Need help with poison Ivy

Mark Williams

Mark Williams

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I managed to get some poison Ivy contact whilst cutting ye olde grass. I had a small outbreak on my hand that has now spread to my face. It is starting to move a little too close to my eye for comfort.

I kept some bandaids moistened with calamine lotion on the area on my hand for a few days and it dried up. The spot on my face seems a bit more resilient.

Are there any surefire methods of drying this stuff up?
 
Poison ivy causes an allergic reaction.The natural treatment is to use jewel weed which is often found near poison ivy.I haven't tried it [I've learned to stay away from poison ivy !!]
 
I tried a product called ZANFEL last year on a nasty case and it really works. Quite expensive but you can get it at the drug store without a prescription. The box says more info available at zanfel.com.
 
Goldtanker said:
I tried a product called ZANFEL last year on a nasty case and it really works. Quite expensive but you can get it at the drug store without a prescription. The box says more info available at zanfel.com.
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Mark, try that or get your behind to the doctors now, my next door neighbor always has that happen and getting too close to your eyes you don't want. Have you got any aloe vera cream around at the moment, ask your wife if she has some...that's a mild relief but not a quick fix. Move, now. Cindy :)
 
cortisone cream may help otherwise take a trip to the doc for an oral cortisone prescription. First rule is don't come into contact with poison ivy. Second rule is to wash all affected areas [and clothes] so the poison ivy secretion doesn't spread. Never knew anything to work for a bad case but cortisone although there may be new treatments out there.
 
I'm with ptn. My own sensitivity to poison ivy seems to have increased to the point where a continuing allergic reaction keeps going long after the original contact with the stuff. I have no choice now but to go to the doc for the steroid scrip - clears it up in a couple of days.
 
I have used a product by Technu called Oak-n-Ivy. It is designed to dry up the oils so they won't spread anymore.

It is availble at most any pharmacy.

Good luck.

Glenn
 
Yeah, I got Poison Ivy, or Oak, or Sumac, while cutting wood a couple of years ago. I'm really not sure which one but my arms were swollen so bad I couldn't even bend them to feed myself. I had to sleep(when I could sleep) in the floor with my arms outstretched to the sides. It felt like someone was trying to crucify me.

Anyways, I used the Oak-n-Ivy product from Technu and it does help, some, but I found that the only real help was to go to the doctor and get a shot of steroids. That is usually followed by a few days of steroid pills to help clear it up faster. In my opinion, this is the best option.
 
Taking a shower in hot water (as hot as you can stand it) works extremely well, and then apply a liberal amount of calamine lotion ! Of course, you’ll have to constantly reapply the calamine.

Tecnu ( Oak-N-Ivy Cleanser ) is excellent, but its maximum effectiveness is within hours of exposure. It's also good for itch relief after the rash has started.

The best solution is to see your doctor. Eyes on target. . . .is the method of diagnosis ! :)
 
Tec-Nu is great stuff, but probably too late. Use it on your skin just after going outdoors; it's the only thing I know of that can dissolve the PI oil.

I used to get a prescription, can't recall the name. But it would dry up the rash within a day or two.

Calamine Lotion didn't do anything for me...

Be careful about handling your clothing and boots. I'd often catch it between my fingers in a linear pattern, from shoelaces I imagine.

Good Luck,
Bob
 
If you want relief in two days or less, go to the doc and ask for a medrol dosepack...cortisone (actually prednisone, I think). I have awakened blinded by the swelling from Rhus poisoning and begun to feel comfort and relief within 24 hours with a cortisone injection and a 5 day cortisone regime. There. All better. If you have a serious case, the sooner you do this the better you'll feel. I'm not an expert. I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night but I have come to this opinion through hard personal experience.
 
An interesting bit of info here. My Horticulture teacher in college once told me that Poison Ivy is somehow related to the Cashew family. He said that people who eat cashews will reduce their bodie's immunity to Ivy. Maybe that would explain why I used to sleep, play and everything in Poison Ivy as a kid, and never got it. But, now I get the stuff just by looking at it. My teacher said he does not eat cashews anymore.
 
I'll chime in with the visit the doc thing too. I've had two BAD cases of it, ended up missing works and everything. Trip to the doc for a cortisone shot will help within 24 hours.

I've had it in my eyes (face swells up like a balloon and you want to hide under the bed until Christmas. And... I've had it down there... Definitely NOT FUN! IvyDry Helps and Benydryl does too, but the shot is the best.
 
When I was 8 or so I had a case that came within an inch of my eye. I was very afraid to go to sleep that night, so I stayed up reading and spent the next day at the doctors. I believe he gave me a dose of prednisone ( :barf: :barf: :barf: ), and even if it tasted like foot callus filings it worked very fast and got the insidious inflammation to retreat until it was in the less-threatening cheek region and within a few days completely eliminated. Calamine and all of that stuff is great, but don't mess with that stuff when it spreads to your eyes, or else you'll have to use one of your knives to separate your eyelids to post in the morning :D
 
Danbo said:
An interesting bit of info here. My Horticulture teacher in college once told me that Poison Ivy is somehow related to the Cashew family. He said that people who eat cashews will reduce their bodie's immunity to Ivy. Maybe that would explain why I used to sleep, play and everything in Poison Ivy as a kid, and never got it. But, now I get the stuff just by looking at it. My teacher said he does not eat cashews anymore.
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Yep, in fact this is why you'll never see cashews in the shell for sale... They have the same irritant properties as the Ivy, Oak, etc.
 
I've never pimped my business on this site, but our Gardener's Cream has cleared up both cases of poison oak and poison ivy practically on contact. We are having it studied and applying for a patent as the first all natural dermal ointment. It has homeopathic properties.
 
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