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View Full Version : Watch out here it...opps its here



jazilla
04-21-2006, 15:37
Yes its here.Along with spring and flowers and the birds and bees its Poison Ivy. Watch out cause it could be in a wood near you. I know it is cause....... sorry had to NOT scratch just now, I caught it. Doing my not scratching dance. Its not that bad. It took since last Thursday till yesterday for me to notice it was there. So heed my warning or stock up on the Caladryl. Or do both to be safe. Just a little note, get the clear cause not everyone thinks your pretty in pink.:datz

TN_Hiker
04-21-2006, 15:43
LOL.....spray laundry starch will help dry out poison ivy. Not practical on the trail, but great for a home remedy.

EarthJourney
04-21-2006, 16:05
I have either been incredibly lucky or I'm immune to it. I have (unwittingly) found myself in patches of it and came out w/nary a incident! Just last week, literally, I leapt (sp?) before I looked and was in it at John's Mtn. in GA. Got lucky again (unless it's a really delayed case!) - whew!

I won't intentially go into it as I read (a long time ago) that the immunity can disappear overnight.

To contrast that I have a buddy who seems to get it just by looking at it!

icemanat95
04-21-2006, 16:23
There are a number of good poison ivy prevention and clean up solutions on the market. Some are pretreatments, others are for washing up afterwards. On the trail you are likely to know when you got exposed. When you get past the poison ivy, wash the exposed skin well, this'll head off an infection before it gets started.

Hikers are often so dirty and sweaty by the height of poison ivy season, that the oils don't manage to get to their skin. I had no problems with poison ivy on the trail, but I did wash off as well as I could every day and especially after having to walk through sections of trail where I couldn't avoid it. Other than that, no special precautions.

icemanat95
04-21-2006, 16:26
One more thing, every piece of the poison ivy and poison oak plants contains the nasty oil that causes the rash, so the twigs, vines and roots left over from last year's crop can get you if you bruise them. Takes a while for the oil to lose it's potency as well. The plants you killed thoroughly last year may not grow back, but they could still cause a rash if handled.

Do not burn poison ivy either, the oil will be in the smoke and an infection in your lungs will land you in the hospital.

Mountain Maiden
04-21-2006, 16:26
Watch out cause it could be in a wood near you. :datz
Ha! Not just in the "woods" either! Here I sit--in this miserable hot CITY--covered in the lousy rash!! I got it from moving my potted plants around in the front garden area. Today, after several hot days and rain--poison ivy is FLOURISHING everywhere I look!! I must have rubbed my face and arms unknowingly. I have had several encounters resulting in horrific breakouts in the last few years. I must be the kind that just has to say the words "poison ivy!"

Mostly, the breakouts have required multiple doses of prednisone and injections. The last was so bad, I hated being seen in public.

During one terrible breakout, I had someone offer to "talk the poison out." Anyone else ever heard of this?

Mr. Obvious
04-21-2006, 16:59
already had a good case of the it starts at your ankles and soon it's on your chest, on the backside of your knees all over your arms ect..this year..
I use a scrub.. It feels like that soap "lava"... rub it in, then wash it off, works really well..

Lilred
04-21-2006, 18:39
Another home remedy is to wash with Dawn. It's great for cutting grease and oil so it works well on poison ivy oil. Also, wash with cold water. Washing with hot water just helps spread the oils.

Just Jeff
04-21-2006, 19:04
I had it maybe three times growing up in the woods, but I've gotten Poison Oak four times since I moved to CA last June. Just getting over my last bout. For some reason, I'm VERY allergic to this type out here - I get humungo nasty blisters, but thankfully they don't itch much.

The PO out here just looks like normal shrubs. On one public park trail down the road, there's a sign to stay on the trail because the PO is so bad. I didn't see any PO. Then I looked really close at this head-high shrub-tree with no leaves on it. Here and there I saw single clusters of three leaves - teeny little leaves scattered throughout this impenetrable wall of sticks. It was all PO.

