I have, several years ago and I applied it to gardening this year, however, once I did see the little plants with their leaves of three, it was too late! Poison Ivy.
This is a picture of poison ivy. can you see what is meant by the "leaves of three"?
Even though my exposure was minimal, once I saw those leaves staring up at me from under my ground cover, I stopped and got out of the garden, but it was too late! I ended up with the itchy, red, yucky rash, and to make matters worse, it is over 90 degrees here, our A/C is not working, so I have to deal with prickly heat...I made my DH skip dinner last night so that we could go see a movie and sit in a cool theater for a couple of hours, just to keep the itching at bay!
There are some common myths to poision ivy, and I figured it would not hurt to give a little informational seminar in this forum.
Another photo, courtesy of www.altnature.com (click there for more information and pictures of poison ivy)
Here are some FACTS about poison ivy...
Urushiol is the oil, that is found in ALL parts of the poison ivy plant, stems, berries, leaves, roots--everything.
Once the urushiol makes contact with your skin/clothing, etc. it forms a chemical bond, within 10-15 minutes that can ONLY be removed with alcohol, ether, brown soap (lye), Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Oil Soap (I use this), and even Dawn dishwashing liquid (a Doctor recommended this one and it does work). Some also recommend a product called Technu, which they claim takes away the oils (my DH has used this before, and says it works for him). Urushiol is dervived from a Japanese word, meaning lacquer, so you know this oil bonds to whatever it comes in contact with! I highly recommend the Dr. Bronner soap products, we have used most of their line and we love them. www.drbronners.com
Urushiol is also found in the shell of the cashew and in the sap of the mango tree. (stay away from those too!)
Urushiol can be potently active for 10-15 days, where it can remain on shoes, clothing, skin, pets fur, tools, etc. if not thoroughly cleaned, and the oil has been found to be active upto 15 years (i.e. dry leaves in a compost pile), so don't toss in your compost heap! CLEAN EVERYTHING THAT YOU KNOW COMES IN CONTACT WITH THE PLANT AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, PREFERABLY WITHIN 15 MINUTES OF CONTACT. (you will have a better chance of no rash if you do so.)
I do give my dog Riley a bath using the Peppermint Oil soap if I know he has been in the garden, so that he is not a carrier of the oil on his fur. Animals are immune to the reactive properties in the oil, so they do not break out like humans do.
Poison Ivy is most notably green, however its leaves do change with the seasons...it can be brownish (winter), reddish (fall), dark green (summer) and light green (spring). and its berries are green.
You can get poison ivy at any time of the year...even in the winter!
THERE IS NO CURE FOR POISON IVY...you need to ride out the effects. I wash several times a day with Dr. Bronner's Peppermint Oil Soap which was recommended by our local natural market, and while it does not make it go away, the soap thoroughly cleans the affected areas, as well as cools the skin and minimizes the itching. (I have a hard time taking the antihistamine products such a Bendryl). I also dab a little of this liquid soap on the itchy areas, gently rubbing the soap in, letting it dry (it is not sticky or heavy) which keeps the itching at bay for hours. Calmine lotion, Technu, baking soda, over the counter creams, steriods, and other home remedies will help to aleviate the symptoms, however do not cure the rash. I actually took Benedryl for the first time in probably 6 years last night, it was so humid and I was waking up itching every night, so I took some, and slept the entire night through...i did have a hard time waking up this morning though...so you have to seriously weigh the effects of the remedy.
Taking Vitamin C helps to speed up the healing of the blisters and sores.
Obviously, many of these products must be used with caution, I would wash my face with the peppermint oil soap, however would avoid my eyes with it! I have found that wet tea bags, (brown or black tea, not green) are excellent at aleviating the symptoms of itching and swelling around the eyes because of the tannins in the tea. they also work on the other affected areas, however it is hard to hold a bunch of teabags all over your body!
It usually takes 10-14 days for the affects of poison ivy to subside, however it has been known to take up to 5 weeks. I am currently on day 8 from exposure.
Poison Ivy is NOT contagious! Really! If you have the urushiol oils on your person or your clothing, you can transfer it that way, however you cannot transfer poison ivy by touching someone's rash (again, unless the oil is still there, meaning you probably have not washed properly!) YUK!
BIG HUGE MYTH...the blisters that some get with poison ivy are not filled with the poison or the urushiol oil ! They are little sacs filled with water, puss, body fluids, nothing more. These "blisters" can get infected, so wash constantly. If the area becomes infected (sore, red, oozing something other that watery clear liquid, see a doctor, as you may need an antibiotic at that point.)
You can get poison ivy, in a much more severe form, if someone is burning it or mulching it, where you would inhale the fumes. Quite often, a doctor will prescribe some sort of steriod to aleviate the symptoms, and antihistamine to keep the airway swelling down.
Anyway...I hope you learned something...I am off to wash again, for the 20th time today! I cannot wait for this humidity to finally break!
Loads of great information. All I know is I am HIGHLY allergic to that Crud and always end up needing prednisone if I come in contact with it. Thanks for the tip about the peppermint soap for the dogs- that's how I got a particularly bad case last year, the dog obviously can't count how many leaves are on the plant!
Posted by: Debby | July 09, 2008 at 11:55 AM
I just LOVE Dr. Bronner's Soaps. That is all that we use here at home now. The peppermint is great for the poison ivy, as well as daily refreshing!!! I feel so clean after showering with it! The dog smells fabulous too and it is good for their coats!
Posted by: Kelley | July 09, 2008 at 01:45 PM