OT..poison ivy soap/cream...suggestions?

[Kingfisher]

Anyone have good experiences with poison ivy remedy's...creams/lotions/soaps, old wives tales solutions. I've been using Burt's Bee's soap and it seems to work ok, but looking for something better.

Thanks

[MattTuck]

never had poison ivy, but i've been told this stuff is effective.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fels-Naptha

[tele]

Bleach


Seriously

[azrider]

Prednisone

I know it sounds extreme but no potion, lotion, or otherwise works for me and if i don't take Prednisone within a day or so i have to go to hospital.

It was seriously a selling point went i moved to AZ.

Good luck and i feel for ya!!!

[MadRocketSci]

Tecnu - available at REI

[eddief]

hate that stuff and it hates me in return. just amazing that a plant can excrete something that is so not friendly to some of us. i just let it run its course and wait till things drip, then dry up...and try not to scratch into a scarred mess.

[FGC]

+1 on Tecnu. The rest of that stuff is harsh.

I've heard that somehow poison ivy and mango are related. Eat mango, build up resistance to poison ivy.

[goonster]

http://mattjokes.files.wordpress.com/2008/03/345px-cheese_grater.jpg?w=349&h=570

[goonster]

Seriously, you have to remove the stuff within the first fifteen minutes, or so, i.e. before you have any symptoms. Most anything that removes oils will work, e.g. warm water and soap. Handle all contaminated clothing carefully. After that, all you can do is depress your immune system with antihistamines, corticosteroids, etc.

I used to think I was immune for the longest time, because I had repeated small exposures with no reaction. Then I had a couple of very large exposures . . . ooh boy . . . and now I'm quite sensitive.

[azrider]

+1 on Tecnu. The rest of that stuff is harsh.

I've heard that somehow poison ivy and mango are related. Eat mango, build up resistance to poison ivy.

Seriously Clark?

[John H.]

Make a paste out of Fell's naptha soap. Do it by rubbing the bar till it makes foam/paste. Apply to skin 3-4 times per day. So drying and castic that it dries out and kills the poison oak (I am serious- not kidding).

[Dave B]

I was an outdoor rec major in college and focused my degree on the outdoors. Ran into that crap all of the time with kids and adults imguided on trips.

Try regular listerine. The alcohol will help dry it out and it does it in a coup,e of days.

There is a steroid you can take on a decreasing dosage and works for All sorts of stuff. Only take it once a year as it can thin your bones and lead to some issues. Hang in there!

Dave

[dekindy]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2sP77UXep0

baking soda and white vinegar?

[BobbyJones]

From someone who has serious allergic reactions:

Technu or Zanfel

I've only used Zanfel and balked at the $40 price tag (for a small tube) the first time I used it.

It works. And knowing this now, I'd pay double.

Last time I was in a CVS i noticed what appeared to be a house brand version on the shelf next to the Zanfel, but didn't really check it out.

[BobbyJones]

The skin of a mango contains urushiol, the same irritant in poison ivy.

"Eat mango, build resistance" isn't really applicable.


I've heard that somehow poison ivy and mango are related. Eat mango, build up resistance to poison ivy.

[snah]

Second for bleach. Wash cloth, scrub, little burn, but seems to work for me.

[DreaminJohn]

Do you live near an ocean? That's the best solution I've found by far. If not, then I've had some success with naptha as well.

O, and the hair dryer is your FRIEND. :cool:

[sc53]

Dawn dishwashing liquid, apply anywhere you've been exposed, also WASH your clothing in hot water, separately from your other clothing. The urushiol can spread like wildfire onto anything you touch. If you have a dog/cat, they can walk among the ivy and then slash you with their tails so you get blister slash marks on your arms and legs! Horrible. Wash your dog in Dawn dishwashing soap too if that's the case.

[xjoex]

Felz Naptha is the jam. I use it all summer in my poison ivy infested park.

I also put a little in my laundry to get the oil off of my cycling clothes.

Also I only where gloves once between washing when the trails are overgrown, it keeps me from possibly rubbing poison ivy on my face when I am riding.

http://www.amazon.com/Dial-Corp-04303-Fels-Naptha-Laundry/dp/B001B32NVO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1308849159&sr=8-1

-Joe

[Dekonick]

Seriously, you have to remove the stuff within the first fifteen minutes, or so, i.e. before you have any symptoms. Most anything that removes oils will work, e.g. warm water and soap. Handle all contaminated clothing carefully. After that, all you can do is depress your immune system with antihistamines, corticosteroids, etc.

I used to think I was immune for the longest time, because I had repeated small exposures with no reaction. Then I had a couple of very large exposures . . . ooh boy . . . and now I'm quite sensitive.

COLD water and wash with alcohol. You do not want to open your pores and let the oil inside your skin... Rubbing alcohol will remove the oil and is water soluble. Soap also will work, but not as well.