My last bout was gathering firewood at night a few weeks ago. Last time I'm that stupid.

Check this out:

Just Jeff
04-21-2006, 19:08
Oh yeah - here's a trick for PI/PO/PS. Blow it with a hair dryer for a while - it'll itch like crazy for 10-15 minutes because the heat draws out the histamines, but then it'll quit itching for several hours.

Same idea as the hot shower, but better IMO b/c you're also drying it out.

I've already added Technu soap to my standard kit...from now on I'm adding Ivy Block, too. I wish the mountains weren't so awesome out here so I could just keep myself inside!

woodsy
04-21-2006, 19:18
Oh yeah, something else that makes you itch has arrived too...the notorious Maine blackfly! First sightings today, only 25 miles from the AT. Break out the BEN'S 100.!

Mr. Obvious
04-21-2006, 19:52
I had a friend swear by taking steel wool to the infected area, ( i would imagine this wouldn't work with some body parts.. ouch!!) ..washing afterwards, then wrapping with crazy amounts of gauze ect , leaving for a week , and presto........

Hikerhead
04-21-2006, 20:09
Here's something BB told me about after we both got into some on our BMT hike last year. It's sold by Natures Sunshine and it's called BP-X. It's a Herbal supplement. All I can say is that the itching had stopped the next day. I'm not a doctor, I just play one on Whiteblaze. :)

Mountain Maiden
04-21-2006, 20:16
I had a friend swear by taking steel wool to the infected area, ( i would imagine this wouldn't work with some body parts.. ouch!!) ..washing afterwards, then wrapping with crazy amounts of gauze ect , leaving for a week , and presto........
Oh my, my, my! That makes me hurt just thinking about it! Not to discount your friend's advice but, my experience has been that ANY thing that can spread the urishol (PI, PO oil) is a bad, bad thing!! I found that out the hard way when I "scrubbed" the dirt off me in a hot shower at the end of the day! Following days, I ended up with an all-over breakout that lasted five weeks and almost put me in the hospital!

Arggghhh--all this PI talk has me itching! I remember it feeling like tiny explosive volcanoes at every breakout point!!

My advice--wash immediately and GENTLY with degreaser (Dawn is good) to remove the oil and take it easy from there. Caladryl is good.

There is also a tea you can make from jewel weed flowers gathered in the late summer to drink in the early spring. Supposedy, it is a distant cousin to PI and makes your body resistant. They also sell jewelweed soap for treatment.

Best advice--avoid it at all costs if you can! Already too late for me this year.:(

Riddick
04-21-2006, 21:27
Search on WB for "Zanfel" or "Technu". Both are amazing cures for poison ivy, maybe poison oak...not sure. Close to immediate relief from the itch and very soothing, even starts to clear it up the next day in my cases. With these products (Technu is MUCH cheaper, works the same), I don't worry too much about prevention, rather washing after I know I have come in contact or just washing when the symptoms start. These two products are simply amazing.

Good luck. They really do cut even the worst poison ivy itch in about 10-30 seconds.

Just Jeff
04-21-2006, 22:38
The Technu bottle says it's good for PI, PO and poison sumac. It doesn't cut the itch that quickly for me, but it does help a bit.

Incidentally, some folks (even the second doctor I went to out here) say that it can't spread once you've washed the oils off. Therefore, she said, using the Technu after the initial cleansing won't help any more than using regular soap.

Not true in my case. I'd washed with Technu soap three times over two days. Then I wrapped my arm in fresh gauze so I could sleep. When I woke up, the entire underside of my arm had broken out in mini-blisters. I used the Technu again and never put that gauze back on, and the mini-blisters went away within a day and never came back.

Oddly, though, she lanced my blisters (b/c they were so tight it was painful, even though they weren't itching much) and the fluid inside the blisters didn't seam to spread it any further.

I can't imagine scrubbing my body with steel wool! But if it works for him, have at it!

