poison Ivy

“Hi

Unfortunately I exposed myself to poison ivy, along with my new pack, bivy, and a cool pair of boots. I heard this stuff is NASTY, and have the blsiters to prove it! Does anyone know how I can decontaminate my gear so it will not infect me again?

Thanks
CW”

“Tomato juice, err wait, thats a skunk... Pee on it! Wait, thats a jelly fish... I would imagine you could wash the pack in the bath tub with some gloves on with a dish soap or something to cut through the poison ivy oils but I may be wrong. Please feel free to call me out if I am.”

“Is it Zanfel? It's a wash for your skin. Not sure if they have a gear remedy too. I got a tube this weekend as free give away. I'm sure that I've heard good things about it.

Never had poison ivy I know of. Have to go knock on some wood now! :-)”

“As a kid, I was highly allergic to poison ivy. I'd go tromping thru the fields, woods, apple & peach orchards & be covered with the stuff every summer.

Soap & water should clean your gear of the oils.

Over the years, I've finally built up immunity but still avoid it like the plague.”

“Technu by tech labs. www.1800itching.com

They also make great wash for your body and the best invention ever.....wipes for getting the oil off your skin! Even though it says that it's just for your skin online, the product has instructions for washing gear.

Simple green is an excellent degreaser; a gentle biodegradable cleaner that removes oils very effectively. We use it more often because it costs less and we keep it on hand for cleaning. You can get it at home depot.
last edited: 10/16/06 8:18:40 AM”

“Fels naptha bar soap works very well for both gear and skin, if you can find it.”

“Sass is right Technu is great! LOL I had a guy approach a friend of mine at a party (my friend is a Cardiac Surgeon) the Surgeon brought the guy to me. I let the guy try the Technu it works great.

As for removing it from your gear, any degreaser should work. You have to remember the liquid from the plant it a oil based liquid.

Additionaly on the areas that itch real bad, I have found vicks vapo rub or something with camphor works real well.”

“There is no immunity from poison ivy. But susceptibility runs in 7-year cycles. On the low point of the cycle, you can come in contact with it and suffer no ill effects. On the high point, you just have to be in the same county and you break out. Or at least that's the way it seems.

More than one person who thought they were immune found out the hard way that in ain't necessarily so.”

“More than one person who thought they were immune found out the hard way that in ain't necessarily so.”
Ghoulbeet
10:21:41 AM
10/16/06


That would be me. I remember rolling around in the stuff when I was a young kid and never getting any itchy consequences. That changed when I was a teenager and got a minor case of it around one of my ankles. I’ve avoided the plant since.”

“I've gone from getting it every summer for at least 4-6 weeks covered from head to toe for 15 years.

For the next 30 years, I know that I've come in contact with poison ivy. I've waded thru the plants when necessary but haven't gotten it in many years.

I don't know what else you'd call it.”

“It's an allergy. Like any other allergy you can become allergic, or lose your allergy. You have to be allergic to get poison ivy, oak, sumac, etc. I'm more allergic to poison oak than ivy. That stuff is vicious.”

“Sass....we had a couple who were out for a 'romp in the woods" they both came into the ER with rashes in places Clothing should normally be.”

“It's not so funny when it's hapened to you! ;)”

“"they both came into the ER with rashes in places Clothing should normally be.”

Maybe the oils got on the clothes and then they wore them again? Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.

I can wallow in the stuff, eat it my salad, wipe my butt with it. No effect.”

““It's not so funny when it's hapened to you! ;)”
Sasszilla

Gotta agree..but you know its funny as heck when it is someone you know.”

“simple green rocks”

“Did Nigal just say he wipes his butt with poison ivy? I guess that's yet another reason to avoid the stuff.”

“Damn, I think I am suffering the effects. If it's not poison ivy, it's something similar. Last weekend I spent a good amount of time outside playing in the woods with our Airsoft guns. At one point, I had to do some "business" if you know what I mean. In squatting, I think I brushed some poison ivy or something with the outside of my leg because I developed an itchy-as-heck patch or two there. And it's not going away and is spreading.

HELP!!!!!!! I used to keep Tecnu around, but can't find it. Is that still the best stuff?”

“Yes. Tecnu is the best for neutralizing the oil. If it has gotten nasty and weepy, I find good old calamine lotion is the best to dry it up. I get poison oak really bad and am never without Tecnu below 5K feet...”

“If you can't find Technu there's some good stuff made by blistex called Ivybloc. Benedryl cream is also good. Benedryl orally helps too.”

“BTW, I've done the same thing. You have my sympathy.”

“its times like this....

that I am glad poison ivy is the one thing I am not allergic to.

Hope iot goes away soon.”

“When my brother was in the National Guard they sent them out on bivouac. Of all the guys who were out there my brother was the only one who bedded down in a patch of poison ivy. He is so sensitive to it this thread will probably make him break out. Needless to say, he was one unhappy puppy.”

