Poison Ivy

[Carl_NH]

As a kid I was immune then about 22 i got in PI and ever since get it once a year usually a mild case though. But 10 years ago some trees fell in a storm in the early winter and I proceeded to cut them into log lengths. I ended up at the Dr as was it systemic in my bloodstream - every few days it would would pop up somewhere else - Dr gave me prednisone and that finally cleared it up.

Usually every spring - summer now I will get a mild case whether its weed trimming, or replacing the trimmer line, or touching something that came into contact like mower blades etc. One thing that seems to minimize it is wiping down hands/arms with WD40 then washing with Fast Orange - seems to minimize the urushiol oils and spreading potential.

Also use Zanfel once I get it and that seems to stop the spread. When I was traveling frequently it would pop up in the middle of a business trip, and I used Old Spice deodorant to stop the itch and dry up the blisters.

 

[Oaktree]

A friend's (now ex-) wife was very susceptible to it and she always said to take a bath with a handful of Tide laundry detergent in the tub. PI doesn't affect me badly, but the couple times I did get it I tried the Tide in the tub trick and after a couple days it pretty much cleared up. Don't know if there's some specific ingredient in Tide or if any similar detergent will do the job.
Bonus is that it does a real good job getting rid of a stubborn bathtub ring!

 

[nbking]

As a kid in MD, I'd get poison ivy bad, used to take Clorox baths, doctor would give me vitamin A shots. Now out here in CA we have poison oak, some of the vines going up trees are 5"s around, I do get it some but not as bad, I have a designated set of tools, ie hand saw, dig bar, shovel, and a chain for working in it. Plus I wear a full coveralls, and a face shield, and 1 time use leather gloves that I just toss after. I really try and be careful, weed wacking, chainsaw work etc.

 

[ponytug]

I have had both poison ivy and poison oak a bunch of times. I find myself reflexively shying away from even dead twigs. The fresh leaves in the spring or the sap is the worst. Personally, I think the urushinol concentration is tenfold higher in poison oak, but that is just me.

The oil is hard to wash off, and easily transfers during washing. I have certainly gotten it in odd places, even having gotten it from clothes that were never in contact poison oak that transferred in the wash.

Dawn works great, though I used to use Fels-Naptha soap which I think is just so caustic that it turns the urushinol into soap. I do find that it needs to be washed off within a few hours of exposure. Any longer and it has "set". Personally, I wash it off within in three hours if I know that I have been exposed.

When I have to brush hog through areas that may have poison oak, I wear gloves, coveralls, respirator, face shield, and tons of zinc based sunscreen on any exposed skin. Everything gets Dawn or Tide treatment afterwards, and nothing else goes in the wash with them. I have learned that using the front forks on the tractor to lift the root balls of poison oak out of the soil kills it very readily. I leave the thicket for a year or two and then brush hog it or rototill it when the oils have decayed. Much safer for me. Over the years, I have gotten rid of all of the big patches on the property, but the flocks of quail dribble new seeds everywhere each year, so there are always fresh sprouts. Intensive grazing seems to keep it down as our horses and cows all like it, but I have gotten it from touching them.

Around here, it is a total pain to dispose of. You can't burn it, you can't haul it to the dump, and it can't go into green waste, and good luck finding someone to chip it. My only solution has been to live with the fire risk for a year or two and then put it in the soil.

All the best,

Peter

 

[fried1765]

I HATE poison ivy. I will probably get it reading this thread!!!

MoKelly

I was once THAT sensitive.
Time seems have decreased my sensitivity.
Now I only get it if within 20 ft.of the plant itself.

 

[Steve 3650]

Poison ivy has become an unfortunate part of life where we live. PI seems to effect everyone differently. I believe that I am less sensitive to it than I used to be, but maybe I am just more careful. My allergist told me years ago that there used to be a shot she gave that her patients swore by. The government pulled it from the shelves.
We have PI everywhere. In the timber, to the prairies, and all of the edges.
I wear long pants and most of the time long sleeve shirts when I expect to be in it.
After exposure, hopefully within 1 to 2 hours, I take a shower in cool water [don't use hot water as that opens your pores and makes it worse] and wash exposed areas with Dawn dish soap. Soaping and rinsing 2 to 3 times. Then finish with a normal shower.
Another very important thing is being careful when removing clothing so you don't touch your skin with the outside of the clothing.
Also realize that what ever is contaminated stays contaminated for a long time and you can continue to spread PI by touching pants, boots, dogs, fire wood or whatever.
When I get a rash it is usually on my wrists or forearms. I scratch off the blisters and wipe with alcohol. Burns a bit and is not recommended if you are concerned about infection.

 

[ultrarunner]

Property owner was clearing getting ready to build and rented chipper and tools and hired day laborers...

Two of the three were hospitalized and one for 5 days...

He said he hired them to clear the brush.

Owner found himself in trouble with unemployment, with holding, workers comp and facing hefty hospital bills...

The one that was the sickest went back to Mexico and hired a lawyer.

His face looked like a melon and permanent scars and eyes swollen shut....