Oh - one more thing. A friend here in Monterey told me that Technu doesn't have any special chemicals in it to take off the urushiol...it's just a mildly abrasive soap. She uses regular old abrasive soap for her body because it's cheaper, but still uses Technu for clothing since it's "specially formulated" for that. I haven't looked to see how true that is, but it seems to work for her.

Hikes in Rain
04-22-2006, 08:32
Even burning the stuff doesn't eliminate the danger! I remember way back when I was growing up, one of our neighbors burned some, and accidently inhaled the smoke. Ended up hospitalized, with the rash in her lungs.

At least, that's what I remember.

EarthJourney
04-22-2006, 09:22
Even burning the stuff doesn't eliminate the danger! I remember way back when I was growing up, one of our neighbors burned some, and accidently inhaled the smoke. Ended up hospitalized, with the rash in her lungs.

At least, that's what I remember.

I'd say you remember correctly. When I was a kid my friend's father bunred some "debris" that included poison ivy - my buddy got COVERED and his face was as swollen from the burning poison ivy as if Mike Tyson had gotten ahold of him. His doctor told him he was so LUCKY not to have inhaled the smoke or it would've gotten in his lungs.

Just Jeff
04-22-2006, 10:06
I know a girl whose father burned some PI when their clothes were drying on the line. It got on her bra and panties. Uncomfortable.

lobster
04-22-2006, 10:34
You folks must have attended Ivy League schools!

Tha Wookie
04-23-2006, 19:44
The Technu bottle says it's good for PI, PO and poison sumac. It doesn't cut the itch that quickly for me, but it does help a bit.

Incidentally, some folks (even the second doctor I went to out here) say that it can't spread once you've washed the oils off. Therefore, she said, using the Technu after the initial cleansing won't help any more than using regular soap.

Not true in my case. I'd washed with Technu soap three times over two days. Then I wrapped my arm in fresh gauze so I could sleep. When I woke up, the entire underside of my arm had broken out in mini-blisters. I used the Technu again and never put that gauze back on, and the mini-blisters went away within a day and never came back.

Oddly, though, she lanced my blisters (b/c they were so tight it was painful, even though they weren't itching much) and the fluid inside the blisters didn't seam to spread it any further.

I can't imagine scrubbing my body with steel wool! But if it works for him, have at it!

Oh - one more thing. A friend here in Monterey told me that Technu doesn't have any special chemicals in it to take off the urushiol...it's just a mildly abrasive soap. She uses regular old abrasive soap for her body because it's cheaper, but still uses Technu for clothing since it's "specially formulated" for that. I haven't looked to see how true that is, but it seems to work for her.

Jeff,

I echo the first part of Riddick's statement: ZANFEL.

Trust me, I HIGHLY recommend this. You know, I've walked the mountains and the coast of CA. I have had more than my taste of PO like yourself.

There was a point in Big Sur (after walking those towering mts. over the coast, swimming in PO!), where I was COMPLETELY covered. It was a good time in general, but needless to say I could have done without the constant agony.

Then, I rembered a post on TJ's that Yogi had made; a strong recommendation for ZANFEL. The stuff is expensive, like $30 per little tube, but it instantly pushes the histamine out, after one or two treatments.

You know me, I am not one to promote drugs. But this is really an incredible blessing of a treatment. I've tried Technu and everything else. And there's only 1 thing that comes close:

Make a poultice with Jewelweed or slice open the stem and apply it to an area as soon as you think have contact.

But I think Zanfel is what you need.:eek:

Just Jeff
04-23-2006, 23:21
Thanks Wook. I went Pinnacles Nat. Mon. today...I got scared even looking at the PO! So I washed with Technu when I got home, just in case - and now the bottle is almost empty. I guess I'll pick up the Zanfel when I go back to the store.

I'll probably get some Technu for "just in case I didn't notice it" and get the Zanfel for "Holy crap here we go again" blistering. I ain't playin' around with this junk anymore!

