Remedies for poison ivy (allergies, pain, infected, skin)
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My husband has super sensitive skin. He gets it every year, and its usually a bad case. He wanted me to ask if anyone knows of a way to prevent it, or help soothe the pain from it.
He has it already again this year. Any suggestions? Thanks!
I've never had poison Ivy, but I've heard one of the biggest things is making sure to wash everything that was touched. Towels, sheets, clothing, ect. It might be that some of the poison ivy oil is still on his skin when he goes to bed or sits on the couch, and he is being reinfected with it. Which might be why it seems to last so long.
O.K, so i'm not recommending this necessarily (it probably sounds a bit extreme) but when i get the beginning signs of poison oak (it worked for ivy too when i was back east) i take a washcloth, saturate it with rubbing alcohol and scrub my skin 'till it's raw.
It hurts a little but it works ... for me anyway.
Then it forms a thin scab but no poison oak (ivy) rash.
I've never had poison Ivy, but I've heard one of the biggest things is making sure to wash everything that was touched. Towels, sheets, clothing, ect. It might be that some of the poison ivy oil is still on his skin when he goes to bed or sits on the couch, and he is being reinfected with it. Which might be why it seems to last so long.
Yes, true.
I think the oil stays "active" for a few days (can't remember exactly how long) so it's really important to wash everything.
There are products you can rub on your skin before you go outside that repel the oils in the ivy. One is called Ivy Block. They work pretty well, although the best thing is long sleeves, long pants, socks, etc., and tossing your clothes in the wash immediately after coming indoors.
And after I get it, I use Ivarest. Ivy Dry is another product that works well.
If those don't work, try the family doctor. Once when I had a particularly bad case, I had no other choice; my doc gave me a cream that cleared up the rash in several days.
I don't know where you live, but I've read and been told many times that this wild weed will deactivate the agents in poision ivy/poison oak if you apply it quickly. It is called jewelweed and , thankfully enough, it occurs in wet, moist areas, many times in the vicinity of poison ivy in the wild.
The stem of the plant is juicy and that sap is what you rub on after thorughly washing as much of of the ivy oil off as you can. It's usually the presence of the oil on other surfaces like clothing that seems to make one outbreak last forever.
Good Luck!
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