ever have poison ivy?

[Armitage]

Grrr ... stuff is bad news. I got it really bad as a kid, I think I've become alot less sensitive to it as an adult (or maybe just better at stearing clear of it). Seriously, I could get it just by walking downwind of it on a hot day. And yea, don't ever burn it.

If you know you've been exposed to it, wash with a strong bleach solution (like straight from the bottle!) and/or lye soap ... breaks down the oil that causes the reaction. I've never heard of using bleach after you already have the reaction.

Once you have it ... calamine lotion, hydrocortisone cream, everything everybody has already mentioned. And learn to stay out of it next time!

 

[Lico]

put some hydrocortisone cream on it and let it dry for a few minutes. spray it with itch-x. repeat every few hours as needed. some of you guys have scary advice...bleach? eating the leaves? damn...

 

[GasX]

I have had poison ivy "down there"... :Q


be careful when you piss in the woods!

 

[Ikonomi]

Thankfully, I'm not allergic to poison ivy or poison oak, so I've never experienced the suffering.

 

[Sniper82]

does hydrocortisone and stuff just relieve the itch or does it help clear it up as well? Is there anything that will clear it up faster that doesn't require a trip to the doctor? I have some and tried it but it leave the the spots oily like? I thought it was best to keep them dry?

 

[Armitage]

Originally posted by: ^Sniper^
does hydrocortisone and stuff just relieve the itch or does it help clear it up as well? Is there anything that will clear it up faster that doesn't require a trip to the doctor? I have some and tried it but it leave the the spots oily like? I thought it was best to keep them dry?

Hydrocortisone helps relieve the itching, but beyond that I think it just has to run its course ... probably 3-5 days for most outbreaks.

 

[Lico]

hydrocortisone won't make it clear quicker, just won't be as bad (itch, redness, swelling, etc)

 

[Kyteland]

I went hiking in the Smokies a few years back with some friends. One time when we stopped to pump water I was resting while they workedD) and when I got up to see how they were doing they were sitting in a patch of poison ivy pumping water. One guy got a little sopt on his hand, but they were lucky. That could've made the rest of our trip miserable. (for them at least)

 

[Emrys]

Originally posted by: Roger
Oh, another tip, do not burn poisen ivy plants, the oil will vaporise and become airborne, you will then inhale it and your lungs will suffer horribly.

yup, people are known to go to the hospital if they inhale the fumes from poison ivy. I haven't got it before, and have walked through it barefoot often enough.