeks and was very severe, on my arms and face. I had cortisone shots, the oral dosepacks, topical ointments. Nothing *really* helped except time, and then educating myself.
But each time I’ve had a tiny exposure, it has been a bit less - but then, I’m usually prepared now - and I know not to scratch any strange itches, even if they seem like just mosquito bites.
Plain *cold* running water works for me, when it’s not a contact skin poison. I have a recurring hand rash now that’s giving me fits, but it’s something in my system, not outside.
Oh, also, I found out that once you get the poison ivy allergy, you also shouldn’t eat cashews or mangoes, as they are cousins and have something similar. My doc said he felt my severe allergy built up from exposure after exposure mowing my yard every week, until finally I became severely allergic - the opposite of some allergies that diminish with more exposure.
Brush-B-Gone has worked well for me. Good luck!
I gotta disagree with you guys on the no soap business.
The very fact that soap/detergent IS a surfactant is what makes water ( the solvent ) capable of removing a hydrophobic oil like urushoil. Hot water simply increases the solubility of the oil and helps the chelating actions of the surfactant.
THOROUGH and effective cleansing AND short duration of contamination are the keys to avoiding urushoil contact dermatitis (aka the poison ivy allergic rash). so, if you use cold water, you’ll need to wash longer and more thoroughly.
I have to continue my disagreement with you about the soap though. Soap helps. It does not ‘spread the oils’ anymore than a water-only would.
I put on the previous summer’s shorts and got a bad case on my inner thighs. I was pregnant, morning sick and totally miserable, waddling like a duck at two months.
Another time, from a few tiny blisters, there developed a patch as big as the palm of my hand on my leg for six weeks, oozing yellow. The skin was tissue thin and you could see it flash red with each pulse. There was a scar there for months.
While a tree crew was putting logs into the chipper across the street, I walked from my door to my car. The next day my face began to swell; my eyes were closing shut - I looked like a lion - all from dust in the air.
My brother as a child was exposed to poison ivy smoke - his face swelled up like a pillow.
My mother showered with dish soap after working in the woods - got a full body reaction from the dish soap!
Since I discovered cortisone cream and now put it on at the teeniest rash I have never had a bad reaction - the first blisters disappear in a couple days, stop itching and never ooze.
I still make my children strip at the door, put their clothes in the washer and shower if they have been in the big field - they deny any susceptibility and I say “it’s for me” and they whine about my paranoid fears of secondary or tertiary contact.
How do you people with dogs manage?
Mrs VS
I always use soap - a mild soap and cool water. I work from the top down, rinsing continually, and wash three times. If you have oil on you, soap emulsifies it and lets it combine with the water and wash away. I have not gotten a rash using this method and I’m very sensitive.
Mrs VS
Oh, I had to mow my yard covered from head to toe, including a filter mask. I also wore disposable plastic gloves, with two on each hand, with rubber bands around my sleeve cuffs.
I’d take one pair of gloves off with the other pair still on, just for putting my clothes right in the washer. The moment of peeling the last gloves off was always excruciating for the contortions I had to do not to “touch” the outsides of the gloves (and this was the inside pair!).
One pair of “dedicated” tennies and socks, lol. I took no chances - and couldn’t afford my yard man anymore at that time. (For those who ask “why?”)
You “ain’t lived” till you’ve done that every week of the summer in Houston, TX!!
Years ago I had to take a leak in the woods and that little action cause me considerable pain and discomfort for weeks.
Several years ago during a wild fire in northern California, two firefighters down wind from one section of the fire, breathed smoke from a large patch of poison oak and
subsequently died several days later in the hospital.
Some extremely allergic individuals can get it just by
being downwind on a hot summer day as the wind picks up the oil off the leaves.
Jewelweed aka touch-me-not aka native Impatiens has a very beneficial juice. It helps an existing case, and I’ve also rubbed in on my skin when I walked into PI in the woods and couldn’t wash for a while - no rash that time.
I still swear by the OTC cortisone creams but would use jewelweed if they were not available - the sap is much like aloe vera’s in consistency.
Mrs VS
Yikes! Sounds a little like this systemic thing I have now. It just never goes way. Thank goodness I can stop the itch with cold water - now I use refrigerated cold water/ice water and it’s even better.
Past that, if I touch it or something sets it off (like yours), I progress to Lanacane spray - anything is better if I don’t have to touch it or rub it on. If that doesn’t help much after 4-5 hours, I resort to hydrocortisone gel, and then cream as the last resort - it’s messy and keeps me from doing anything because it’s on my hands.
Thanks for the info. I will use it if need be. ~P~
Yours does sound similar to mine. I had about the same thing on my arm, it was from DEET, the mosquito spray. It had been 2 weeks since I used DEET and my arm kept swelling up and itching and then it would go away. I went to the doc and he said “girl you are having an allergic reaction, don’t you see one forearm is twice as big as the other?”. I had not noticed that. The meds helped somewhat, but an icepack when it would swell helped too.
It’s strange — I’ve never been affected by poison ivy. But I got “nibbled on” by a gypsy moth caterpillar a few weeks ago and broke out like crazy! They gave me one of those “dose pack” things and a tube of Lidex!
>My herbicide of choice is the Roundup formulated for poison Ivy. It really does
>kill it.
Sounds good!
>I also enjoy the winter-time hikes with a machete where I cut the big mother-
>vines growing up the oaks and polars.
Now THAT scares me. I’m afraid the “juice” inside the vine might spray out. I might be willing to CAREFULLY slice the vine a little and pour Roundup or equiv. in the slice, though.
-iMM
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