How to Treat Poison Ivy
If you ever bumped into poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac, you will do anything to eliminate the itching. All three plants have an oily sap called urushiol that causes an annoying rash. It’s all over the plant, the eaves, stems, and roots, can be transmitted onto objects and then onto skin, and can even be breathed in if the plants are burned.
Steps:
1. Stay outside. If you think that you have been exposed, prevent going indoors so you can avoid the spreading of urushiol.
2. Clean your skin immediately. If you have done this within 10 minutes, you might be able to have the urushiol off before it goes through your skin. Start by cleaning the skin with rubbing alcohol then rinse properly with cold water.
. Do not scrub or make use of warm water on your skin. This can depict the urushiol deeper into your pores.
. Do not make use of soap until after you have rinsed off your skin with just plain water. Soap can gather the urushiol and move it around to other portions of your body.
. Do not go anywhere near urushiol-containing plants that day; the alcohol will add extra vulnerable to your skin.
. Do not forget to clean under your fingernails; you might have scratched off several urushiol and could redeposit it on other objects or portions of your skin by accident.
. Because urushiol is an oily sap, it can be hard to get rid of it. There are products intended to break down this substance and aid with removing it from skin.
3. Recognize the symptoms. If you did not get the urushiol out in time, an allergic reaction might occur within 48 hours. To begin with, your skin becomes red and itchy. Then a rash follows, normally in a pattern of streaks of patches. Finally the rash becomes red bumps or big oozing blisters. The rash will come out wherever you came in contact with urushiol, though it may take longer for the rash to appear on portions of your body where your skin is much thicker. It does not spread, nevertheless, because there is no urushiol in the blisters. The moment the urushiol is vanished, the rash will go away.
4. Stop scratching. Even if the rash is not infectious, it is best to prevent damaging the skin, or else you run the threat of acquiring an infection from germs.
5. Wash clothes and anything else that may have come in contact with a toxic plant like gardening utilities, pets, sports equipments, sheets, or more. Do not undervalue the strength of urushiol; it can stay active for over a year.
6. Cool off. Take cold showers or baths, apply cold compresses, or massage the involved portion with an ice cube. The cooling sensation will give temporary relief.
7. Dry off. Always keep the portion air-dry. This will lessen the itching and oozing of blisters.
8. Use antihistamines. They can be taken in orally or applied topically, or both. Unluckily, these kinds of products only deal with the symptom which is the rash. That is the reason why they should be applied after you have used a product to eliminate the urushiol.
9. Apply calamine lotion. As the Coasters stated in their immortal song Poison Ivy, “You are going to need an ocean of calamine lotion.” It can ease the itching and appease blistered skin. Apply frequently and liberally.