“Any other poison ivy testimonials?

Do you clean your skin with Simple Green?

Any other good products besides Technu and Ivy Block?

Anybody use the Ivy Clense towlettes?”

“Fels naptha soap - make a paste and put it on the blisters.”

“Benadryl Gel has been working for me. Skin felt like it was crawling this past week...”

“I had to hike thru head high poison ivy in Death Hollow in Utah on the Boulder Mail trail--it was even overhanging in the stream.
I put my rain gear on to go thru, kept everything close.
Took it off inside out, double bagged it, then washed later. No poison ivy.”

“14 years ago I was a wet behind the ears forest ranger who could look at poison ivy and oak and have it. I managed to get some on my arm and went to the drugstore for help and was turned on to Poison Ivy Pills.

They are made by a company called Washington homeopathic Products out of Berkeley Springs WV. I think the product name is Rhustox 4x and been around since 1873; and they worked for me. It cleared it up and prevented any for the next year.

I have been taking a handful each spring for prevention and have not caught the dang stuff once.

The medicine is made from the plant and works i guess much like an innoculation....you build up an immunity.

It has worked for me.”

“Cool, yerby. I was wondering if anybody had tried that stuff.”

“I did some reading a few weeks ago about building an immunity to poison ivy. From what I read, it said it does work. I guess before it came in pill form some people used to eat very tiny amounts of it to build up an immunity. It said it's dangerous to eat it because your throat can close up from swelling so it wasn't recommended. The pills sound like a good option for someone that is at risk for exposure on a regular basis.”

“Spent the weekend in the woods of N Ga..quick note. We had a couple of kids get a VERY close encounter with Posion Ivy while clearing a trail....GOOD rash started. I gave them some TECHNU Extreme....they reported the itching was gone in a few minutes and this morning just little red dots like a three week old rash remained.

NOTE TO FILE”

“i always carry some of those hand sanitizers with me on the trail. if i accidentally brush up against any poison oak, i use a liberal amount of it to clean up with. i've never had the rash or itch. i think that the high alchohol content breaks up the oils.”

“Yep, poison ivy sucks. :(”

“scratch till raw, apply bleach soaked paper towel for 30sec two times daily for three days. It will be gone guaranteed.

* warning significant skin discoloration occurs as a result, for informational purposes only.”

“prednisone is your friend”

“I always considered prednisone evil, considering the reactions some people around have had to it. It would be a last resort treatment for me.

Caladryl is doing the job. THe problem is that the irritated areas got a few day's head start before treatment. I haven't had poison ivy problems since I was about 10.

I got it from spending most of fathers' day cleaning and clearing the area around the old house and yard that my in-laws bought up here.”

“I did to....until a bout with the stuff 3 summers ago. I was pure wrapped up in it.

Good Luck and Feel Better Soon”

“Thankies.

The worst part is that I'm paranoid of every single itch I have now.”

“Good gawd! I'd hate to see how birch handles a herpes outbreak.

Scratch effected area with garden rake until bleeding. Dip balls in vat of gasoline. Light balls on fire. Stop drop and roll. Apply liberal amounts of Gold Gooch.”

“I am permanently scarred by the mental pictue nigal just conjured up.”

“me too!”

“Treebait you have my sympathy. I'm horribly allergic to the stuff. My favorite treatment is this: [url]http://www.teclabsinc.com/products.cfm?id=710BAA10-0DF6-555C-F0B4010297877F77
[/url]
It soothes and speeds healing. Also can prevent an outbreak if you wash with it fast enough. This company's products are all great, but the Extreme is my favorite.
last edited: 6/19/08 4:52:20 AM”

“I'll have to give something else a try. THe caladryl no longer works. I'd just like to know how I got it on my upper arm, up under my shirt sleeve. I apparently have some on scalp now, too. Yuckers.”

“The urisol, or however it's spelled, spreads fast and easily. It'll survive on tents, garden gloves, etc, for years. And you can get it from touching that stuff. I get a new case almost everytime I pack for a trip.”

“nigal, speaking of herpes. Is everything okay. I have been on valtrex so I wanted to keep you up to date. No outbreaks this week.

GROSS!!!!”

“I switched to a different medication that seems to be working well. I bought the tencu extreme, but cannot use it on my arm since the blisters already ruptured and are constantly oozing. I didn't even have to scratch one of them to get it to ooze; I was examining it and flexed my arm, and the dang thing ripped open. Bleah.”

“I don't have poison ivy, but it's not uncommon for skin to pop when I flex my arm.”

“Damned poison ivy came back up on my left arm. I noticed little bumps all over the same area as before, and now a few of them are oozing again. WTF? My arm was clear for over a week.”