Dealing with poison ivy on you

WV_hillbilly · June 24, 2003, 07:47:30 PM

Are there any good things to kill poison ivy with once it gets on you ? I usually end up going to the Doc to get a shot and some steroid pills everytime I get it real bad .A coworker used to be a tree trimmer and said they had something called Ferric Chloride I think. He doesn't know where to get it at since he doesn't do that anymore. Calamine usually doesn't work for me cause when I go to work the sweat starts rolling and it is gone.

Anyone got any answers ? ???

Jeff · June 24, 2003, 07:59:27 PM

My understanding of poison ivy is that the reaction is an allergic reaction. I could never get it as a kid where my sisters could get it from 20 feet. Now I am allergic to everything and hope I dont get close to any of da ivy.

I wonder if benedryl has an effect?

Tom · June 24, 2003, 08:06:25 PM

The first thing to do, I'm told, is to bath as soon as you have come into contact with it. Lots of soap and water. The oils are what get on you and you have to get them off before you are affected.

Charlie had Calamine Lotion put all over him,

dewwood · June 24, 2003, 08:09:25 PM

There is a product that tree trimmers & power companies etc use to treat ivy or sumac. Try this link to see if you can find it.

http://www.forestry-suppliers.com/index1.asp

CHARLIE · June 24, 2003, 08:16:07 PM

WV_hillbilly, talk to your pharmacist. I read where there is a product you apply to your skin before you go where you might come in contact with poison ivy. It puts a protective barrier on your skin. It doesn't help after you get it but will help prevent you from getting it.

WV_hillbilly · June 24, 2003, 08:32:57 PM

Up until a few years ago I would wash with Fellsnaptha soap . I can no longer find it around here. It was pretty good if you washed when you got home. It is a bar form and dark yellow in color. If I could find it I would lay in a good supply of it . I used to scatch the ivy rash open and put Clorox on it but once had a bad chemical burn from it so I don't do that any more. I want to do some land clearing and no I will be in the stuff and the wife won 't let me in the same room as her if I have the ivy rash. She gets it like Jeff's sisters and won't have any of that . Plus she won't even wash the clothes I wear while I clearing out poison ivy.

I took my 5 year old fishing two weeks ago and he come home with it and boy did I get read the riot act. :D After a couple of days it was gone and everything returned to normal. We did catch fish so it was a sucessfull trip.

Tillaway · June 24, 2003, 09:33:18 PM

Technu or Teknu or something like that works for me, They have a poison ivy armour for pre-exposure. A cleanser for afterward and a lotion if you get it. I friend that requires hospital visits to get rid of it uses both the cleanser and armour and it works real well. The cleanser works well for me alone and I wade around in it(poison oak) all day long. All of Northern Cal is covered with it.

OneWithWood · June 25, 2003, 06:38:21 AM

I second Till's advice for the Technu cleanser - it does work after a fashion. I tried the armor and had a nasty reaction to it after being in the sun all day. I have used an armor product called Stocko Guard that worked well.
The only thing that works 100% of the time is to wear long pants, long sleeve shirts and gloves. Wash the clothes immeditely upon disrobing and wash your hands with dish soap after handling the clothes.
The fully clothed option is also a great protector for sunburn, ticks, skeeters and other nasties. Be sure and drink plenty of water. As an added benefit you will lose excess fat if you happen to be carrying any. ;D

Ron Scott · June 25, 2003, 04:00:18 PM

Forestry Suppliers, Inc. previously mentioned and Ben Meadows Company both have protections and relief aids. See Forestry Suppliers catalog 54 page 557 and Ben Meadows catalog page 739 for such products.

Both are in the Forum links. Also check with your local USDA-Forest Service or State foresters as to what they use if anything.

When I was with the USDA-Forest Service we used a cream called Toxic-Guard. It had to be rubbed on the skin before hand as a protectant and seemed to work well for most of us. Not sure where they got it from or if it still exists. Probably replaced with something better as that was some time ago.

johnjbc · June 25, 2003, 04:53:17 PM

Best thing I've found is Hydrocortisone Cream 1%. About 10 years ago they made it an over the counter medicine so you don't need a prescription. I don't get poison Ivy any more (don't ask how) but it takes care of poison Oak

Sawyerfortyish · June 25, 2003, 07:51:09 PM

I get poison ivy or sumac bad eys swell shut fingers swell so I can't work. The worst part is I'm allergic to cortizone and benadryl. I always had to suffer through it. But the last time i had poison sumac the doc gave me a shot and the next day I was able to see and after taking some pills it cleared up in about 3 days after I had already went a week without anything he told me not to wait so long to come in. When I was younger there wasn't anything any one could do for me being allergic to everything. I guess medicine has advanced a long way. All I can say is the shot and the pills works for me.

WV_hillbilly · June 25, 2003, 08:20:53 PM

Tillway
I have seen that stuff your talking about but didn't know if it worked or not. I will give it a try.

