Master Poison Ivy/Poison Oak Thread

[unclemoustache]

Since many of us deal with this regularly, let's pool our knowledge (opinions?) on this topic - maybe it will be a helpful sticky someday.


Let's post into categories:

Prevention - what do you wear, spray on, shoot up or swallow to prevent getting it in the first place?

Removal - once you get it, how do you get it off?

Treatment - if you get it, how do you deal with it?


Other categories could be identification, removal from the yard, or others.


Here's a website with all kinds of info:
http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view


Here's some pics of PI:

• frequently found around lakes and streams in the Midwestern and the Eastern parts of the United States and is also commonly found growing along trails and roadsides
• poison ivy grows as a woody, ropelike vine that can grow along fences or up trees, a trailing shrub on the ground, or a free-standing shrub
• it normally has three leaflets (groups of leaves all on the same small stem coming off the larger main stem), but may vary from groups of three to nine
• leaves are green in the summer and red in the fall
• yellow or green flowers and white berries

 

[unclemoustache]

Prevention - I heard that there are shots and/or pills you can take in the spring. Never did that, so I don't know how helpful they are.

- friend of mine used to eat a young leaf or two in the spring - said that did the trick for him.

- wearing long sleeves keeps it from getting on your skin, but I think there are also some creams and other topicals that you can rub on before going into the woods.


Removal- the sooner you wash it off, the better, but some have said that soap and water aren't good enough. Detergents are better, and there are some products (Tecnu, for example) that supposedly help get the oil (Urishol) off better. Other suggestions are bleach (anyone try this?), orange hand cleaner/degreaser, and dishwashing soap.


Treatment- time - lots of time! I was told that frequent washing helps.

- rinsing under very hot water.

- using hydrocortisone (at least 1%) is good.

- IvyDry

- Benadryl

 

[lone wolf]

Best prevention is to keep your eyes looking for it every time you walk to cut something.I know ,what about winter when the leaves drop ,well you have to be wise enough to tell ivy vines without the leaves. If you look where you are going you can prepare with more clothes and gloves and eye protection cover all your skin a lot of guys just cut it and it flies all over in the sawdust. Then wash with technu a couple of times.

 

[KMB]

Good thread! I'll be bookmarking this one.

Kevin

 

[wampum]

Thats one reason I like to start taking wood from the woods right now and keep going until March. Its cooler now and easy to cut. I wear long sleeve shirts and when handling the wood I use gloves. Then when I split I like to do the same. About the only time I get poison ivy is when I have on short sleeved shirts.

I know several that eat a couple leaves like was mentioned. I have never done this,(chicken I guess)but those guys swear by it. It does make a little sense,it kind of like taking a shot. Once its in your blood it may cause you to build up a resistance to it.

I was raised on Fels Naptha soap to wash with after being around poison ivy.

I'll add this a friend wraps duck tape around his trousers legs at the ankle,says it keep him from contacting it on his legs,makes sense.

 

[rwatson22]

washing with lava soap will prevent an outbreak if done soon enough. shots will help. a bad outbreak will result in some serious burns. i had it really bad as a kid even smoke would give it to me. built up some resistance over the years and very seldon get it anymore.

 

[ZeroJunk]

It is an allergic reaction. I don't have any reaction to it but I don't mess with it much anyway. If you are fortunate enough not to be allergic to the stuff you still need to leave it alone, because just like bee stings if you get stung enough chances are you will eventually have an allergic reaction to it.

 

[lone wolf]

It is an allergic reaction. I don't have any reaction to it but I don't mess with it much anyway. If you are fortunate enough not to be allergic to the stuff you still need to leave it alone, because just like bee stings if you get stung enough chances are you will eventually have an allergic reaction to it.

Now wasp and bee stings are another concern to us .

 

[NeoTree]

I know you can still get PI from the vines during winter, but I think it's easier to stay away from the vines than a bunch of leaves everywhere.

I've got about 10 cords worth of trees down with the nice hairy vines on them waiting for me this winter I'm not too thrilled about.

 

[lone wolf]

I know you can still get PI from the vines during winter, but I think it's easier to stay away from the vines than a bunch of leaves everywhere.

I've got about 10 cords worth of trees down with the nice hairy vines on them waiting for me this winter I'm not too thrilled about.

Dress for it and a full plastic face shied on a hardhat will keep the sawdust of your face and neck!

 

[Blowncrewcab]

Your 3rd pic looks like my front yard! I think I get it more off the dogs fur than I do cutting/splitting wood. I hate that :censored:

 

[formula_pilot]

I know you can still get PI from the vines during winter, but I think it's easier to stay away from the vines than a bunch of leaves everywhere.

I've got about 10 cords worth of trees down with the nice hairy vines on them waiting for me this winter I'm not too thrilled about.

I wear a set of gloves with no holes in them, and tear off the hairy vines before bucking the tree. I find they tear off the tree pretty easy if they have been dead for a little while. A cut to the vine with an axe here and there can help. Just be sure you don't touch your face with the gloves......

 

[Ed*L]

When working on trees with PI, I use the nitrile or latex covered gloves. They can be washed and reused. IMO, they also hold up longer to the rigors of cutting wood than leather gloves.

Ed

 

[griffonks]

- friend of mine used to eat a young leaf or two in the spring - said that did the trick for him.




