quicksandfarmer
Elite Member
I have a lot of poison ivy on my farm, but I've gotten pretty good at protecting myself and avoiding it so I don't get it so much any more. But recently I had something happen that has me puzzled.
My wife and I went out to do some clearing. For work like that, here's how I prepare: First, I smear a lotion called "Ivy Block" on my arms, legs, face and neck. Then I cover all exposed skin with clothes -- a t-shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, overalls, boots, and gaiters between boots and pants. On my hands I wear elbow-length gloves, and on my head I wear a lumberjack's helmet with face-shield and ear-muffs.
The work we were doing was cutting brush, mostly wild cherry, wild grape and multiflora rose, and feeding it into a chipper. We saw almost no poison ivy, and where we did see it we left it alone for later treatment with a spray. Since it was August, we couldn't work in the heat of the day dressed like that, so we started around 7:30 in the morning and stopped at 12:30.
When I quit at 12:30 I had completely soaked all of my clothes with sweat, so I stripped outside and went inside to take a shower. By 1:00, I started feeling uncomfortable. I had a rash everywhere on my body that had less than two layers of clothes -- my legs between where my socks stopped and my underwear began, my arms from where my t-shirt ended to my hands, and my neck (although not my face). My gloves seem to have offered no protection, but on my left wrist there was a stripe where my watch had been that did not have a rash. The rash was unlike any poison ivy I've ever had; it most resembled a very bad sunburn. My skin was deep red and swollen, with no blisters. If I pressed the skin it would lighten under my finger, like a sunburn. It didn't itch so much as it burned.
That evening my hands were so swollen that I took off my wedding ring before bed, out of fear it would cut off the circulation. I had a terrible night's sleep. I stock a full collection of poison ivy remedies -- Zanfel, Claritin, Benadryl (pills and lotion), hydrocortisone -- and I used them all and none really helped. The one thing that gave me a little relief was a sunburn lotion containing lidocaine and aloe vera.
In the morning I had one blister, on my ring finger where my wedding ring had been. It was huge, about a half inch wide and high, but it was the only blister I ever got.
I've washed the gloves I was wearing that day several times, but when I wear them my hands start to swell and burn pretty quickly. I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw them away, which is a shame because they were expensive and I haven't had them long.
My wife also had some of the symptoms, although it didn't come on as quickly with her and she had some blistering. She also had it go through her gloves.
Since then I've been trying to figure out what happened. The only explanation I can think of is that I accidentally put a piece of poison ivy in the chipper, and my clothes got coated with a mist of sap. When I sweated through my clothes, it got wicked in a fine layer all across my body. But half of me thinks I must have been in contact with something entirely different.
To summarize, here are the things that are unlike any poison ivy case I've ever had:
* It came on so suddenly, within a couple of hours of exposure
* It went right through my clothes and gloves
* The symptoms were different -- no itching, no blisters, instead burning and swelling
* The rash was even like a sunburn, instead of being blotchy
* Laundering my gloves didn't remove the irritant
Any thoughts, anyone?
Thanks
My wife and I went out to do some clearing. For work like that, here's how I prepare: First, I smear a lotion called "Ivy Block" on my arms, legs, face and neck. Then I cover all exposed skin with clothes -- a t-shirt, a long-sleeve shirt, overalls, boots, and gaiters between boots and pants. On my hands I wear elbow-length gloves, and on my head I wear a lumberjack's helmet with face-shield and ear-muffs.
The work we were doing was cutting brush, mostly wild cherry, wild grape and multiflora rose, and feeding it into a chipper. We saw almost no poison ivy, and where we did see it we left it alone for later treatment with a spray. Since it was August, we couldn't work in the heat of the day dressed like that, so we started around 7:30 in the morning and stopped at 12:30.
When I quit at 12:30 I had completely soaked all of my clothes with sweat, so I stripped outside and went inside to take a shower. By 1:00, I started feeling uncomfortable. I had a rash everywhere on my body that had less than two layers of clothes -- my legs between where my socks stopped and my underwear began, my arms from where my t-shirt ended to my hands, and my neck (although not my face). My gloves seem to have offered no protection, but on my left wrist there was a stripe where my watch had been that did not have a rash. The rash was unlike any poison ivy I've ever had; it most resembled a very bad sunburn. My skin was deep red and swollen, with no blisters. If I pressed the skin it would lighten under my finger, like a sunburn. It didn't itch so much as it burned.
That evening my hands were so swollen that I took off my wedding ring before bed, out of fear it would cut off the circulation. I had a terrible night's sleep. I stock a full collection of poison ivy remedies -- Zanfel, Claritin, Benadryl (pills and lotion), hydrocortisone -- and I used them all and none really helped. The one thing that gave me a little relief was a sunburn lotion containing lidocaine and aloe vera.
In the morning I had one blister, on my ring finger where my wedding ring had been. It was huge, about a half inch wide and high, but it was the only blister I ever got.
I've washed the gloves I was wearing that day several times, but when I wear them my hands start to swell and burn pretty quickly. I'm afraid I'm going to have to throw them away, which is a shame because they were expensive and I haven't had them long.
My wife also had some of the symptoms, although it didn't come on as quickly with her and she had some blistering. She also had it go through her gloves.
Since then I've been trying to figure out what happened. The only explanation I can think of is that I accidentally put a piece of poison ivy in the chipper, and my clothes got coated with a mist of sap. When I sweated through my clothes, it got wicked in a fine layer all across my body. But half of me thinks I must have been in contact with something entirely different.
To summarize, here are the things that are unlike any poison ivy case I've ever had:
* It came on so suddenly, within a couple of hours of exposure
* It went right through my clothes and gloves
* The symptoms were different -- no itching, no blisters, instead burning and swelling
* The rash was even like a sunburn, instead of being blotchy
* Laundering my gloves didn't remove the irritant
Any thoughts, anyone?
Thanks
