nikdfish
Platinum Member
Saturday I had been doing some bush-hogging on a long neglected property. The weather had been driy for a while & it was a pretty dusty time as the dry plant material was getting minced.
The area I was cutting was really grown up with briars, brambles, tall weeds, etc. Now I was certainly aware, if anyone had asked, that it was also loaded with poison ivy & poison oak - but nobody asked & it never entered my mind. While I was cutting & boonie bashing, their irritant oils were catching a free ride in the resulting dust clouds.
By Sunday night, even though I had showered thoroughly, to rid myself of the layer of dust & grit that had coated every exposed portion of skin, the tell tale rash was starting to show. By Monday morning I ended up heading in to the local medical folks for steroids... around the hairline, all around the neck & down my chest, both forearms, itching like mad. Glad I was wearing gloves, safety glasses and a filter mask, between them, my hat & beard, my face and hands were pretty well protected (and I don't even want to guess how my respiratory system would be feeling if I had been breathing that unfiltered!)
Oh well, live & learn. Went out & stocked up on Tek-Nu for the next time I'm out there. That's the only stuff I know of that can really wash away the irritant oils.
Nick
ps, power is out here due to the storm front that just went through, which is the only reason I'm currently up - to call the power co. & shut off the beepers on the variou UPS units in the house.
The area I was cutting was really grown up with briars, brambles, tall weeds, etc. Now I was certainly aware, if anyone had asked, that it was also loaded with poison ivy & poison oak - but nobody asked & it never entered my mind. While I was cutting & boonie bashing, their irritant oils were catching a free ride in the resulting dust clouds.
By Sunday night, even though I had showered thoroughly, to rid myself of the layer of dust & grit that had coated every exposed portion of skin, the tell tale rash was starting to show. By Monday morning I ended up heading in to the local medical folks for steroids... around the hairline, all around the neck & down my chest, both forearms, itching like mad. Glad I was wearing gloves, safety glasses and a filter mask, between them, my hat & beard, my face and hands were pretty well protected (and I don't even want to guess how my respiratory system would be feeling if I had been breathing that unfiltered!)
Oh well, live & learn. Went out & stocked up on Tek-Nu for the next time I'm out there. That's the only stuff I know of that can really wash away the irritant oils.
Nick
ps, power is out here due to the storm front that just went through, which is the only reason I'm currently up - to call the power co. & shut off the beepers on the variou UPS units in the house.