Uh Oh Poison Ivy.....

[lrunge]

I am extremely allergic to PI. I get it multiple times a year. I just finished with my third bout this year. I tried Zanafel in the past and though it works, it's $40 a small tube. The last two years I've used Technu (as smilingreen said). This stuff works great. Catch it early, wash with it twice in the shower over two days and the PI dried up and gone and it's only $6 for two bottles in the package. Ive been successful with it for two years. Give it a try.

 

[RobS]

Ah yes, Poison Ivy season is upon us isn't it. I had a serious case a couple of years ago and stumbled across this site . More than you'll ever want to know about the insidious plant including treatments /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[SPIKER]

YEP it will do that to ya. most of us have soem sort of exposure rate, myself I can walk through it waste high with shorts adn no shoes and MAYBE get one or two bumps on the ankle. my woman if she is upwind of it will have it all over...


that being said I always use some hole milk to treat the ater after several washes of COLD water and DAWN dish soap then follow up with warm water wash with it. apply the milk and let it dry 3 or 4 times and it will be gone on me in a matter of a few hrs. Usually stops itching by the time the first apply of milk. (oh sour milk seems to work better go figure?)

Yes also Sun screen works great as a barrier as the skin gets covered liberly and may help those who are more allergic.? as the woman usually will not get any on areas where it ahs been applied untill after it is washed off and she scratches some place else...

Myself I get P-OAK more over than ivy as it has little spikes to penetrate skin better. also I have unusually thick skin. Thiscker than most people for some reason?

I like that PI site above too. bookmarked it.

anyhow off to work.

Mark M /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

 

[Currmudgeon]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Last year, picking blueberries, I, after 40 years, finally succombed. My entire front torso became 'the living hell'. )</font>

IMX immunity to PI comes and goes. It's not reliable.

Other than using nuclear weapons on the field, which does tend to scorch the trees, wearing bodily protection while bush-hogging may be in order. Those disposable Tyvek coveralls with the hood, gloves, and goggles, should help. You'll panic the neighbors into thinking you have a hazmat spill but <shrug>

They're pretty cheap.

Practice taking them off by turning them inside out and touching only the inside before you get sweaty and grubby.

Then wash yourself down with Fels Naptha soap worked up to a thick paste. IMX, this works better than the commercial anti-ivy soaps.

You'll probably still get the stuff, but not in as many places, nor as badly.

 

[DAP]

Yes ... FELS NAPTHA helps. No folk remedy and not a cure, but it WILL HELP.

 

[AndyMA]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( The way we deal with poison ivy, especially the mammoth 3" thick vines affixed to old stately trees in the forest is the chain saw. Cut a 4 inch section from its stalk (2 cuts). It will die eventually. )</font>

I have extremely bad luck when I accidently ran a chain saw through some 2-3" Poison Ivy. I think every piece of saw dust developed into a blister all over my body, face and hair. The sawdust also worked it's way into my clothes and got me there. I cut out sections but I use large clippers and wash them off with either detergent or a petroleum based solvent. You may get away with chainsawing in the middle of winter but I'll never try again.

Andy

 

[DAP]

Andy I hear ya ... accidents can and do happen. When I've got a PI situation that has to be dealth with (as in big thich hairy intrusion) I cover comletely, hair, face, everything. And as I've been doing this, I couldn't get PI if I took a bath in it, until last year.

I definetly protect myself when taking the "stihl to the stalk". Last time I did it, was goggles, ski mask etc.

I do use the big garden snips on those 2 inchers, but I'm not exagerating when I tell you I have PI vines nearing 7 inches in diamter not far from our properties wood line. Short of taking a hand saw to em, the chain is the next recourse. And again, I do try to do this during dorment months, but that's not always possible either.

My poor wife, a Canadian, who claims the PI is something of a rarity up there (not sure I believe this) had to be taken to the ER with a case so bad (on her arms) that the ER doc summoned all the interns together to have an instructional peek.