No Way! Get a picture of your friend eating Poison Ivy salad or it never happened!

 

[dingeryote]

LOL!!

I have to work IN it, meaning, reach in and grab, cut, pull it up, seperate it from bushes I'm kinda fond of, and generally wear the crap.
And I'm highly allergic to it.


Prevention-Know what it looks like, and train your eyeballs to seperate it from look alikes. That includes the vines in winter, that kinda look like woodvine,and virginia creeper at first glance.

Use of tools like loppers and the long handled booger hooks are handy, as well as the gardening claws. Anything that can be used to minimize contact.

Long sleeves, gloves.

Keep your booger pickers off of you face. No itchin, scratchin, wiping snot or sweat, rubbing your eyes, smoking, takin' a dip,takin, a leak,...nothin'.
UNTILL AFTER decontamination.

If ya gotta go hands on with the crap, you WILL get contaminated.
Treat your gloves and clothing like it has Nerve agent on it. Turn the gloves inside out as you take 'em off or shake 'em off.
Drop 'em right on the floor along with the clothes and get back to 'em after you scrub yourself raw with detergent.

Clean the tools including the saws before leaving the field with Ether or brake cleaner. Spritz the hell outta them. Other wise a week from then, you'll move 'em in the barn and BOOM! blister city.

Firewood with PI vines gets left in rounds in a pile for a good while before splitting. The bark shrinks and fall off when split, so ya don't have the dadgum vine bits messing with ya a year later.

On the prevention side of things is not cross containating yourself and others once ya get it. Wear clean and unworn since last washed night clothes every night, change the bath towel/wash cloth daily.


Removal.

Clothes gloves etc. go into a Bucket with lots of dish detergent, simple Green, or purple cleaner to soak for a day.
Then into the wash, where they get washed twice, and then the washer gets a wash cycle empty, before the wife throws her stuff in there, and the gates of hell open.

Body gets scrubbed like a Crack addict with hives, using simple Green or dish soap. Then Tecnu if I think I have been slimed, or just for good measure.
Cool water is supposed to be better, I dunno.

Treatment.

I don't do well on Prednisone, and the stuff is horrible for ya, so I hold off untill it gets really bad. The stuff works wonders though.

Benedryl knocks down the histamine production and reduces the reaction.
Makes ya sleepy as all hell, but coffee helps.

Diprolene or prescrption Cortisone creme (1% or better) helps immensely and heals things quickly without the Prednisone, if it's not real bad and gone to cracking and bleeding.

Tecnu helps the itching even after the Urishol is gone.

HOT running water applied directly drives the histamines out of the tissues affected. Just grit your teeth and gradually turn the heat up to your limit and hold it there, untill the maddening itch fades, then turn it up some more and repeat. Just don't burn yourself thinking you're getting even with the PI LOL!!
The hot water trick is great just before Bed because it will get you several hours of relief so you can sleep.

Wear bedclothes or cover the affected area so the oozing dosn't stick to the sheets. It sucks peeling the bedsheet off in the morning..

If the affected area is bigger than a grapefruit sized area, or is cracking from swelling, I hit the doc.
Same thing with "Important" areas such as near the eyes, ears, and Plumbing.

This is a timely topic.
In another 6 weeks I'll be pruning again, and back to the doc for another script of creme.
Been eyeballing a G.I. Surplus portable NBC decontamination shower unit but the wife is against the idea. LOL!!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[mama]

poison oak

Just getting over a bad case of poison oak. I used tecnu and Ivy dry and it did the trick. It kept the itching down.

 

[Laird]

Only advice I have is to not use a weedeater on it while wearing shorts. Happened many years ago but I remember the following weeks like it was yesterday.

 

[lone wolf]

Only advice I have is to not use a weedeater on it while wearing shorts. Happened many years ago but I remember the following weeks like it was yesterday.

That will hurt you!

 

[osujake]

Prevention - try not to let it touch bare skin. wear long pants, and long sleeve shirt, gloves(safety glasses if cutting with saw or weed eater) remove these before going in the house put them in the wash before wearing again.

Removal - wash bare skin with Fels Naptha soap or blue Dawn

http://www.felsnaptha.com/
Fels-Naptha® is the golden bar that is excellent for pre-treating greasy, oily stains like perspiration stains and ring-around-the collar. Fels-Naptha® has stood the test of time for over 100 years so you know it really works.
(this soap can be found in the laundy ailse at most groceries or old traditional hardware or grocers
Dawn gets grease out of your way

PI is cause by a reaction the skin has to the oils on the leaves and to the oils in the sap of roots and stems. Fels Naptha and Dawn cuts through and breaks down the oils and dries it out.

Treatment - wash with Fels Naptha or Dawn the pat dry and put on calomine Lotion or Ivarest

 

[NeoTree]

When working on trees with PI, I use the nitrile or latex covered gloves. They can be washed and reused. IMO, they also hold up longer to the rigors of cutting wood than leather gloves.

Ed

That is what I allways wear when I cut and climb, I get some really nice ones from my machine shop that fit real good. I'm usually swimming in and out of PI at a good rate and have been lucky to the point where I don't know if I get it or not (not tempting fate), But I don't take it for granted because I allways dress appropriately for it.