Gotta be done soon after the exposure... and wash the clothes separately from other items. Most people think poison ivy spreads from the sores... not true. Once you have the reaction, the oil is pretty much gone... but it will remain on your clothes/items and if you touch them, you spread the oil.

So - wash up as soon as you can. Cold water for your shower, to prevent pores on your skin from inviting the offending oil inside where it will cause even more of a reaction...

AND if you make camp fires, beware. Hairy vines are often poison ivy, and it is on a lot of deadfall. The smoke from a fire made with poison ivy/oak/sumac can cause a serious reaction in your lungs.

Enough! Now lets go mountain bike riding! :banana:

[Dekonick]

Second for bleach. Wash cloth, scrub, little burn, but seems to work for me.

The burn is you KILLING healthy tissue... When the burn is gone, the healthy tissue is dead and thus no feeling... ask someone with third degree burns if they hurt. Nope - you burn away the nerves and it doesn't hurt.

All bleach does is kill your healthy cells exposed to the bleach. It does NOTHING for curing poison ivy... however... if you kill cells, you can't feel the itch can you? The solution for an active poison ivy rash is an anti-inflammatory like prednisone or another topical anti-histimine / steroid. I am sure some of the docs can chime in.

The best answer - as I posted above - is to get it off before it is a problem - wash with alcohol and cold water. Wash clothing etc... I believe there is an ointment you can put on AHEAD of time that acts like a barrier - you then wash it off after you are done messing in the ivy...

:beer:

[sc53]

Lots (too much) of good information on avoiding and treating here:
http://www.supertopo.com/climbers-forum/1470677/Poison-Oak

and here:
http://forums.mtbr.com/showthread.php?t=499561

Warning: hideous photos in second linked thread!
Note: poison oak is the west coast version of poison ivy, though we have poison oak in the east too, looks different than out west.

[drewski]

Ok. This is a natural remedy. I have used a couple of times in our family
after hearing about this from some place. I think my wife read this.


In almost every yard in that has weeds, there is a particular weed
called plaintain that has natural soothing properties.
Our children have had poison ivy and it they have found it soothing.
I also used on myself once it the past.

Look on google for images for plaintain weed. It is extremely common.
Ironically, most people who have in their yard kill it with Roundup
without knowing what a wonderful soothing herb it is.

If you try it this is how we have prepared it:

Get a few leaves. Wash them. If you have a mortar and pestle,
grind them to release the juices in oils contained in the leaves.
Placed leaves on skin and wrap with a bandage.

Better than calamine lotion!!!!
It really works and if you have it your yard its free, which sounds really good to me!!!!

http://www.appliedhealth.com/nutri/page8426.php

http://www.acupuncturebrooklyn.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/broadleaf-plantain-300x201.jpg

[wc1934]

Prednisone

I know it sounds extreme but no potion, lotion, or otherwise works for me and if i don't take Prednisone within a day or so i have to go to hospital.

It was seriously a selling point went i moved to AZ.

Good luck and i feel for ya!!!

+1 on the prednisone

[Peter P.]

I use "Poison Ivy Soap" from CVS Pharmacy. "Quickly washes away the itch from Poison Ivy, Oak & Sumac (Urishol)-that's the actual misspelling on the wrapper!

Virtually any pharmacy will carry such soaps under similar names.

[rwsaunders]

Bleach
Seriously

+1...go swimming at a pool which overdoes the chlorine...it will be gone in a matter of day. Manly alternative as demonstrated by my ex-Marine Dad on his children...scrub-brush covered with Fell's Naptha soap and douse with Clorox.

[godfrey1112000]

Oatmeal Bath

follow seven step program

http://www.ehow.com/how_2163778_treat-poison-oak-oatmeal.html

[Matt-H]

Tecnu - available at REI


Tecnu works for removing the oil.

As an aside, in the past, I have gotten the oil from habaneros and other hot peppers on my hands while cooking. I wear contact lenses, and well, the day after handling the peppers...ouch. Kind of put things together and now scrub with Tecnu after handling hot peppers and no more pepper sprayed eyes.

[tkbike]

Currently in the midst of treating my 2nd poison ivy outbreak of the season, I usually battle it 5-6 times per season. I use a poison ivy soap which I get from EMS as soon as possible after a known exposure and I spend a lot of time in the backyard pool. I have found the Ocean and a chlorinated pool to be the best remedy for an outbreak. I have taken prednisone in the past but try to avoid all prescription drugs except when absolutely necessary.

[haneriali]

Pour some bleach in a cool bathtub filled with water; will soothe the itch. Chlorinated swimming pool is similar; however, you can adjust the chlorine level in the bath much easier. I learned this trick from my grandmother, who always took such a bath after heavy yard work, regardless of whether she encountered poison ivy.

On a lighter note, had a buddy who slathered on hemorrhoid cream that was given to his wife after she'd recently given birth . . . :p