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From waht doctors say Calimine lotion is not good because it drys out the skin on Ivy and oak.Once you get it once then you become susceptable to getting it even by breath iut when nearby it. Something like Benedryl will help but its always best to go to the doctor if a bad case.Oak mill type bath solutions will alos help reeieve the itch. My wife use to pull it all teh time for people and never got it. But one time she had been pllign weed with scartches on her arm and got in some. Now she can tell when she is close to it and breating it by the itching starting.Hs case seem to be really bad so I'd see a doctor about having treatments presecrptions just in case.
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!
Where is he picking it up? Work? Yard stuff? Is your neighbor burning stuff? Pets? Does he work around mangos (yes I am serious)? Sumac?
He is touching something somewhere or is around the smoke from it.
It can get on tools and pets and transfer to him. Plus even if its dead and you can't see it..the dead leaves can still bother the skin for a couple years.
Prevention: Skin coverage & washing all tools with soap and the hose
Unless a pet is bringing it in...Or your neighbor is burning stuff.
Treatment: Ask the doc for a steroid shot if he can take that. Amazing relief. You still have to do all the washing, lotions etc but it will take away painful swelling. Allergy pills are a joke compared to what that shot can do.
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.
That's what I do, but as a preventative measure.
Any time I've been around it, I wash with cold water and soap, then follow up with an alcohol scrub. The point is not to open the pores with something warm and let the oil in. Both cold water and alcohol close the pores and whatever PI oil you've gotten on you can be washed right off.
Where is he picking it up? Work? Yard stuff? Is your neighbor burning stuff? Pets? Does he work around mangos (yes I am serious)? Sumac?
He is touching something somewhere or is around the smoke from it.
It can get on tools and pets and transfer to him. Plus even if its dead and you can't see it..the dead leaves can still bother the skin for a couple years.
Prevention: Skin coverage & washing all tools with soap and the hose
Unless a pet is bringing it in...Or your neighbor is burning stuff.
Treatment: Ask the doc for a steroid shot if he can take that. Amazing relief. You still have to do all the washing, lotions etc but it will take away painful swelling. Allergy pills are a joke compared to what that shot can do.
Its from the pets.. our little dog goes outside to play most of the day, then comes back in at night. Guess we will have to start bathing him everyday..
Thanks for all the great advice!
Its from the pets.. our little dog goes outside to play most of the day, then comes back in at night. Guess we will have to start bathing him everyday..
Thanks for all the great advice!
Consider limiting where the pets play (fencing) and eradicating the poison ivy from that area.
Yeh I would pay someone to clear it, turn the soil and re-sod. They do make pet wipes that are easier on the dog and you for now. I don't know if they will get enough of it off or not.
my property is absolutely covered with poison ivy, but i've only gotten into it a couple of times so far, including just last weekend. i'm trying not to scratch myself this very minute.
i went to the drugstore for some calamine lotion and saw a poison ivy treatment there for sale for $35 per ounce - i bet they don't sell very many of those.
also, i heard on the radio that ~20% of the population doesn't react to poison ivy/poison oak; i wish i were one of those lucky folks.
I am extremely allergic to poison ivy. Here's what works for me:
At first sign of itching, or if you KNOW you have been exposed, use a lotion called Tec-nu (Oak and Ivy brand). Follow the directions to remove the oils from your skin. Apply hydrocortisone cream to relieve the itching. Every time the itching starts, repeat with Tecnu and hydrocortisone. If it starts to spread, see a doctor. I have been given oral steroids, steroid and Benedryl injections and a prescription cream all at the same time for a really bad case. Tecnu is the only product that will stop the spread if I catch it soon enough.
For really, really bad itching especially at night, use a hair dryer! Clean the skin, then aim the dryer at it for as long as you can tolerate it (do NOT burn the skin!) This sort of "deadens" the nerves and lets you get back to sleep... my husband is accustomed to hearing the hair dryer at night!
Any time I've been around it, I wash with cold water and soap, then follow up with an alcohol scrub. The point is not to open the pores with something warm and let the oil in. Both cold water and alcohol close the pores and whatever PI oil you've gotten on you can be washed right off.
This is really good advice since most people don't realize that washing in warm or hot water enables the irritating oil to spread farther on the surface and deeper into the skin.
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