Poison Ivy.....HELP ME

[Richard Hash]

The Tecnu soaps and the IvyBlock creams do work, but they are expensive. Instead of Tecnu soap (originally developed as a skin cleaner in the event of a nuclear blast!) try plain old rubbing alcohol. It's a solvent for urushiol, the oil that causes the reaction. It's a ton cheaper, and it works great. The only gotcha is that you have to wash fairly quickly with it, because urushiol binds to the proteins in your skin within a hour or so, and after that, no amount of washing is going to fix the damage. The IvyBlock cream is just a quaternium-18 bentonite based cream (it's like a clay, is also found is some womens beauty creams, and much cheaper), and it just provides a thin "skin" that blocks your skin from the oil.

As a friend told me one "with the best medical treatments in the world, poison ivy can be cured in 2 weeks, otherwise you have to wait 14 days". Corticosteriod shots makes you feel better, but don't stop the reaction.

You also need to wash, wash, wash everything that even might have come in contact with the plant, otherwise you'll just end up getting it again.

I had to clear an enormous amount of the stuff from a couple acres I have south of Houston. I had plants that went up in to trees 50 feet or more, with vines the size of my ankles (used a bowsaw to cut them). I bundled myself up like a lunar explorer, and ripped and cut it out, using Roundup (which works great).

One tip - don't rip vines out of the ground, use Roundup on them. I felt so self-satisfied ripping vines out (and then running home to wash), until the next spring, when each vine I ripped out now generated 150 little new vines, each one growing from each broken root. It was my worst nightmare, but Roundup came to the rescue.

[Mike Anderson]

I commiserate with you - I currently have both legs & arms covered with the stuff! -- I got this tip from a Home Health guide published by Walter Reed Hospital --- an extremely hot (as hot as you can stand it) shower directly on the rash - clears up the itching for up to 8 hours and no meds (seems like the hot water exhausts the cells supply of histimes for a period until they can "recharge" - hence no itching) ! Figure on about two weeks to get rid of it after the rash developes unless you were lucky enough to get rid of most of the oil (washed off or neutralized with one Technu or alcohol) before it had a good chance to get "under your skin". Good luck - I've got about 5 more days myself.

[Philip Duffy]

Put the stick inbetween your teeth, bleach on the swab, and dab the infected area. You will be amazed at the amount of pain, and the rapidity that the p.i. will disappear! Have fun. Philip

[Hal Peeler]

This does't answer your question but it's interesting nonetheless. Several years ago I had a wart on my arm that my dermatologist had tried several times to freeze or burn off. Finally he asked me if I was allergic to poison ivy. When I told him yes he told me to rub some on the wart, then do not treat the poison ivy. The poison ivy has a chemical reaction with the wart virsus and kills the virus. To this day I haven't had a wart and it's been about 8 or 9 years. The only problem was I used the theory that if a little poison ivy killed the wart then a lot probably was better and boy did I suffer for a while.
Hal

[harry strasil]

how come no one has mentioned, an application of vinegar. it works wonders for things that make you itch.

[Phil Phelps]

how come no one has mentioned, an application of vinegar. it works wonders for things that make you itch.

....it's August 28, and I had that agonizing crap two months ago.....Where were you then?

[Lee Schierer]

You have already received quite a bit of info on your dilema, but here is anold cure that works. My grandfather first taught me this. Use the juice of jewel weed directly on the affected area. it dries up the oil and stops the spread and most of all stops the itching. Here are a couple of web sites with information.

Jewel weed
More jewelweed

Jewel weed cure

Hope you find time to read this between itchings!

[Don Abele]

The fluid seeping from the rash or from scratching spreads the lesions.

Zack, all your advice, as that of everyone else is correct except for what I quoted above. Let me explain...

Poison ivy is coated with an oil called urushiol. It's a very thick and persistant oil. Contact with the skin, either directly or indirectly (by touching clothing, dogs fur that just ran through it, etc) can cause an allergic reaction in most people. As with most sensitivities, the extent of the reaction is different for everyone. Once the oil is washed off the skin (and yes, if you wash it off quick you lessen your chances of getting a rash), you can not spread it. The fluid seeping from the lesions is plasma (the liquid part of your blood and the same thing in blisters). The reason that the rash seems to "spread" is that the oil penetrates the skin at different rates depending on skin thickness and the integrity of the skin (any open wounds). This can take up to 48 hours.

