Every year literally thousands of people come in contact with poison ivy, and poison oak, while hiking, biking and walking.
I’ve personally had poison ivy rash on my face, to the point that one eye swelled shut when a farmer near my home burnt the plant off and I was in the line of fire from the smoke.
Poison ivy or poison oak is sometimes hard to cure, hard to deal with and may in fact becoem severe enough that you are required to take corticosteriods to deal with the rash.
There are a few home remedies that you can use, which my native American grandmother used with far more success than the typical calamine lotion, which we can touch on atthe end of the article, however, in my humble opinion, your best bet is to avoid it, and you can do that by learning what it looks like, where it grows and how to stay out of it.
As the old adage goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”.
Believe me, in this case, that holds true.
Poison Ivy plant in full summer glory
Poison ivy and oak cause a weeping rash that will itch until you think you’re losing your mind.
Its not a happy way to end your hiking or camping trip.
One of the things you want to do before you head into the great outdoors, is to familiarize yourself and your family with what they are trying to avoid.
Poison ivy and poison oak are quite common,grow on the edges of fields, woodlands, will creep and climb trees, run across the ground and move upward into bushes.
Make sure that the folks working or camping with you are familiar with it, how it grows and what it looks like to avoid exposure.
Brushing against the leaves is quite often enough to cause a serious rash, that can grow into a real problem.
Poison Oak
The chemical that creates the issue for you is an oil, which is called urushiol.
A few idiots out there think that you can eat the leaves or drink a tea to make yourself immune..
Let me just say.. thats a fools errand, don’t believe it and don’t try it.
In about 20% of the population, people are immune. You can’t, in most cases, build up and immunity to it. YOu can however learn to avoid it.
Poison ivey in full summertime motion has some shiny leaves, which are notched, and older duller looking, sometimes reddish leaves.
It will grow on the edges of things, fields, forests and the edge of the road.. Chances are you will walk though it without paying attention if you aren’t looking for it to actively avoid it..
wearing long pants, thats not horrid, and will most often prevent it from touching your skin.
A good rule of thumb.. when you’ve been hiking all day.
take your clothing off by pulling straight down, turn it inside out, don’t touch the outside until you’ve laundered it
If you think you’ve gottn into poison ivy or oak.
IMMEDIATELY, wash your legs and arms or whatever you think touched it.
Very often you can prevent the rash, or failing that prevent it from being so horrid if you wash down as soon as you think you’ve touched it.
I carry a small packet of antibacterial wipes, such as baby wipes in my pack.
Wipe down with them, rinsing with my water bottle.
If in fact you get the rash, very often Jewelweed, which is a trick of my herbalist grandmother who cured it when the doctors medication could not.
Jewelweed, which, along with elder can help heal the blisters
Jewelweed, which you other outdoors folks will know as touch me not, is quite effective in drying up the blisters.
Split the fleshy stalks and rub the sap over the area that is affected by the blisters.
DO NOT SCRATCH,. you are asking for a bacterial infection.
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