LostInSpace
04-23-2006, 23:47
Make a poultice with Jewelweed or slice open the stem and apply it to an area as soon as you think have contact.

Roger that ... but people have to be able to identify Jewelweed.

Flirty
04-24-2006, 00:11
The PI/PO/PS oils get on objects other than your body too (boots, pants legs, etc.), and can reinfect you even ages later. My 12 y.o. son threw his shirt in the dresser drawer after traipsing through the woods and kept PI forever until we washed everything in the dresser! Important to soap/water (or even alcohol wipes if you got 'em) the hiking shoes, and throw your clothes/jacket in the washer as soon as you can if you think they came in contact with PI, etal.

Tha Wookie
04-24-2006, 08:27
Roger that ... but people have to be able to identify Jewelweed.


You're right. I think if we can make it out of elementary school we can handle learning to ID jewelweed. The internet of course, can give you some good info on how to do that: http://altnature.com/jewelweed.htm

Another good thing is to take a edible/medicinal plant tour with an experienced guide, like what we do in Athens for our wilderness survival skills courses. If anyone wants to come do that send me a PM!

Another route is the Peterson's field guide series. Look for the one about edible plants.

Tha Wookie
04-24-2006, 08:31
I did a google and found this great Jewelweed ID site.

http://www.econetwork.net/~wildmansteve/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html

Dances with Mice
04-24-2006, 09:03
PI is a "sensitizer", I think it's called. A person's reaction to it will get worse on each exposure. It didn't use to bother me. When I was a kid I could roll in the stuff and it wouldn't affect me. That's all changed now.

I found out in my mid-20's when I cleared the backyard of my first house, pulling PI vines down and chopping them up. I had a severe allergic reaction, my first ever, my eyes swelling to the size of golf balls. Steroid shots and pills really helped, the swelling went down but I was left with huge dark circles under my eyes, I looked like a racoon. Actually, I looked like I hadn't slept in a week or so. So that's how I appeared when I went to a major job interview. But I got the job!

But that's not why I wanted to join this thread, I wanted to give a warning. In our area the power company constantly clears undergrowth and branches away from power lines, chips the stuff they cut and are glad to dump it in your yard for mulch if you just ask. So one time I saw the crew working near my house and asked if they'd let me have a load. They did. And, wow, a dump truck load of wood chips is a LOT of wood chips!

But I very happily carted it all over the yard, spreading it under trees and such. It was a hot day and I worked without a shirt, sometimes carrying armloads of woodchips around.

I don't really have to finish this story, do I?

Sometimes it's not a bad idea to look gift horses in the mouth.

otterman
04-24-2006, 09:38
There is a flower called Jewel Weed in this part of the country that frequently grows close to poison ivy. Crush up the plants in your hands and rub it on soon after you come in contact with poison ivy.
It will prevent the rash. I've tried it and it works.

Sparkplug
04-25-2006, 20:37
Another vote for jewelweed, if you can find it on the trail. When we hiked last year, I would look for jewelweed wherever we were, and even carry a few stalks of it with me so I could use it at the end of the day. The larger the plant, the better, as the stalks have more juice in them. You can just slice open the stalk and rub it on your legs/arms. It truly worked for us. There is A LOT of poison ivy on the trail, and even though we tried to avoid it, sometimes you just couldn't... and knock on wood, with the jewelweed, we never go any PI! Thank goodness, as I'm definitely allergic!
Good luck :-)
-Sparkplug

StrixVaria
04-26-2006, 12:10
I hash on a weekly basis and encounter PI on every trail that we have run to date. We generally use rubbing alcohol after the run to get the stuff off our skin. It seems to work - I've had two or three break outs in the past year, generally in areas where I didn't do such a good job at removing the oil.
As I understand it, the oil is a contact irritant - the longer the contact the greater the reaction. Small blister patches are from light contact and generally take longer to appear than more concentrated areas - which gives the impression that the "Infection" is spreading. Remove the oil and you either get a light rash or none at all.
YMMV