As for treatment, many of the home remedies given I imagine will work, but I'd get fired if I tried most of them on my patients. For minor reactions an over the counter anti-histamine works best. The more severe the reaction, the more drastic the treatment, including use of steroid tablets or injections. I use, prescribe, and recommend a product called calladryl - it's a combination of calamine lotion and benedryl. It goes on white, dries clear, and stops the itching within about 3-5 minutes. It's cheap and very effective. Of course prevention is more effective. If you think you've come in contact with it, wash the area with soap and warm water. Also an extreme word of caution - never burn this stuff. The oil becomes airborne and can cause severe respiratory problems if breathed in - you get poison ivy of the lungs!!! It can be fatal.

Hope that clears some things up.

Be well,

Doc

[Mike Schwing]

AAAGGGGHHH!!! Dang it, now I've got the itchies from reading this stuff! Funny how that works, I'm scratching and itching like one of my dogs!

You guys have made me eternally grateful that I either have not come into contact with any ivy/oak or that I'm not sensitive to it.

[Richard Gillespie]

As I sit here, unable to ware pants for the fourth day in a row, I understand. I was pulling weeds in the back garden and every time I ran into the stuff I'd grab a pair of gloves to pull it with. If I thought I had touched it in any way I'd come into the house and wash up my hands and arms.

Once someone locked the back door and without giving it a thought, I reached into my right front pocket to get my keys. Apparently, I had enough on my fingers and under the hot sweaty work conditions the oils flowed through the pocket lineing onto me.

I now have a massive blister area the size of my entire fist in that location. I haven't had a case this bad since I was a kid. Gave up and went to the doctor this morning. I was given Prednisone pills, Triamcinolone 0.1% Cream and Domeboro, an astringent solution to soak the area with.

Next time, I'll use round up and forget it.

[Phil Phelps]

I now have a massive blister area the size of my entire fist in that location. I haven't had a case this bad since I was a kid. Gave up and went to the doctor this morning. I was given Prednisone pills, Triamcinolone 0.1% Cream and Domeboro, an astringent solution to soak the area with.

Next time, I'll use round up and forget it.

First of all use Brush B Gone or Wipeout. Round up is not for broad leaf ivy.
Now, had I gotten the poision ivy in a "private" area like I had in the 70's, I can get rid of it. Here's what you do. Get a bottle of Jack Black and some rubbin' alcohol. Get nekkid and ease into a dry bath tub. Swig down half the bottle of JB and then pour a half a bottle of the alcohol on your problem parts. It ten minutes, one of 'em will bring you relief.

No problem, don't mention it

[Don Abele]

OMG Phil - now that's a solution I'd like to prescribe to my patients (and then lose my license)!!! LOL

Be well,

Doc

[Phil Phelps]

OMG Phil - now that's a solution I'd like to prescribe to my patients (and then lose my license)!!! LOL

Be well,

Doc

....a while back you said it was a gimmick. I wonder, though. Murphys' Oil Soap contains an oil and is advisable for cleaning wood. Naptha cuts oil. So, why not give it a try if you think you may have come in contact with it? It isn't expensive and, like I said, naptha cuts oil. Worth a try to keep it handy?

[Jason Roehl]

First of all use Brush B Gone or Wipeout. Round up is not for broad leaf ivy.
Now, had I gotten the poision ivy in a "private" area like I had in the 70's, I can get rid of it. Here's what you do. Get a bottle of Jack Black and some rubbin' alcohol. Get nekkid and ease into a dry bath tub. Swig down half the bottle of JB and then pour a half a bottle of the alcohol on your problem parts. It ten minutes, one of 'em will bring you relief.

No problem, don't mention it

Dang it, Phil...With a mental image like that, I don't know whether to laugh or puke.

[Phil Phelps]

Cause I got that crap again!!! When will he learn???? Roundup didn't work for me, router didn't work for me, come on freeze. I'm gonna get me a rubber suit. I'll take down the rubber from my room to make me one