Poison Ivy

[RobJ]

Some things might help but in about a week it should be gone.

Bad news is the next time it'll be worse. The stuff never bothered me until I built a bow hunting cover out of it. I didn't notice what it was but I was bathing in the oil. Wash clothes separatly, etc. I've stayed clear since.

Rob

 

[N80]

Keys to treatment are:

Quickly removing the oil from your skin. A hot soapy shower as soon after exposure as possibly is important. The shorter the exposure, the less the reaction.

Avoid re-exposure. The oil can stay on clothing and gloves, etc. These need to be wash. Exposure to the fluid that comes from your skin after exposure does not spread the rash or re-expose you or anyone else.

Antihistimines like benadryl can help a little. Benadryl is very sedating, but is great for nightime use. Allergy medicines like Claritin and Alavert are OTC and non-sedating.

Over the counter hydrocortisone cream can help a little if the rash is not extensive.

If the rash is widely scattered or severe, a trip to the doctor can help. High potency topical steroid creams can help small, limited areas. Oral or injected steroids are a safe, easy, effective treatment for widespread rashs or if the face or other sensative areas are involved.. Steroids can cause a lot of problems and side effects when used for long periods or very high doses. But for poison oak/ivy the dose is relatively low and brief.

Some people do suffer from 'steroid-rebound'. They take the steroids, get a great response but when they stop the steroids the rash comes back. A retreatment and slow taper of the steroids solves this.

But, as mentioned, most cases are mild, will resolve in 7-10 days and do not require any treatment at all.

 

[czechsonofagun]

Goats supposedly love p.i. If you have the fence, patience, etc. for them.

I heard that milk from p.i. eating goat will make children imune to urishiol.

 

[MuncyBob]

I'm very allergic to the stuff and get it every year! The best cure I found(by accident) was an hour or so in ocean water...not exactly convenient for most people but I was amazed how the rashes just disappeared!

 

[rback33]

U have been given all the best suggestions that I know of and I am HIGHLY allergic to the stuff. When I was 12 I climbed into a compact pickup with a couple of buddies (one just turned 16, with, new DL) Long story short, he rolled the pickup with all three of us.. we rolled the pickup back onto its wheels going UPHILL in the ditch by hand.. all the time fighting these annoying vines... it's July in Kansas so we were all in shorts and t-shirts...a few days later we figured out what the vine were. We were all miserable.... btw did i mention that I left on vacation with my parents that day too??? We learned our lesson though... three kids in a compact pickup the rolled at about 60 mph.. no seatbelts nothing... and there was not a scratch on anyone, just the poison oak three days later.... No doubt the Good Lord was watching that day... and made sure we learned a lesson...I have one question though since Doc has been in here... Poison Ivy does not seem to bother me, just Oak... are the chemicals(urishol) sp? in poison Oak and Ivy isomers by chance which could explain why I seem to react to one, but not the other? On the unfair side the stuff does not bother my wife one bit..

 

[slowrev]

Roundup gets rid of poison ivy. but not on the skin....

Just about got my place all cleaned up of it. Does not bother me, but does the wife....

Ben

 

[quicksandfarmer]

We have poison ivy all over our farm. It would not be an overstatement to say that Zanfel has revolutionized our life. Unlike anything else that has existed before, it is a cure, not a sympton reliever. Zanfel removes the irritant in poison ivy, urushiol, from your skin. The conventional wisdom was that the urushiol dissipated rather quickly, and that unless you washed within a few hours of contact there was nothing you could do. Zanfel proves the conventional wisdom wrong -- at any point in an outbreak, Zanfel removes the urushiol, providing immediate relief and the symptoms disappear within hours.

One time last summer, I was clearing brush when a horsefly landed on my cheek. I slapped it with a glove that was covered with poison ivy. Within a few hours one ear had swollen to twice the size of the other, and my jowls looked like John McCain. After washing twice with Zanfel the swelling was completely gone within 24 hours.

The big downside of Zanfel is the cost, about $35 for one ounce, which is about eight applications. But you'll gladly pay it when you have a bad case.

Last week, I got my first case of poison ivy this year, a mild case on my ankles, so I decided to experiment with a cheaper alternative, Tecnu medicated scrub. The Tecnu is far cheaper -- about $12 for 4 ounces -- but it doesn't work as well. It eventually cleared up the rash, but it took about 3 days of twice-daily application.

Old-timers around here swear by lye soap, like Fells-Napth laundry bars, which I imagine works similarly to the Zanfel in that it removes the irritant from your skin.

