Spring 2013 Poison Ivy Tips

2013-05-11T16:32:00.001-04:00

It's Spring again, and you know what that means, poison ivy is back! Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac are toxic plants that cause irritation to skin. Some of the symptoms of poison ivy are blisters, redness itchiness and tender skin. This site is dedicated to the different poisonous plants, it details the symptoms, treatments and home remedies you can try to reduce the itchiness and swelling.

Below you will find a map of the United States, showing exactly where poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac grow. The lighter and dark green areas are abundant with the toxic plants, while the west coast rarely has them. You can never be too careful though, don't rule yourself out because this map shows that it doesn't grow in your area. You need to educate yourself, and learn what these plants look like, so that you can identify them and prevent yourself from touching them.

If you've already come into contact with Poison Ivy and are unsure what to do, then you've also come to the right place. If you think you came into contact with poison ivy, the first thing you should immediately do is wash your hands and any other affected areas with water and dish washing soap. Ideally you should do this within 15 minutes of contact. If you were lucky enough to have Zanfel on hand, then you can also apply that to remove the urushiol oil from the skin. Urushiol oil is the irritant found on the poison ivy leaves. When the leaf rubs onto the skin, the urushiol oil penetrates it. This is why the areas that come into contact with the toxic plants need to be washed immediately. It prevents the oils from penetrating the skin. Urushiol oils can also rub onto clothing and last up to a year. It is recommended you wash your clothing in hot water immediately, several times.

Poison Ivy Myths!

Some myths surrounding poison ivy, is that the blisters contain the urushiol oils, and if you break them it spreads. This is not true! Poison ivy takes up to 8 weeks or even longer to go away. The areas that break out later than other areas were just less sensitive than the areas that broke out first. Another myth is that the poison ivy rash is contagious and can be spread onto someone else. This is true and false. The poison ivy rash takes up to a week to finally start showing symptoms. If you have just come into contact with the urushiol oil, and decided to touch someone, it can be spread to the other person. However, if you touched the person a day later, they would not have the symptoms because the urushiols are gone. Most people are unaware they came into contact with poison ivy, and develop symptoms a week later. During the time between contact and the symptoms, the urushiol oils have already penetrated the skin and can no longer be spread to another person.

If you are just beginning to see symptoms from poison ivy, there are several things you can do to reduce the itching and the swelling. Calamine spray soothes the skin, and reduces the itching for several hours, you can reapply the spray up to 3 times a day. Taking a bath with epsom salt helps dry the rashes and blisters faster. Benedryl and Claritin helps with the swelling and itching as well. To read more home remedies for poison ivy, please click the link at the top of the page.

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Poison Ivy Symptoms and Treatment

2012-06-13T14:03:00.003-04:00

Odds are you're here because you've recently come into contact with poison ivy and are looking for poison ivy symptoms, treatments and remedies. This site covers these areas and much more! Feel free to navigate through the pages across the top of this website to find exactly what you are looking for. There are a number of poison ivy remedies that can help soothe the skin and stop the itching. For starters, wash the areas with cold water and dish washing soap. The cold water will help close your pores and stop the urushiol oils from entering your skin. Dish washing soap is stronger than regular hand soap, which will also stop the urushiol oils from entering your skin. Bathing in epsom salt or baking soda will help with the poison ivy itching, you may need to do this more than once a day. I personally like to apply aloe vera to the affected poison ivy areas, it cools the skin and stops the itching for a few hours. You will find more poison ivy remedies throughout this site. Besides these home remedies there are products on the market that are available to treat poison ivy rashes. If you would see the list of products, visit the poison ivy products page. Read on to learn more about poison ivy.

Poison ivy leaves.

What is Poison Ivy?

Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac are toxic plants that cause skin irritation when you come in contact with them. Poison ivy leaves contain oils called urushiol, which is what causes skin rash, redness, swelling and blisters. Poison ivy symptoms are more severe for 10% to 15% of the population. There are several poison ivy treatments that are available, but time is the best cure for poison ivy. The poison ivy rash can last up to two months on the skin from initial contact. Signs of rash on the skin can appear in as little as 6 hours or can take up to 48 hours. If you know you've come in contact with poison ivy leaves, you need to wash the affected areas immediately with cold water and dish washing soap. However, most people do not know when they've come in contact with poison ivy leaves and will develop rashes a few hours later. View Poison Ivy Remedies to see what you can do to stop the itchiness and swelling. Continue reading if you would like to know how to get rid of poison ivy rash symptoms.

My hand after week one!

How to get rid of Poison Ivy!

This site will show you how to identify the different poison ivy leaves, to prevent you from coming into contact with them. This site will also cover poison ivy symptoms and what you should do if you've come into contact with the plant. Lastly, you will find some treatments and home remedies that can be done to soothe the skin and reduce itchiness and swelling. All this information can be found near the top of this website. You will find Types of Poison Ivy, Poison Ivy Symptoms, Poison Ivy Treatment, and Poison Ivy Home Remedies.

Another shot of my hand.

My wrist after day 10!

My leg day 12.

I hope you will find this poison ivy website helpful and will actually learn something that will help your current or future situation. If you are new to poison ivy, I would recommend looking at the different types of poison ivy. If you currently have poison ivy, you should look at the symptoms and home remedies page then the treatment page.