Facts about Poison Ivy
How do you get poison ivy? From touching it, or touching something that has touched it, like your clothes or your dog. You normally get it from touching the leaves, but yanking the vine out by the roots - even in winter - will give you a wicked rash. Using a weed eater to remove poison ivy will result in spraying your legs with poison ivy. If you are bare-legged and get scratches while splattered with sap from poison ivy, you may be headed to the emergency room. And there are more unusual ways to get it, like breathing smoke from firewood burning with poison ivy on it. Which can also put people into the hospital. What about immunity? Some people appear to be immune, others become immune. However, you can gain or lose immunity, so to assume you can’t get it if you never have before is foolish. People change as they age. I would never assume that I was immune at any time no matter what my past experience was. What it is like to get it? At first you get a slight itchy spot, which gets worse and worse. It can be a a small itchy area that will annoy you, or it can cover your whole body with giant red sores that will drive you nuts. The poison ivy rash, even when not huge and ugly, can be one of the itchiest experiences a person will every have. What if you know you’ve been exposed to it? Within a hour or so you should rinse with lots of cold water - like a garden hose. Hot water will open your pores and let the oil in. Taking shower could be a disaster. Later, after the oil is all absorbed or washed off, and you HAVE a big rash, hot showers can ease the itch for a few hours. For up to about 6 hours washing with alcohol may still help remove the oil, but many say that after 1/2 hour the oil has soaked in and you can’t remove it. The next day is really too late. Check with your doctor to see if early treatment can prevent the rash before it really starts. What can you do once the itching starts? For a serious case you MUST SEE A DOCTOR. For less serious cases check with your local drugstore or see the list below for remedies. Here are a list of popular home remedies: • Take a shower in the hottest water you can stand, for as long as you can stand - this may ease the itch for a few hours. • If heat eases your rash, you can also try a hair dryer, but be careful. Don’t burn yourself! • Jewelweed is widely thought to help the rash. Mash the weed and apply to the rash. • Spray with a deodorant containing aluminum, which most do. How long does the rash last? Anywhere from a week to 3 weeks, depending on how bad it is and how you treat it. Prescription remedies make it go away much faster. |