Even with a cure available, the best thing is to avoid getting it in the first place. What that means is not getting the sap of the poison ivy plant on your skin, and then washing it off as quickly as possible if you do. If I know I'm going into the poison ivy, I wear long pants and long sleeves, and change my clothes and throw them in the wash as soon as I can when I come back. I like to wash with Burt's Bees Farmer's Friend soap, and if I think I've been exposed I'll use the Tecnu scrub before a rash shows up. Since it's impossible to know if you've prevented a rash, I have no idea how effective either of these is, but ignorance and superstition have served me well and I'm not messing with a good thing.

The plants themselves are easily killed. Mowing kills young plants, and the older vines don't stand up to cutting combined with herbicides. Roundup is not nearly as effective as Brush-b-gon (triclopyr). I buy it concentrated and use a watering can to sprinkle the ivy. We have vines here as big around as a man's arm. For those I like to use a pole saw to cut them, so I don't have to get very close, and I'm careful to keep the sawdust off of me. The big vines produce thousands of seeds in the fall, so cutting them back really helps reduce the local population.

 

[chipsndust]

I will add my positive results with Zanfel to those of ultrarunner and quicksandfarmer. It is not cheap, but it has worked for me. I try to avoid contact, and when I do get exposed, I wash the exposed areas with diluted Clorox. But when the rash/blisters appear, I have had very good results with the Zanfel. Follow the directions, don't try to save a nickel by using less than the directions say.
Good luck

 

[N80]

I have one question though since Doc has been in here... Poison Ivy does not seem to bother me, just Oak... are the chemicals(urishol) sp? in poison Oak and Ivy isomers by chance

I have no idea if the 'active' ingredients are slightly different or if they are isomers. In fact, I don't even know the difference in the plants by sight. But, there are other possible explanations. Different plants may make different amounts or viscosity of the oil. That may vary with time of year/ growth cycle as well.

The only way to tell if you are sensitive to one and not the other is to rub a little of one on one arm and a little of the other on the other arm. This would need to be done with plants of similar size and same location and for the sake of good science, do it in srping, mid summer and in the fall just before the leaves fall off.

Also, from experience, it is the people who 'never get the stuff' that come in with the worse reactions and it happens all the time. People can become sensitive at any time in life. I never used to get it at all. I could literally crush the leaves in my hands and not react. I still don't react badly but I get a patch here and there. But, just because you've never had it, it doesn't mean you can't or won't.

 

[N80]

We have poison ivy all over our farm. It would not be an overstatement to say that Zanfel has revolutionized our life. Unlike anything else that has existed before, it is a cure, not a sympton reliever. Zanfel removes the irritant in poison ivy, urushiol, from your skin. The conventional wisdom was that the urushiol dissipated rather quickly, and that unless you washed within a few hours of contact there was nothing you could do. Zanfel proves the conventional wisdom wrong -- at any point in an outbreak, Zanfel removes the urushiol, providing immediate relief and the symptoms disappear within hours.

I'm not sure that I agree with that explanation. But, let me say this, if it works for you, doesn't hurt you and is cheaper than a doctors visit, then it doesn't matter what the explanation is. If it works, use it, cause you can't argue with success.

However, almost anything will remove the oil from your skin. Any soap will remove it. So I'm not sure that I buy that the Zanfel removes it any better than soap. Also, I'm not sure where the conventional wisdom comes from that says the oil dissipates easily. I was taught, and it is my experience, that it will hang around a long time on skin, clothing and even a pet's hair. Now, removing the oil is the first line of treatment but again, warm soap and water will do that. So technically, after a warm soapy shower, there is nothing to remove and in that regard 'cleaning' would have no effect on a reaction that has already begun. At that point the only intervention that will work is something that interferes with the body's immune response such as corticosteroids and antihistimines.

Now, there is nothing to say that Zanfel doesn't have an effect on the immune response. And if it works and people are buying it, the company will unlikely take the time to explore that avenue due to the costs involved.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking it. I'm all for anything that works. I'm just not sure the explanation, well, explains how or why it actually works. And, if it works that well, i may get some to keep in the cabin.

Some studies show that aluminum chloral-hydrate, which is the active ingredient in antiperspirents will prevent contact dermatitis if applied before exposure. There was even a prescription only product for a while. I'm not sure it ever really worked and it may be that higher dosages were neede to be effective and covering oneself with something that keeps you from sweating in the summer could lead to other more serious problems.

I think IslandTractor is also a doctor and if I remember correctly he might be an allergist. I'd like to hear his thoughts on contact dermatitis.