Poison Ivy

[capt jack]

Old grandma cure (it will work). 1 bottle rubbing alcohol, 12 REAL asprin (Bayer,generic etc.), 1 block of chamfer (you can still buy it at most drug stores) pour about 1/3 of the alcohol out, crush the asprin and chamfer into a fine powder, mix it into the remaining alcohol, shake well, and dab mixture onto sores with a cotton ball. Jack

 

[MikeD74T]

My wife makes a tea from jewelweed and keeps some in the fridge all year long. Works great to stop itch & heal sores from poison ivy. I wash my hands with chainsaw gas when working around ivy then wash again with soap & water or waterless handcleaner. Then use the jewelweed tea on the areas I missed. My SIL makes a strong jewelweed tea into a hand cream with beeswax & other ingredients. My BIL is a landscaper & keeps it in all his trucks. MikeD74T

Native American Remedies

 

[quicksandfarmer]

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.

An in-depth survey article is here: Poison Oak

As you note, the article agrees the oil is very durable, "Herbarium specimens 100 years old have been known to cause dermatitis." However, the article goes on to explain:

"...it readily penetrates the epidermal layer of the skin where it binds to proteins of deeper skin cell membranes. Before the protein bond can occur the catechol is oxidized to a more reactive quinone in which the two OH groups are replaced by double-bonded oxygens. In the conjugated state (bound to cell membranes) urushiol is virtually impossible to wash off. By itself the urushiol molecule (also called a hapten) probably would not initiate a full-blown immune response, but when attached to the cell membrane it becomes a 'warning flag' that attracts patrolling T-cells."


Here is what the Zanfel website says:

If you know within the first hour that you contacted poison ivy, sumac, or oak, some experts claim that plain soap and water might wash it off the skin. They suggest that washing is effective if you catch it within the first two to four hours after exposure. Other experts believe that unless you wash within the first 10 minutes, the oil will bind to the skin. Once the oil has bonded, Zanfel is the only substance known to remove the oil.

I would quibble with the last part as there seem to be a number of ways of removing the bound oil, with varying effectiveness: swimming in the ocean, lye soap, and the Tecnu scrub have all given me varying qualities of relief. What is clear is that there are two ways of getting relief, either by removing the irritant, or surpressing the body's reaction to it.

 

[wushaw]

A bottle of rubbing alcohol with a spray head is what I use to keep Poison Ivy from spreading and I can scratch it...a feel good burn, It takes a week for it to go away for me. I don't get it real bad unless I get it on anything other than my hands.

 

[tbalz]

Zanfel does not work for either my wife or myself. Or it dosent work on the poison ivy on our farm. We have tried it on 3 seperate occasions, purchased from different retailers. Good "ol Calmine takes the itch out and 5-7 days later it is healed. Got the topical steroid creme from the doctor and it did not work. Calmine seems to be the best for us.

Now how do I get rid of the poison ivy that happens to be surrounding the 200 baby Norway Spruce that we have planted over the last 3 years? I am afraid to spray chemicals, so I have been weedwacking and will begin push mowing around them this year. That isnt a fun job.

 

[jshbryan]

Well I have tried several of the recomndations on here and I appreciate all of the feedback. However, I just can't take the itching any longer. I am going to the doctor.

 

[rback33]

I can't blame you for going, I woulda been there long ago for my shot....

Thanks for the suggestion for the Experiment Doc... I think I'll pass though
Poison Ivy grows as single plants with three green leaves and the point where the leave join the stem is red. Poison Oak is a vine plant and I have seen vines at my house an inch thick and woody which is why I always use the brushbgone on it. I can get a pick of some poison OK at my house if ya'll want me to...

 

[RobertN]

I was clearing a fence row Friday and got into some poison ivy. This stuff has me itching and scratching like crazy. I have tried the topical creams and nothing seems to help for very long.

I wonder if any of you know any home remedies I could try.

I have had poison oak every spring/summer; can't get around it out here if you are active outdoors. You'll at least get a little...

The best thing once you have the oil on you is either Technu or one of the other similar poison oak/ivy soaps, or good old fashioned home made lye soap. My Grandmother used to make lye soap; it was THE BEST! It would cut the oil and leave a little moisture.

Technu, Avon, and a couple other companies have pre-exposure creams. If you know you're going to be in it, this stuff will help.

When you know you might have been in it, CAREFULLY take you shoes and clothes off when you clean up; the oils will get on your clothes, and can transfer to your skin if you are not careful, compounding the problem.

Be careful while you are out, and be a cleanly as possible, especially if you gotta go potty; you DO NOT want poison oak/ivy there...

Also, be careful of the animals. If your dog or cat is out around the stuff, the oils will get on thier fur. When you go to pet them, the oil transfers to you. You CAN get it without actually touching the plant.

Keep that in mind too when you work on your tractor. I have got it while working around the tractor weeks after bush hogging in areas that had the vines.

Learn to identify it, in all seasons... Even in the winter, when it is just a stalky plant with no leaves, there is still oils on the plant. I have gotten it as bad in the winter as in summer because I was working around all those oily stalks...

Worst case, if Technu or similar product does not help, go get the shots...

 

[BrianW]

No one has mentioned the temporary relief you get by taking a hot shower. Get the water as hot as you can safely stand it. It will itch like "H' 'E' 'double hockey stick' under the hot water but then the itch will be gone for a while. I use this method to get to sleep. Get out of the shower and put calamine on after the shower.

 

[Phils]

No one has mentioned the temporary relief you get by taking a hot shower. Get the water as hot as you can safely stand it. It will itch like "H' 'E' 'double hockey stick' under the hot water but then the itch will be gone for a while. I use this method to get to sleep. Get out of the shower and put calamine on after the shower.

I'll second BrianW's recommendation.

Years ago we used to take those scalding showers and they felt VERY good.... then we learned that it's a mistake to do that. S'posed to make it worse, spread the oils, etc.

Since then we've read that, contrary to the wive's tale we'd been believing, it is GOOD to take the scalding hot shower. It brings the body's natural antihistamines to the rash. And MAN does it make it feel better for awhile!

We now have resumed our old practice of scalding showers when we do get it. I've sprayed RoundUp for 30 years and it's rare for us to come in contact with it unless we are more than 500' from the house. Mostly just me, mostly when I'm clearing brush, and mostly not actually in contact with it but instead being bitten by mosquitoes that have been in it. That makes for tiny little patches that ITCH like heck!

Phil