Master Poison Ivy/Poison Oak Thread

[dingeryote]

imight give it a shot if you guys get the funds together to buy me a brand new in box 372 or 440
your choice, surprise me umpkin2:

Yeah, sounds good!!

But we will be holding the Cortisone creme hostage and holding out for a new 372 each, when that PI comes out the other side.:hmm3grin2orange:

Nothing like a good inflamed, blistered, cracking, and itching, bung hole to motivate some saw charity. LOL!!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[unclemoustache]

Thought I'd bring this back again, since I got poison ivy again this fall. I know a bit more, and have done a lot of looking around, so here's my latest advice.

1. Everybody seems to react differently. Some people can roll around naked in it and it doesn't bother them (although I've never seen anyone behave that way) while others can get it just from reading this thread, and all the rest of us are anywhere in between those two extremes.

2. Eating PI to 'immunize' yourself probably doesn't work. People are either allergic to it or not, and one can become allergic, and one can also lose their allergy to it.

3. Getting PI one year will not immunize you for the next year. I've gotten it two years in a row now. Maybe it will happen with some people, but it doesn't seem to work for me.


4. There are two things to do to treat it if you get it:

a. wash it off - the sooner the better. NOT with soap and water, but with some kind of detergent. Tecnu is a product designed for this - I understand bleach works well, but I've not tried it. For Tecnu - follow the directions and repeat a couple times. Rinse off first in cold water, then do Tecnu again, then rinse off in hot water, then Tecnu again and rinse again. The cold water will close off your skin pores, so you don't trap more PI oil in your skin. Then the next time in hot water, your pores will open and the oil already in them will wash out better.

b. treat the symptoms. Use some kind of product to help keep you from scratching and possibly spreading the oil to other parts of you body. I use Ivy-dry, which is an alcohol-based spray product. Seems to work well. I like the idea of something forming a film over the skin, rather than a cream (like hydrocorizone) which you rub in but doesn't actually cover the skin.



5. Brag about it. When you get poison ivy, be sure and tell others how manly you are, and what kind of saw you were using. Do NOT tell them you were gathering flowers, or mushrooms, or taking pictures of the flora or fauna. Those result in a man-card violation, and three of those results in a revocation for 3 months - unless you were out woodcutting and decided to gather some flowers or shrooms or photos for the wife. That give you a man-card 'star' bonus.:msp_wub:

6. If your rash is especially bad, show it to small children with the remark, "this is what happens when you don't eat your vegetables.":msp_ohmy:

7. Pull in sympathy from the wife. Show her a website that says PI can affect the muscles in the back, and a good massage is the best treatment. Recommend treatment once a day at bedtime.:msp_love:

8. Stock up on buddy help points. Drop a truck load of wood at your buddy's place, groaning loudly that you got PI while getting him this load. He will feel like he really needs to pay you back extra for that, and you might be able to soak him for at least 2 truck loads of oak in return for your one load of willow. Warning - don't overdo this. Some neighbors are smart enough to see through this after a couple times.

9. Beware of scratching your rash and then scratching your groin area. No further elucidation is necessary. :msp_sad:

 

[lone wolf]

What I see here time after time is people fail to observe the stuff.Why is it you dont learn after a good case of Poisen Ivy?Why dont you look before you walk into it?I work around it all the time and all it takes is some precautionary measures like protective clothing ,watching where the sawdust flies ,cleaning with Tecnu when you are finished and I dont mean hours later.I mean come on put a raincoat on or something!I really dont think you would get much of it at all if you were careful.So next time look will you!:msp_sad::bang::msp_scared:

 

[Chris-PA]

I'm one of those people who is not very sensitive to PI, but that's not to say I don't get it. Quite often I'll get a little around my wrists where the cuffs of my gloves rub it into my skin. This summer I got quite a bit of a reaction after spending two days dropping trees covered with the stuff - fresh vines as big as my arm. I was burning the old, dead stuff too, along with rotten ash branches. I'm sure some fresher bits got into the fires.

Usually I wash repeatedly throughout the day just to be sure, but this time I was a bit reckless, and I paid for it. It was not a awful reaction, but it must have been systemic because I was getting it in places I know were well covered and not exposed.

Also, keep and eye out for jewelweed. I rub the juice onto skin that may have been exposed, and it usually grows in the same places PI does.

Last, a axe makes a lot less chips if you must cut it. I walk the woods in the winter with a hatchet or small axe and cut the big vines. Never got any doing that.

 

[cjnspecial]

I was never allergic until after cutting a bazillion trees with poison icy after hurricane katrina.....jeez that was miserable with no a/c and limited medical care.
Anyway, here's what works really well for me and the wifey:
1. Rub any areas that may have been exposed with dish washing liquid(I prefer dawn foam) and let is sit for 10 minutes or until it dries.
2. Rinse with cold water and repeat #1.
This process has worked great and is really good and I haven't had any reactions if I follow this procedure. It pulls the uroshiol oil and any other oils in the surface of your skin out. You have to have a back up plan just in case.....
3. Get your doc to give you a script for a medrol dose pack or whatever he deems fit. I buy a couple medrol packs from canada and have them on hand just in case.

