My husband has poison oak/ivy...from carrying cut wood this weekend.

[ScreamingMeemie]

Of course he noticed a weird plant wrapped around it, by why not load it into the truck while sleeves are rolled up?? Here's my question, anyone here know if this is contagious, person to person? All I can find on the websites are people who think they may have gotten it from their pets fur. Thanks in advance for any input..

Laura

[SoCalDem]

1. RHULI-GEL... most pharmacies have it ..over the counter

It will soothe and help keep it from spreading :)

[searchingforlight]

2. Go to the pharmacy and get Zanfel

Stops it in it's tracks. Believe me this stuff works like a shot!!

It is expensive. $40.00 but well worth it.

[instantkarma]

7. I second that motion

GET ZANFEL...

it's basically a creme that washes the oil away from the affected area. The oil is what causes the itching. Took me about 2-3 days to get rid of a nasty case of poison oak on my hands. The itching stopped instantly with my first application. It's expensive and worth every penny.

[ScreamingMeemie]

14. I saw that in the store and was reluctant to pay the $35 without knowing

if it would work. We will have to try it. Tonight he tried the vinegar and baking powder trick. Thanks for your input.:-)

[searchingforlight]

17. After a night of itching, he will be glad for the relief tomorrow.

We live in the country and have lots of poison ivy. It is a rare time with all of the work around here and all the kids playing in the stone piles that someone doesn't have one patch or another. It is hardly a blip on our screen these days. We bless Zanfel.

[jafap]

3. yes, it definitely is

It will spread person to person, the same way it spread across your whole body. What you need to do is dry it out - with cheap soaps, calamine lotion or rubbing alcohol. I do not believe the pet fur story because I have never gotten it that way, but the pus from the sores will cause more sores.

[texastoast]

8. Not according to my doc

The spreading over your body is a myth, unless you still have the urushiol oil on your hands and are touching yourself (hmm).

I'm suffering from it right now. I'm in my fourth week. It just takes a while to get rid of it.

Here is a good site with good FAQs. The second link will take you to some gruesome pictures.


http://poisonivy.aesir.com
http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/rashes.html
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/796_ivy.html

[jafap]

10. then I must be a mythical person

because it sure as hell has spread all over my body more than once.

[searchingforlight]

4. By the way, you aren't Laura Bush are you?

If you are, forget my post.

[ScreamingMeemie]

15. It distresses me greatly that she and I share the same name...

I have my original face, am not prone to o'ding on prozac and have a myriad of facial expressions, besides the pained, please like me smile...;-)

[searchingforlight]

18. My granddaughter is named Laura too.

I actually love the name. Can't stand the "Bush" women any more than I can their men. (If I was married to GW, I'd be on more than Prozac!)

[BeFree]

5. Good 'ol poison Ivy

Hot water. As hot as a body can stand it. Washes away the poison and closes the wounds. Better yet is the juice from a Jewelweed stem. Also called Touch-me-nots, Jewelweed is in bloom right now.

Learn upon Pisson Ivy and avoid it the next time. 3 leaves with a red stem where the 3 leaves branch out from the stem.

Good 'ol Poison Ivy. Met it a few times. I just can't be free from it, but I try.

[revcarol]

6. Tea tree oil will stop wounds (from scratching,rubbing)

from getting infected. OR TEA TREE CREAM

[starroute]

13. No, no hot water! They changed their minds about that!

Hot water opens up your pores and lets the oils sink in more deeply.

The latest recommendation is plenty of cool water, and just let it flow freely over the exposed areas. No rubbing, either -- that presses the oils in too.

[nuxvomica]

9. I read recently of someone cured quickly with "rhus tox"

I think it was in Homeopathy Today. I've never used it for that myself but following the law of similars, it makes sense that rhus toxicodendron, which is made from poison ivy, could cure a poison ivy reaction. I would try one dose of 30X and a second when and if the first stops working. It's also useful to have around for the occasional joint pain that's "better from first movement."

[greekspeak]

11. I dont think its contageous

or my stepbrothers and I would have had poison ivy EVEN MORE when we were kids! I have heard recently that Benedryl will help releive it.

[Carl21014]

12. Gasoline will dry it right up!

Take regular unleaded gas that you put in your car or lawnmower, pour it on a rag, and rub the effected area real good. It doesn't hurt, and the next day all those nasty little pusstuals will dry up.

It is by far the fastest cure there is!

[ScreamingMeemie]

16. Thank you all for your posts..

I was thinking of banishing him to the living room to sleep. hahaha

We tried scrubbing real hard (like one of the websites recommended)with baking powder,vinegar and hot water. If that doesn't work I guess I am out $35 tomorrow.


Thanks again, friends

[sendero]

19. 20 years ago...

... I mowed a 20' x 30' patch of solid poison ivy with a power mower in short pants. I suffered 2 weeks of misery and yes, if you scratch you can spread it since the oil is still on your skin.

I just didn't know what it looked like, tho' now identifying it is very easy, it has a very distinctive leaf shape. I try hard to avoid it.

Now I'm so sensitized to the stuff that if I'm exposed to it I invariably have to take cortico-steroids (methylprednisolone) to stop an immune chain reaction :(

[Festivito]

20. Eat some oatmeal. It works. It's good for you anyway.

I had a yearly recurring poison ivy infection starting about 20 years ago, then about 10 years ago I tried eating oatmeal and in days the bumps and rashes, when it got that far, diminished.

This year I forgot and I got a small patch, I ate my oatmeal and instead of growing, it was gone in a week.