Onewithwood

At 6'3" and 280 lbs.I resemble that last remark> :D

Tom · June 25, 2003, 08:31:06 PM

:D :D I'm going to be 6' 5" one day. :D

OneWithWood · June 26, 2003, 08:01:55 AM

:D :D :D I will never see 5'8" let alone 6' sumthin' but if I don't get a handle on my handles I may very well see the other half of that equation :D :D :D

MrMoo · June 26, 2003, 08:11:58 AM

Hmmm,
I think this topic applys to me as I have a poison ivy rash on the back of my hand. Got it chipping up branches on Saturday.
I have been using the Tecnu cleanser. It seems to work ok but it doesn't make it go away just washes the oil away & prevents it from spreading.
I think I will take a look at some of the preventative products mentioned here.
Thanks for the info.

beenthere · June 26, 2003, 11:36:53 AM

I chime in with Tom, in washing the ivy oils off the skin (I try to do it within two hours of exposure) to control any reaction. I have learned from reading about poison ivy reactions that you cannot spread it from the blisters that you already have. Any spreading is from original oil on the skin that wasn't washed off, or was picked up subsequent to any washing, or reacted more slowly.

I wash the clothes that may have oil on them before wearing them again, and take precaution to wash my hands after tying my boots that likely have the ivy oil on them. That has become a habit even in the winter when I am not in poison ivy. :D

These procedures have worked well for me for the last 25 years. I am going to look for the Tecnu at the store. It apparently works on the ivy oil (urushiol), and is to be used within 8 hours of exposure.

Good luck out there in that poison ivy, oak, or sumac (that was the worst one for me). :(

hawby · June 26, 2003, 04:39:31 PM

To add to what has been said, if I get it, it will go systemic on me. In other words, it will popout wherever I scratch. Learned a nasty lesson about that one time :-[

Also learned to run the washing machine through a full cycle empty, with soap and bleach. Actually had three other family members get it from my clothes being washed alone, but theirs went right in after 'em. ???

The steroids ussually clear it right up. Benefit of that is, I put on huge muscles :D

Funny thing, as a kid when I didn't know what it was, I did not get it. Only during basic training, when I got it REAL bad, did I ever get concerned about it. now I can get it at 20' too. BTW, I took my basic at Fort Leonard Wood, Misery. Some of you spell it Missouri ;D

hawby

Bro. Noble · June 26, 2003, 09:13:17 PM

I understand that more than one GI from the "Fort" wandered over to St. Robert and caught aanother kind of rash that requires penecillin. :'(

Noble

hawby · June 27, 2003, 04:27:29 PM

Noble,

I was rewarded by my Drill Sargent for being the best shot in the Division. He allowed me a one night "conjugal visit" from my wife 8) I knew all those boxes of ammo would come in handy some day!

I was a very happy soldier ;D

They got some real HEAVY soil in that neck o' woods! It rained, snowed, sleeted, or all the above, every day, for 8 weeks. They shaved our heads the first day, then realized they didn't have nuff hats. I had had should length hair. Needless to say, I was shiverin'.

After Basic was over though, I had to say it was one of the best experiences I have experienced.

hawby

Scott_R · June 27, 2003, 05:39:17 PM

Common rubbing alcohol will breakdown the ivy oils. Got this from a local country doctor. Swab down boots and gloves with it. Wash any exsposed skin. Even put it in a spray bottle and use it on clothing before the washing machine. The thicker your skin is the longer you have to get the oils out. Scott

WV_hillbilly · June 27, 2003, 09:15:53 PM

That's great all this talk about poison ivy and now I got it in a neat ring around my wrist. Sorta like a bracelet. I must have gat some in the cuff of my glove and didn't find out soon enough.I bought some of that Technu stuff but the poison has a good head start.At least I got it stopped before it got to far you no what I mean being that I'm right handed.I would imagin that's a itch you better not scratch.

Mark M · June 28, 2003, 10:38:35 PM

There is a plant that grows in wet areas (near beaver ponds). I think it is is called Jewel weed. It has a orange flower that hangs from a stem. I think it might be called Touch me Not (can't remember for sure). When it is ripe if you touch the seed pods they pop from a built-in spring tension and send the seeds flying. Anyway if you crush the stems of this plant and rub the juice on your skin it helps. This is something I learned from an Indian friend who very knowledgeable about such things.

Mark

Wade · June 28, 2003, 11:12:51 PM

Hey guys,
I usually get it once or twice a year when I do some
clean up around the pond and yard. The first time I got it I
was covered head to toe. Wore shorts and no shirt :-[ :-[.
I had to take a potty break once or twice and did'nt think about washing my hands first

. You can bet I don't do that anymore ;) ;). I was given some steroid cream. It helped.
You have to be careful about wiping the sweat off your brow also. Wade

WV_hillbilly · June 29, 2003, 08:47:41 PM

Wade it only takes one time for you to learn that lesson about being very carefull doing certain activities while you are messing with poison ivy.

;D

Good news for me the rash is almost gone .I 'll try not to get more next weekend cleaning up some of my property. 8)

jwood · June 29, 2003, 08:57:59 PM

hillbilly my wife uses that fellsnaptha soap and a cream,triamcinolone acetonide usp,0.1% the cream seems to work pretty good. it drys the blisters keeping them from spreading...i'll find out where she gets the soap..