 

[Trapper63]

I got it just looking at the pictures in this thread! I'm beyond allergic..
Being alert for it can help you stay itch free. It is the best advice, BUT, running a saw around the stuff I don't care how careful you are, you can still get it. You can miss that plant on the ground,vine on a tree or whatever.On top of that, your sweating like crazy..
It hides...I went 2 years without it but then got it this year, cutting firewood. took a leak and man...Medrol is the only answer for me at that point.
As mentioned, Fels Naptha is great. I use it with a scrub brush to go over each finger, knuckle and up my arm.
Had I known I was exposed this August, I would have washed a little sooner and a little harder. Fels will pull the oil off hours after. ( it will also dry out your skin)
Cool or warm water first as mentioned. I do my whole body like that, then use hot to open the pores and get the oil that has penetrated the skin, going over my whole body again.
Chainsaws and weedwacking is the worst for potential exposure.

I was told growing up that Indians used to eat it to build up resistance but I never entertained the idea. Not enough balls or not stupid enough..

 

[1project2many]

Warning: Anecdotal evidence ahead.

Waitress at local cafe falls for guy. Guy is nice, but not too bright. Waitress' father thinks she can do better. They date for a couple of years then decide to get married. Dad's not happy. About a month before the wedding dad and future SIL sit talking. Dad says "I've never gotten PI in my entire life. I used to eat it at the beginning of each summer and it made me immune." Future SIL eats some and and damn near develops an immunity to living. It took him a week to ten days in the hospital (this was in the early '80s) before he could be released. Everything going in has to come out. Swollen tissues from one end of the body to the next, breathing tube and IV feeding, Morphine to reduce the sensation. He told dad while fiance was present "I wanted to become immune to PI like you." Dad's reply: "You're an idiot. I never ate PI. I was BS'ing ya. Can't believe you're that stupid." Well, dad got his wish because the wedding never happened. True story.

As far as allergies, bodies do change. I used to be almost deadly allergic to mold. As a young child I couldn't even sleep on a feather pillow without waking up with serious trouble breathing. The mold which occurs naturally in feathers set it off Nowadays I show minimal signs of problems even in areas with very high amounts of mold. I also used to get PI really badly every summer. Seems all I had to do was look at it. Today I rarely have problems with it. Maybe I don't react the same way, but I do try very hard to properly ID it and avoid it. The basic rule I follow is to wash with cool water using a very strong dish or laundry detergent. Both of those products are better at binding water to oil than a plain soap. Drying PI rash with alcohol only hurts the skin and transports the PI oil to a larger area to create more rash. BTDT. And Chlorine bleach is bad for the skin and the body that owns the skin. I suppose the pain from a chemical burn just might mask the itching from the rash.

I try very hard not to touch clothes or boots which have been heavily exposed and I've been known to throw out socks and gloves if I suspect they've been in PI. I've even bought new boots and left the old ones out in the weather for a few weeks to avoid getting the oil on my hands. If I'm in a place where vines cover the trees I want to get, I've learned that if I can't say the vine is not PI, it's much better to decide I don't want the tree than to guess wrong. I watch for PI all the time when I'm walking and scouting. It's just easier imo to learn to stay away.

 

[unclemoustache]

What I see here time after time is people fail to observe the stuff.Why is it you dont learn after a good case of Poisen Ivy?Why dont you look before you walk into it?I work around it all the time and all it takes is some precautionary measures like protective clothing ,watching where the sawdust flies ,cleaning with Tecnu when you are finished and I dont mean hours later.I mean come on put a raincoat on or something!I really dont think you would get much of it at all if you were careful.So next time look will you!:msp_sad::bang::msp_scared:

That's sort of the assumed "DUH" that comes before all this. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but I knew I was walking around in it, and tried to be careful, but accidents happen.

 

[lone wolf]

That's sort of the assumed "DUH" that comes before all this. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, but I knew I was walking around in it, and tried to be careful, but accidents happen.

Well dont walk in it!

 

[dingeryote]

If any of you geniouses can figure out how to tell P.I. vine from Field bindweed, Virginia creeper, and wood vine, in the winter, I'm all ears.

Then again it dosn't matter 'cuz I have to cut it all out, and pull it by hand anyhow.

Knowing what it is, dosn't make it any easier.:msp_rolleyes:

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[Guido Salvage]

I am extremely allergic to poison ivy and have been since I can remember. Many bad episodes including walking it it at the swimming pool one summer to hang my towel on the fence, I ended up with half dollar size blisters on my feet that had to be popped and drained by the doctor. Another time I got it on my hands and the blisters opened up and oozed creating a solid crust that bound my fingers together that the doctor had to remove. Another time I rubbed my eyes which caused them to swell and close up, leaving me unable to see.