Each spring I go on search and destroy missions with some vines coke can size...

Nasty stuff...

My brother laid down the law when his girls visit and wanted to go hiking...

They are in their teens now and never had it.

I swear when they were 3 or 4 they could identify it... never pick up sticks, never touch your face or anything going potty... standard practice...

I could only bulldoze about 2-3 days after a rain when dust in check...

 

[ultrarunner]

The park trails in the East Bay hills of San Francisco Bay are crawling with Poison Oak... scary how it just reached out into the pathways and so many walkers seem unaware.

I tried to stop a couple picking it... they did speak English.

On a side note there is a family from Tonga that get big money clearing poison oak... they say they don't get it... same for some Native Americans...

Animals can get it...

 

[newbury]

And no one seems to mention Poison Sumac.
I was writing an environmental report for Fort Dix, NJ back in the '70's.
I had a local (supposedly trained) field biologist assisting me doing the field work.
We came across a patch of Poison Sumac in bloom.

The clueless guy SNIFFED the flowers. Took him weeks to recover from the rash on his face.

 

[ponytug]

Thankful not to have poison sumac here, and really thankful not to have hogweed!

All the best, Peter

 

[JethroB]

I was once THAT sensitive.
Time seems have decreased my sensitivity.
Now I only get it if within 20 ft.of the plant itself.

I’m that way with fiberglass.

Whoever at Procter & Gamble came up with the idea of donating Dawn soap for the Exxon Valdez cleanup was a marketing genius. Whatever brand is on sale works for me.

 

[Captain Dirty]

When I was a boy my family kept sheep partially because they would eat poison ivy, horse briers, and other noxious plants. The pastures were fenced with wire fencing on T-posts just inside the old stone walls. In the Spring when we set out the lambs, city people, out for a Sunday drive, would discover that if they picked the lush green stuff (PI) off the stone walls and held it through the fence, the ewes, with lambs in tow, would come right over and eat from their hands.

 

[rgr33]

This whole subject gives me the creeps. Bad juju.

Birds spread seeds everywhere on my place, I have to hand dig them up, as I can’t spray herbicides due to wine grape intolerance.
I have had some success with scrubbing skin with Dawn, like you want to lose a layer of skin, but usually get a small dose at least a couple of times a year.

 

[dodge man]

I had a coworker that swore he didn’t get poison ivy. I pointed it out one day and he yanked a leaf and rubbed it on his face. I got mad and yelled at him because that alone could give it to me. I was lucky and didn’t get it. Him on the other hand, not so lucky. Served him right.

 

[ultrarunner]

For most according to the Docs everyone has some level of sensitivity and a trigger...

Remember well putting all my clothes in the wash and using Fels Napha soap... worked well no issue.

I put the same old clothes that were laundered several times back on to pull a motor a few weeks later... that night I was itchy and had a blister like never before.

Clothes looked like someone had taken a black Sharpie Marker and the spot with the huge blister on my calf was intense black circle the size of a quarter.

Native Americans used the sap as a dye for baskets...

 

[wheelbuilder]

My Dad's side of the family doesn't get poison ivy. Neither me or my sons do, fortunately. That said, I do try to avoid it, no sense tempting fate.
My Step Father, would get it by looking at it. He used bleach on any spots and swore it helped.
I have no idea if that is safe, but it seemed to work for him.

 

[Frankenkubota]

Is this an urban myth? I heard about people burning poison ivy and somehow breathing it into their lungs. Requires days in the hospital?

 

[ultrarunner]

Can kill you...

 

[Ford850]

Dodge, this might be too far along and won't help much but it's worth a try. This is what I learned from several good posts on here over the years, and it works very well for me after trying this for several years now. Dish washing soap/detergent, and a coarse cotton wash cloth. Urushiol is like sticky grease or partially dried varnish. Think of it that way when you are washing with the cotton cloth, using lots of detergent and a little water but relying on the cotton to scrub the skin clean. I scrub up after being exposed, and then scrub any areas that break out using the same method for days afterwards. Sometimes a breakout will be greatly reduced even days later, after scrubbing. That sticky Urushiol on the skin is what takes so long to wear off and so your skin stops reacting to it. My wife bought a cheap (coarse) bundle of white cotton wash cloths from Walmart, and we keep them next to a pump bottle of dish soap close to the shower for easy access.

 

[NorTracNY]

I've found great results with Zanfel, but only if you use it when you first notice your skin reacting to the oil. It will also help clean it off areas of your skin where you haven't started to react. If you use it later >24hrs after your already reacting, the damage to the skin has already occurred, it won't wash off as easily, and the skin will be itchy just from the damage.

Zanfel is expensive and I use technu sometimes when I suspect I've been exposed. It's a good wash.

I believe that a fair amount of spread will come from the oil getting on clothes and not washing out. Some clothing can take a few washings to get it out. The worst were running tights that I use to wear back in my running days. I was getting cases of poison ivy "coming back" weeks after it was gone from the same area. Turned out that I had gotten them on the clothes and even though they had been washed, the oil must still have been there.