Poison ivy

[WildGoth]

anyone got any home remdies to prevent poison ivy oak and sumac

[Rick]

Yes. And it works very well. Stay away from it. I'm not being a jerk. That's the only preventative that really works.

[nell67]

Dont go where it grows :D:D

[crashdive123]

Wildgoth - they speak the truth. When I was very young we were in the woods playing Tarzan (it was either that or Army....played Army the day before) Anyway.......swinging from a big vine.....yup.....poison ivy. Eyes swelled shut for about 10 days. Bandages on hands for 3 weeks to keep me from scratching....dark glasses for 2 months due to light sensitivity. Stay away from it!!!!!

[nell67]

I have heard coating uncovered skin with mud creates a barrier to it,never tried it,and don't want to be the one to try it,another thing is to shower with Dawn dish washing soap,it cuts the oils from the poison ivy,I do this when I go out,but I am not sure how well it works,since I am way more conscious of avoiding it than I was ,I haven't broken out in 15 years.

avoiding it is the best way to not break out.

[klkak]

My Grandfather was the type of man that you said "Yes Sir" to. One day while cutting wood I got a face full of flying chips of poison oak. My face swelled up really bad. When I was pretty much over it he asked me if I'd like to know how to make myself immune to it. Of course I said yes. We walked out to the edge of the yard and he picked a cluster of leaves from the poison oak plant and handed it to me an told me to eat it. I guess I must have looked at him like he was crazy or something cause he raised his other hand as if to slap me and said "Eat it"! I said "Yes Sir" and ate it. I have never reacted to it since then. I don't recommend that you try it.

[grundle]

I used to get it like clockwork every summer. Generally it would get so bad I would have to get a shot of cortizone, but that was only when it got infected with staff (which happened more than once). I can remember several times having my face swollen shut, or scratching myself raw.

The best remedies are for relief. Either take a boiling hot bath, or run ice up and down it. The extreme temperatures simulate scratching without you having to open up a wound. Those stinky creams that supposedly stop itching do nothing so don't even bother.

I have found that the best way to defeat it once you have contracted it is to take a "cycle" of prednizone (which is a steroid). You need a prescription for that particular drug, so a doctor visit is in order.

The last couple of years I haven't had a hyper-allergic reaction to it which may mean I have either grown out of it, or I just need to go roll around in it again. I have built up quite a stock of the prednizone so I hate for it to go unused <end-sarcasm :P>

[Ole WV Coot]

Like the man said, take a little piece of poison ivy and swallow it. Next day take a little bit bigger piece and work your way up to a couple of leaves. You will build up an immunity to it. You can build up an immunity to almost anything and NO I'm not bothered by it nor were the kids I grew up with and we were exposed every day. Ole KY prevention. If you want something to relieve the itch if you know what jewelweed is rub your exposed body parts with it. I plan on making some salve with it thanks to Rick who told me what the name really was. In these parts it's called touch me nots because the seed pods kinda explode when touched. Now I wouldn't lie to you would I???:D:D
PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK:eek::eek:

[Rick]

Just be careful because you can contract poison ivy on the inside as well as the outside. Ask anyone who has inhaled the smoke from a fire that contained poison ivy. When my kids were little a neighbor's boy helped his grandfather do just that. The kid spent several days in ICU on a vent because of the internal swelling.

[crashdive123]

Here's some more info on treatment and remedies. http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/cures.html

[Ridge Wolf]

Wet suit.. for divers.. but then I will agree to always look where you're walking.. and know what the plants look like without a doubt. If you're walking into a patch of it.. turn around and walk out of it.

[WildGoth]

thanks for the info guys i had to take steriods for when i got mine infected it was horrid it is becoming more common due to an incease of poision ivy's effectiveness and being known as a survivalist at school lots of kids asked how to prevent it i have seen and heard what happens sometimes when you ingest or inhale posion ivy not pretty but the main reason i was looking for a prevention method is for my airsoft team we play in heavily wooded areas so we run a high risk

[crashdive123]

Be very careful with the steroid therapy. One day you're walking through the forest, minding your own business looking like this

http://mashby.com/images/posts/skinny_kid.gif

The next thing you know it, they put you on steroid therapy and you end up looking like this

http://www.fitflex.com/a3.jpg

[wareagle69]

did you know that for every poisonous plant out there the remedy is usually within 3 feet of the plant try jewel weed look it up and learn

[Rick]

After the fact, yes. But his question was for a preventative. By the way, Hiya! Where you been?

[nell67]

I have heard this as well, WarEagle,I have never tried it,so I can't swear by it,not gonna go out and get poison ivey to try it,but I have noticed that when I do see poison ivy,I make a quick check around to see if the jewelweed is close by,seems it always is.

[Rick]

Jewelweed works on nettle stings as well. You can use Thistle on Poison Ivy. Make a strong tea and use as a wash. Steep one handful of leaves in 1 pint (.5 L) of water for 10 minutes to make the tea.

