djschuett

I agree completely with the bleach when it's fresh on, i just did an ER rotation and that's what my attending recommended.

If you don't know where you got it from, look at your kids, pets and clothes. Wash all of the above. If a dog gets into poison ivy and gets the oils on him, he can kee re-exposing you for over a week after he brushed it.

Once you have poison ivy and have showered, you're no longer contagious and you cannot spread it anywhere on your body by scratching. The rash may spread as your body continues to react to the oils it was exposed to, but scratching and breaking a poison ivy blister will not spread it to another part of your body or to another person.

The best way to deal with it once you've got it is Benadryl as much as the bottle directs as often as directed and any sort of Calamine lotion. Any generic brand of Calamine is as good as any name brand, the only real difference is the price.

If the reaction is anywhere near your eyes, mouth or is over a large area (greater than say your forearm) or if the itching is driving you nuts, go see a doc and he/she will probably give you a short course of steroids which will calm the reaction down.

BKE

Ridge Runner, I see you're in WV. Is Jewelweed something that I should be able to find here in Ga? What type of terrain does it like to grow in? This infomight help other folks as well. Thanks

Andrew14

I've had people tell me that if you eat it you will never get it again. I just tell them ill stick with getting it on my skin instead of down my throat.

Fletch NY

I get it a lot. Probably had it 50 times over the past 15 to 20 years. Stupid thing is I never got it as a kid??

I have tried everything from the steroid shot, gas, bleach, lye soap, every kind of soap out there homemade or store, calamine........ In my case no matter what I do it runs a course of 8 to 12 days. The one thing that helps is the scrubs they have out now in your pharmacy. I have used cortaid and technu they are all alike. These if used a couple times a day on the affected areas seems to minimize the outbreaks for me.

Keeping your skin dry is key, use the scrub,lots of showers(which actually dries out your skin), and benidril.


Oh and big WARNING here!!! Do not burn wood with poison ivy on it or poison vines. You can mess your $hit up good!! I had a friend do that, putt him right in the ER.

djschuett

The "bleach crowd" is not full of BS, your buddy is just an idiot!
Bleach will denature any of the oils still on the skin. It WILL NOT treat poison ivy already there!

Scratching the pustules open and pouring bleach or gas into them is one of the dumber ideas I have ever heard of and I can't believe anyone would actually do that.

Putting bleach on exposed skin can prevent or lessen the reaction. Scratching open the pustules to put bleach into them is as intelligent as drinking bleach to get rid of it from the inside.

I've never seen any research on the Jimson weed or seen it work, but I'm not gonna discount it if it works for you.

kdsberman

Not to get off subject, but how can you tell that a plant is poison ivy??? I know they say 3 leaves, but theres a ton of plants that have 3 leaves.

djschuett

Do a google image search for "poison ivy."

CZ2506

I'm usually good for 1 or 2 exposures per year. Never found a good way to stop it so I just try to minimize the discomfort. Try washing with cold water and soap, dry completely, apply talcom powder to help keep dry and then drink 4 to 6 ice cold buds to take your mind off the itch. It works for me

kevin1

The best thing I've found was to gently rub the affected area with a dry cloth or paper towels to remove as much of the offending oil as possible, then slather on some 1% hydrocortisone cream like Cortisone 10 ointment. The hydro keeps the itch to a bare minimum and helps to prevent the inflammation. If you're already blistered it drys up the blisters almost overnight.