Poison Ivy

   / Poison Ivy #11  
For this old fart it's poison Oak. Never been around poison Ivy. This thread makes me itch.
 
   / Poison Ivy #12  
It's poison oak in the west, poison ivy in the east. Two different species but both contain the same active "poison" urushiol.

I get the allergic reaction pretty bad. But the stuff is all over in my area. The most important thing to do is to wash all exposed skin HARD when you're done. I keep a small container of Dawn dish soap in the shower and use lots to scrub with a washcloth, two or three times. Scrub like you're covered in the stickiest grease you can imagine. If in doubt scrub more. If I have been anywhere near any PO like today I throw the clothes in the washing machine before I hit the shower. I had to deal with an oak that fell because the PO in it was so heavy it pulled it over. The PO stem was bigger than my wrist. Yuck yuck yuck.

Zanfel didn't do a thing for me. Tech-Nu is only good for cleaning the oil off your skin, it doesn't help the alergic reaction. Dawn works better and costs less. When I get an allergic reaction I use a steroid cream that I got my Dr to prescribe- Mometasone Furoate. That stuff works, though it can take multiple applications over days. I have had to take Prednisone a few times. It's got nasty side effects so I try hard to not get it that bad.
 
   / Poison Ivy #13  
A natural remedy that works very well for almost everyone is "Jewel weed" aka "Touch Me Not's"...they are a type of wild Impation...it's a little too early for it right now but there may be an extract available...
 
   / Poison Ivy #14  
I came from northern Vermont, couldn't find poison ivy until I was about 20, then found it on an island in Lake Champlain. Didn't affect me.
Then a few years later I was in the Army as a biologist and doing field studies in West Virginia. Got the rash BAD.
And continued to get it bad for many summers. For me the only sure cure was 2 weeks.
About 1986 I did find that taking "poison ivy drops" would lessen my reaction. Then about 1990(?) I couldn't find where to buy the drops so I started looking for early growth poison ivy in the spring and deliberately get some oil on a SMALL part of me, usually an upper forearm. Once "infected" I don't get further rash. Now is the time to start looking.
 
   / Poison Ivy
  • Thread Starter
#15  
From what I have read the more you are exposed to it the easier you get it. If you are sensitive to it you will not get it the first time you are exposed but from then on you will get it.
 
   / Poison Ivy #16  
There's a threshold of exposure. Get too exposed much and reach the threshold. From then on you'll get it. But the threshold is different for different people. About 1/3 the population will never reach it. About 1/3 hasn't yet but they will. I never got it doing field work or working in the woods in my 20s. I only started getting it when I moved to my current place 25 years ago.

The local tree services hire guys who are "immune". I had three guys spend a couple days clearing about 300' of an old road that was totally covered with PO. They chipped it! OMG! I stayed WAY the heck away from that. A friend who works at a local farm supply told me of a guy from that company who came in with a bunch of saws for repair. He was totally covered with the rash and really suffering. His "immunity" ran out so he got assigned to maintenance.
 
   / Poison Ivy #17  
For this old fart it's poison Oak. Never been around poison Ivy. This thread makes me itch.
The one time I've seen poison ivy was along the Spokane River just upriver from the city. My then-8yo son ended up covered...
 
   / Poison Ivy #18  
From what I have read the more you are exposed to it the easier you get it. If you are sensitive to it you will not get it the first time you are exposed but from then on you will get it.
my wife used to laugh at me, but now she's the sensitive one
 
   / Poison Ivy #19  
The elixir is called immune oak and was issued to Bell System and Utility workers... no longer available when I checked... still have a vial.

Zanfel helps as dose swimming in a HIGHLY chlorinated pool.

Just had a case on my wrist... one of the kids picked up a stick and grabbed my hand... sure enough the stick was rotted poison oak vine...

For me any exposed skin is at risk when Dozing just from the dust... insidious bane to mankind!
 
   / Poison Ivy #20  
When I was a junior and senior in high school - worked summers for the forrest service. Worst ever case of poison oak - fighting a brush fire that burned thru a patch of poison oak. Spent two days in the hospital - swathed in bandages soaked in something. Probably Caladryl or the like.

My father was totally immune. Unfortunately - I'm just the opposite.
 

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