Some of my worst cases have been contracted from animals where I was unaware that the oil was on their fur. Without that knowledge I never took preventive action and was doomed to suffering. The worst case I ever had was contracted while bushhogging in the spring. I somehow did something to my neck (possibly from turning and looking behind the tractor) and could barely move when I quit. As a result I failed to do a thorough job washing and ended up with a horrible case. I think that my arms went through three different skin peelings before it was over about a month later.

I won't cut a tree near it or take one down with a vine on it (or even cut it up once the vine is removed). The oil is like nuclear waste as it apparently is potent forever and only a minuscule amount can contaminate you and everyone in your neighborhood. I would never eat it and become concerned when I smell smoke from outdoor burning that it will get in my lungs.

This is the best website I have found on the subject:

Poison Ivy, Oak, & Sumac - Fast Facts - ([url]www.poisonivy.us)[/url]

Just a few fun facts they list:

* Only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram) needed to cause rash
* Average is 100 nanograms for most people
* 1/4 ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth
* 500 people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin
* Specimens of urushiol several centuries old have found to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.
* 1 to 5 years is normal for urushiol oil to stay active on any surface including dead plants
* Derived from urushi, Japanese name for lacquer

 

[lone wolf]

If any of you geniouses can figure out how to tell P.I. vine from Field bindweed, Virginia creeper, and wood vine, in the winter, I'm all ears.

Then again it dosn't matter 'cuz I have to cut it all out, and pull it by hand anyhow.

Knowing what it is, dosn't make it any easier.:msp_rolleyes:

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

First of all I am not a Genius :msp_biggrin:but it seems the Ivy vines are hairy looking like roots and Creeper is smoother.Second of all how many of you geniuses here know what Poisen Sumac looks like?And how many can tell poisen Sumac from non poisen Sumac?

 

[lone wolf]

Untitled Document Sumac Link

 

[Guido Salvage]

If any of you geniouses can figure out how to tell P.I. vine from Field bindweed, Virginia creeper, and wood vine, in the winter, I'm all ears.

With Virginia Creeper I can tell by the color of the vine, the nodules where the leaves come out and the roots. I have spent a lot of time pulling it up and off of trees in my yard and notice it tends to trail much farther than poison ivy does as well.

 

[Encore]

I usually get it once or twice a year, but I don't have a severe reaction to it.

Oddly enough, I can work in it with bare hands and I never get it on my hands? But if I'm wearing short sleeves I'll get it on my arms

When I do get it, I hit it with the cold water and dish soap like others have said and I do the bleach as well.

The other thing I do (which is an idea my wife had) is put some of that clay mask crap on the spots. Really calms the itching down and seems to help it heal faster? Might be in my head

Typically when I get it, I can count on at least some level of irritation for 7-10 days.

I have some friends who get it super bad though. We can be working on the same tree, I'll get a mild case and they will have their eyes swollen shut the next day.

I make up for my mild PI allergy with severe seasonal allergies though

 

[SPDRMNKY]

Prevention

-spot it before it's 3" from your face...seems to be under every locust tree in KS...and in every "nice shady spot to work/eat lunch"
-long sleeves, eye pro, moustache (seriously) and other facial hair, gloves, pants, tuck shirt in...should probably blouse my pants
-jewelweed salve has helped some with prevention, but not as much as...
-contamination avoidance
--assume everything from elbows down and knees down is contaminated
--break off a clean twig to scratch my nose
--always wear gloves when handling equipment that's been used that day
--sanitize everything...including door armrests in my truck
-be VERY aware of where the saw is going to throw stuff when I have to cut in or near it
--keep mouth closed
-venture out on hunter/killer missions around the property with a strong glyphosphate solution

Removal

-solvent for the tools
-windex in the skidloader cab (less smell)
-alcohol hand sanitizer on the job site...several times a day...followed by water wash from cooler
-tecnu at home ASAP
-seperate laundry load with extra soap and hot water...extra rinse

Treatment

-antihistamine...benadryl works best, but knocks me out...usually claritin
-steroids and I do not mix...never could have been a body builder/pro athlete
-jewelweed...I can't say enough good things about it, so I'll just say this...google it!!!!!
--soap, salve spray


Thanks for starting this UM!!!!!!

Edit: ....a year ago...and thanks for reviving it

 

[Dieselbreath]

I get it mildly occasionally, but my wife gets it real bad. Just petting the cat she can end up looking like Mrs. Potato Head. Since I am into it all the time I always wash my own clothes. And if I know I have been in it I will do a 2nd load of wash to make sure it hasn't contaminated the washing machine. Works for us.