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Poison Ivy
Written on Monday, August 04, 2008 by That's Camping
Article Categories: Camping-Tips • Wildlife
Mike caught some poison ivy before our vacation last week. He was working w/ his friend, tearing down an old building, and he must have removed some old ivy plants. Luckily he was wearing long pants and work gloves.
He developed a rash on his left forearm. I went online briefly and found a web site that recommended Benedryl extra strength creme (containing Diphenhydramine hydrochloride 2%), so we got a tube of that. It definitely seemed to help a lot with the itch. He also wrapped his arm at night before bed. At that point, I was still unsure of how poison ivy spreads, so we didn’t want to take any chances. Note: about the Benedryl creme, do not take any Benedryl pills at the same time as the creme. There are warnings on the package!
Now, after doing some additional research online, I now know that poison ivy is NOT spread from the rash or from the “weeping” fluid from the rash. But it is very important to wash off all of the original oil from any clothes, shoes, toys, etc. Also, keep in mind, that dogs can carry the oil back to you if they walk through the plants. If you believe your dog has any poison ivy oil on his fur, then he also needs to be washed.
No product will make poison ivy go away; it will take about 2 weeks for it to run its course. The creams and treatments are only used to lesson the itch and pain, but it will not make it go away.
I won’t pretend to be an expert on poison ivy, so I will just list some helpful links that are much more detailed and experienced:
- www.drgreene.com - great site, safe and sound information on poison ivy. There is also one more article I found on his site.
- Poisonivy.us - lots of advice from real people, and what worked for them
- What does poison ivy look like?
- Wikipedia - lots of general info plus links at the end of the article.
Hopefully you will not need to use these links any time soon, but it is important to know ahead of time what to do when you think you or a family member has been exposed to poison ivy.
Do you have any helpful tips for poison ivy? Post a comment here or join in on the discussion on the forum!
Article Categories: Camping-Tips • Wildlife
Comments
The comment area is open for approximately one year after the article date.
Thanks for the article and links. I’m bookmarking this one since I’m sure I will need it in the future.
Posted by Bob (NEC) on 08/05/08Yea, that’s why I added it to the site, I hope we won’t need it, but I would like to have all the links together just in case!
Posted by That's Camping on 08/06/08Some info for you, you can spread it through contact and if you go to your DR he or she will prescibe Prednisone witch is a steriod and the rash will be gone in about 3-6 days.
Posted by tom on 08/17/08We use Oak-N-Ivy “Tecnu Skin Cleaner” which washes away the poison oils then “Cala-Gel” which is a medicated anti itch gel. I believe we bought it at CVS as a kit.
Posted by The P's on 08/30/08Thanks for your input, “The P’s” and Tom.
Just to clarify Tom’s comment. It can indeed spread if the oil is still active, but it cannot spread by the itchy rash.
Posted by That's Camping on 09/02/08
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