Here urushiol reactions seem to be less severe and she has just about resigned herself to PI each warm season now. She constantly rasies the issue of 'what possible purpose or benefit can this stuff actually serve?'

 

[PineRidge]

Thanks a bunch Rob! I went to the poison ivy related web site that you suggested and caught it from touching my computer mouse. Ouch! /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

 

[garchib]

I spoke to a Dr. and a pharmacist who said itching poison
ivy does NOT spread it. Once you have it, it spreads through
the bloodstream and can pop anywhere on the body.
The itching thing is a wives tale.
BTW, I had a patch of poison ivy around 100 feet long
and I killed it by using RoundUp two years in a row.
As far as it appearing in my field, I just mow the stuff
if it is in small quantities, as it does not seem to respond
well to constant mowing, unlike grass.

 

[TMAC]

I get it if I look at it. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif Get it every year. For anti-itch relief I always use that calamine spray and something I tried new this year that’s not as messy, the gel. But the one home remedy that I highly believe in is bleach. 50/50 mixture of bleach and water. Straight bleach irritates my skin too much so I dilute it a bit and within three days it starts drying up for me.

I did a little test about 3 months ago. I got it on my belly and my arms. Decided to hold off on the bleach this time and just try the anti itch sprays and creams. Well it lasted for an aggravating two weeks as it normal does with little treatment. I just got it again 5 days ago in the same areas. Wiped the areas in 50/50 bleach and water and for the last two days it hasn't bothered me. Dried up and barely noticeable now. The bleach doesn't stop the itch right away but it does kill her and dries it out in a few days, I think. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

A lot of what I've learned and researched about Poison Ivy is this:
--You cannot spread it by itching it. (It only flares when you scratch it making it look like it's spreading)

-- Only the parts of your body that the oily resin has come in contact with will be infected. The resin penetrates your skin quickly and if you can wipe yourself off with alcohol in the areas infected shortly after contact you can prevent much of the rash from occurring. Alcohol is said to absorb the oily resin.

--You cannot pass it onto others after you have disinfected and washed the resin from your skin and clothes. The busting blisters are not what causes the rash it's the resin from the plant and your blisters do not contain this resin.

--If you have clothes, gloves, or equipment that has came in contact with the resin you can possibly get it again from coming in contact with these items. Wash your clothes thoroughly. Cleaning your equipment is a push over in my opinion but go for it if the stuff aggravates you that bad. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

--Burning the plant, as other have mentioned it's a no, no. (Lungs, and other internal body parts will suffer harm.)

Speaking of burning Ivy, dummy me started a burn pile with a whole mature vine about 3.5 inches in diameter, piled a bunch of other brush on it and more poison. /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif I've burnt about 5 burn piles this year already and that one is still setting there. /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif If I do get brave enough to burn it I'll be lighting it and running to the truck about 1/4 mile away. But will see what I decide to do. This one just might send me to the hospital for some steroid shots and I don't want that. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif But work has to be done and I don't see no way around it. /forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif

I've been told Jule Weed is a great anti-itch plant. If you can find it and distinguish what it looks like it works. I found a patch of it on my land a few weeks back and it's pretty neat. You break the stem off and rub the sap on the itchy spots. I read somewhere that they're making it into a cream. I wish I could find it in the stores somewhere.

There are all kinds of other stuff about the Poisonous plants you can research on the net. I'm going way overboard here so I'm going to stop but it does help to understand the plant if you're severely allergic to it as I am. And for those who don't get it, that is said not to be always true. It's said that after contacting the plant several times one may eventually get it as they never did before and can become severe. So folks that are confident they are immune,,, be careful. You’re gifted but don't be over confident. It really sucks when you get it bad, drives you absolutely nuts. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif

Anyway thanks folks for sharing your other remedies I might try some of them this summer. I'm sure I'll have another chance. /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif