Finding Poison Ivy

Michigan_Mike · Sep 21, 2005

Not that I really want to find it but...
My wife got into some poison ivy while working in the yard, but we don't know exactly where.
We know what it looks like, and we've looked everywhere she said she went, and even the places she might have been.
We can't find a trace.

Does anyone have any ideas on its favorite hiding places? /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif

(Yes, we also looked for poison oak and summac.)

Thanks everyone.

MikePA · Sep 21, 2005

My wife just had the same problem. Got poison all over her face (yuck). She was simply weeding the planting beds around the house. She doesn't know it was either....but she seems to find it every year. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Farmwithjunk · Sep 21, 2005

I think I just got it from reading your post. /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

You can get it from contacting the roots as well as the leaves or the vine. Roots can survive without above ground "evidence" for a long time. I weeded out the bove ground vines in my yard a couple years back. (Round-Up, 2,4-D) The vines lingered on. I was digging a drain line from my shop this spring, and got a doozy of a case from just the roots. Never saw leaf one.

And don't even get NEAR the stuff with a weed-eater.

BillP603 · Sep 21, 2005

If you get into the roots you can get into the most potent form of the oil. I found this out the hard way a few years ago. I was clearing out an area on a warm day in March, long before the plants had grown for the year.

I've been fighting in back in several areas with round-up, but have read that it may take a few years for the roots to dissolve after the plants have been killed.

riptides · Sep 21, 2005

Most of my ivy leaves are gone now, only the vines remain.
Perhpas she ran up against that? Any red-brown colored hairy like vines around your gardening areas?

-Mike Z. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

millsnhills · Sep 21, 2005

Did you or she happen to smell smoke that day. I know is sounds crazy but whether it be the oil in the wind in the spring and early summer months or someone burning a fire which has poison oak or ivy in it you can get it.

Embarassing to say but a neighbor and myself cut a few trees down in early winter and of course that meant we had to enjoy some cold beer afterwards decided to have a bonfire. Well adults and kids a like wanted to kill us over the next two weeks because everyone there within distance of the smoke was eat up with it. No leaves but the vines were still rich with the oil.

beenthere · Sep 21, 2005

May have been from burning, or handling a tool that had the oil on the handle, or from a dog or cat that was in it.

Washing regularly (I certainly don't mean to imply your wife doesn't do that /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif ) helps me work around and in poison ivy and not get the rash. I am very suceptible to it, and believe my 'defense' against it broke down when I was burning a lot of it in brush piles.
Now, I have a habit of washing my hands, arms, and face at least every two hours if in it, and even always wash after tying the shoestrings on my boots. I'm what one would call 'paranoid' about avoiding it. But soap seems to be the prevention.

Good luck in finding it. And wish your wife a fast recovery. There is comfort to know that it cannot be spread from the blisters. That used to be a fear, but its a myth as I understand.

HGM · Sep 21, 2005

Too bad you're so far away, my buddy gets that stuff from just being in the area. It's amazing,he could surely point it out for you. I on the otherhand have been really lucky and have only gotten mild cases.

Another friend of mine, his father was doing some burning and apparently got some in the fire. It nearly killed him, apparently it affected his lungs and such on the inside. Nasty stuff..

P.S.
I have always heard "leaves of three, let them be"...

NY_Yankees_Fan · Sep 21, 2005

Mike,

This site has a lot of good info on poison ivy, hope it helps.

web page

DocHeb · Sep 21, 2005

All poison ivy rashes show as contact dermatitis, but not all contact dermatitis is caused by poison ivy.

RedRocker · Sep 22, 2005

Follow me around, I have great luck finding that stuff.

kensfarm · Sep 22, 2005

Any outside animals.. if they run through it.. and then you pet them.. the oils are on your hand.. then you touch your face.. scratch your arm.

Volfandt · Sep 22, 2005

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I have always heard "leaves of three, let them be"... )</font>

Berry's of white, run in fright!

I've gotten poison ivy in the dead of winter by handling some wood with the dead vine on 'em. Got it by filling my shop wood burner with this wood!

The poison ivy around my area still has it's leaves and the dead vines still carry the poison.

This past summer I started itching the next day after contact. Usually it takes 2 to 3 days. I guess and got into some very potent stuff...

Other than a visit to the Docs for a shot, Iverest works best for me.

Volfandt

Michigan_Mike · Sep 26, 2005

Can't find any at all.
We retraced her steps, as best as she could remember, but found nothing. She was convinced that she ran into it in one area, so that was hit with a healthy dose of Roundup.
We'll see.

Michigan_Mike · Sep 26, 2005

Thanks for the reply. No smoke that we remember.
The bad part about burning poison ivy, is if you inhale, you can get the oil in your lungs. That usually means a trip to the hospital.
/forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Michigan_Mike · Sep 26, 2005

Thanks,
I'll add that to my "library".

Michigan_Mike · Sep 26, 2005

Yep.
My understanding is, around here we have poison oak and sumac too.
As a short follow-up, my wife is much better now. After some ointment and pills for the doctor.
The worst part was a scratch on her arm.
My guess is that the sweat on her arm carried the oil down until it accumulated in the scratch. While the rest is pretty much gone, that scratch is still really ugly.

Thanks to everyone for the help.

DrRod · Sep 26, 2005

I always wear long sleeves and long-cuffed gloves and I always get a rash on my wrists. I think I get the oil on my pants cuffs and then transfer it to my wrists when I take my boots off.

But Doc is right, it could be a lot of other stuff. I know people who get the same affect from Virginia creeper.

The best treatment ever is DriCort. Its a hydrocortizone creme in a tube but -- here's the magic part -- it turns powder dry as you rub it on. So you don't have that sticky feeling around your sleeves or whatever. It is truely a miracle cure for those aflicted by the dreaded ivy.