[Assassin Pilot]

I have never gotten infected, even though I go outside a lot. We just don't have a lot of it besides in those large vines. And I swing on those things practically every day (of the weekend) and never have any problems.

[nell67]

Just because you dont get it now,doesn't mean you will never get it,I was in the woods all the time as a kid,never broke out,but after I got older,I got it when my soon to be ex worked in a saw mill,in the middle of winter,I never touched the ivy itself,but I contacted the oil on of his clothes when I washed them,after that,when ever I went to the woods,I'd get a pretty good rash,until I learned to avoid the stuff.
The color of you skin,hair or eyes has no bearing as to whether you will be allergic to it either,my sons are both allergic,oldest like me,has dark hair and dark eyes,the youngest has blond hair and blue eyes.My daughter has blond hair and blue eyes,yet has never broken out with it.

[grundle]

I have it on my legs right now. I'll probably ignore it until it gets really bad, its just par for the course. It looks pretty dry this time around so no cause for concern.

Oh the things I do for you morels!!!

[bulrush]

We have a lot of jewelweed around. You are supposed to mush up the leaves and spread the juice on the itchy area of skin. It's supposed to be an old indian remedy.

Another remedy is wash off the oil, called urushiol, using a degreaser. Dawn is one such degreaser.

Another remedy is put a mud made of baking soda and water on the area.

For me, I tried liquid Benedryl, it's a clear gel. While it worked it only worked for 30 minutes, and the bottle said use only once every 4 hours.

A preventative is learn to identify it in all its stages, the color varies wildly, from red in the spring, to light green to dark green. But the vines all have tiny hairs on them, used to creep up trees while seeking light. The stems, which grow from the vines, do not have the hairs. The leaves only have 1-2 notches, or teeth, per leaf, while other plants, like raspberry, have many teeth on the leaf.

Yes I got it bad one time, and only once, because then I learned to ID it. I took a weed wacker to a patch of PI and got it all over my legs and arms. That is 4 weeks I never want to repeat.

Archaeologists have found 2000 year old poison ivy in some ancient tombs in Europe, and STILL got a rash from it. They couldn't believe it was poison ivy until they did some further testing on the plant. The oil was still active.

[Ole WV Coot]

Before you get near poison ivy take a handful of leaves, stems with sap etc. any part of the plant JEWEL WEED and rub exposed skin(think I might have said that before) anyhow it works to keep you from getting it. You can get it from anything it's touched. Wear long sleeves, gloves and DON'T burn the stuff. Breathing smoke isn't the same as eating the stuff, goes to different places, tummy or lungs. Unless you are a mouth breather you should be fine. You can't get far in the woods without contact around here.

[Rick]

AP - My guess is the vines you are swinging on is wild grape.

[dbldrew]

By far Jewelweed worked the best for me. Although I’ve never tried using fresh jewelweed, there is a company that makes a concentrated spray and soap that worked fantastic. If anyone is interested I could dig it out and find out the company.

[Ole WV Coot]

Plenty of the fresh stuff, gonna try and make a salve when I get motivated. You can eat the seeds for a snack while you roll in it.

[WildGoth]

dbldrew if you can find it i would be interested in the company

[dbldrew]

Here you go...

http://www.altnature.com/order.htm

[Rick]

Here's some information from Wild Man Steve Brill including how to make a salve:

http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html

[Ole WV Coot]

I checked the links and BOY that stuff is expensive !! We have acres of the stuff and it may even replace our largest cash crop, and it's legal too. I am available for organized gathering tours. For a mere $50. per person you can collect all you can carry(one armload per person) . Not only will you have enough to pay for your trip and especially ME you can be the envy of your neighborhood. For a nominal fee I will have poison ivy plants available per dozen to plant in your neighborhood guaranteed to give you a ready market close to home. I am open to forming a corporation with me as president and I will have stock certificates available.

[crashdive123]

Coot – I love your entrepreneurial spirit.

[Rick]

Sorry, Coot. I have it on good authority that stocks are not a good investment. Now, if you would be willing to make rice shares available we might have a deal.

[dbldrew]

I checked the links and BOY that stuff is expensive !!

Agreed, I think a big part of the cost is the concentrated spray, if you look through the site; they sell bars of soap for $5.00, which seems a lot more reasonable.

I haven’t purchased it in years, and I don’t remember spending that much, although when I bought it last I had a pretty bad rash, so at that point itch relief might of changed my cost perspective a bit…

[bulrush]

I think it was this thread that mentioned jewel weed works against stinging nettle. Well, I tried it this weekend. The pain from my last jewelweed encounter lasted 5 minutes untreated. I smashed some jewel weed leaves and rubbed them into my current sting, and the pain was gone in 30 seconds, never to return. Neat, eh?