If you spend a lot of time outside in the wild, enjoying Nature, sooner or later, you’re bound to run into some poison ivy.
When you’re sensitive to it – and not everyone is – this can be a pretty miserable experience. And even if you’re careful yourself, your dogs (or occasionally, cats) can bring it right to you… on their little furry bodies. The ones you like to pet and snuggle.
The reaction is to the plant’s oil (called urushiol, if you want the technical info), so just lightly brushing up against poison ivy won’t normally be a problem. But somehow “break” the surface of leaves or stems, and Houston, we’ve got a problem.
The first line of defense for poison ivy is avoiding it. Here is what it looks like:
You get exposed to the dreaded oil when the plant is crushed, cut, kicked, rolled in, sat on, pulled out of the ground, or otherwise disturbed. You see what I meant about the dogs…
Even the smoke when poison ivy is burned in a brush pile can affect the sensitive folks.
The second line of defense is water. If you suspect you’ve gotten exposed, do what you can to rinse that oil off before it soaks in. You have probably 5 – 10 minutes.
Jump in the (cool) shower, jump in the lake, turn on the hose, whatever you can do.
The rash usually shows up in half a day or so. Red, itchy, it soon turns into blisters. Itchy blisters that you must not scratch! Scratching will break the blisters and leave your skin vulnerable to infection.
After a good long cool rinse, you can gently scrub with soapy lather. If you use a washcloth, loofah, or scrub brush, THROW IT AWAY when you’re done. Seriously. No sense taking a risk of re-exposure.
Third line of defense – Homeopathic remedies can be miraculous when it comes stopping the itch and healing a poison ivy rash.
The one that comes to my mind first (because I always keep a bunch of homeo single remedies on hand) is the homeopathic version of poison oak, known as Rhus tox. This remedy can be used for itching in general, and poison ivy or poison oak specifically. A pellet under the tongue every 1/2 hour for a couple hours, then every hour or so the first day of exposure. This bottle contains 160 pellets, so should last you a good while.
With any luck, all will be back to normal by the second day.
Hylands Poison Ivy/Oak is also really good. It contains the Rhus tox, along with a couple of other homeopathic elements to help with symptoms caused by poison ivy exposure.
You may want to keep a couple of boxes on hand for the Spring and Summer months… This combination remedy only contains 50 tablets, which you could go through pretty quickly, especially if you’re treating more than one person.
So, hopefully by now, you’ve rinsed off with cool water and gotten started with an appropriate homeopathic remedy.
My favorite poison ivy remedy for topical use is an herbal spray from Herbs Etc – Ivy Itch ReLeaf. Its main ingredient is Jewel Weed, a long-used and scientifically proven folk remedy, which ironically tends to grow in and among poison ivy stands.
Other possibilities for topical application:
- Baking soda paste
- Cold coffee
- Buttermilk
- Chamomile tea
- Witch hazel
- Organic apple cider vinegar
- Pure aloe gel (look for at least 90% aloe on the label)
So when you’re walking, hiking, picnicking, cavorting or whatever, please avoid meeting this weedy villain, Poison Ivy.
Good luck, have fun,and I hope you never need this article!
Well, except for the prevention part. 😉
