Fact or Fiction - the ooze from inside blisters caused by poison oak/ivy/sumac spreads the rash

[Inchworm]

Poll question: Fact or Fiction - the ooze from inside blisters caused by poison oak/ivy/sumac spreads the rash

I'm getting mixed results. Any insight?

:shrug:

[petronius]

1. No - although it may seem that way since the rash can develop at different

rates on different parts of the skin...

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000027.htm

[Inchworm]

9. Yay!

Great! I read this earlier somewhere else and had doubts. I'm 40 something and always thought otherwise. My friends/acquaintances also thought otherwise... and were wary coming near me. :rofl:

Thanks!

[Inchworm]

2. Hehe- umm.. STILL getting mixed results

:rofl:

[TwilightGardener]

3. I say false. I believe it's spread through the oil of the plant. The fact that

it spreads from the affected area is because that's where the oil is...which is why it's the affected area...

[Viva_La_Revolution]

4. false

clean the area with rubbing alcohol to get rid of all the oils from the plant (within 15 minutes, cause it binds to the skin). The blisters are a reaction, not a cause.

[Inchworm]

15. "binds to the skin" I'll read up a little

Thanks

:)

[Shagbark Hickory]

5. False. Also unlikely..., getting it from your dog.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

8. you CAN get it from your dog!

If he's been running around in a patch and comes in with the oil on his coat.

[Shagbark Hickory]

11. Unlikely.

[Obamanaut]

14. The poison ivy site thinks you can get it from your dog, from tools used

last year, from old clothes.

http://poison-ivy.org/html/faq.htm

[Tuesday Afternoon]

6. from my own experience, it seems like where ever one body part

that has the rash touches another body part then that body part then gets the rash...does not seem to matter whether or not the blisters are oozing.

the best, cheapest rememdy I have found is too scrub the blisters with a loofah, soap and water.

then apply a combination of

vinegar and salt.

over that apply baking soda.

this helped me.

good luck.

:hi:

[TwilightGardener]

7. That sounds incredibly, stingingly painful. I guess it makes you forget to itch.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

10. actually, no. bleach stung much worse. there is slight stinging involved

with the vinegar, not bad however and the baking soda immediately calms it.

I think bleach may kill the plant but, it has been my experience that bleach will not kill it on my body.

[TwilightGardener]

16. Sometimes there's a case to be made for NOT trying home remedies.

They do make OTC stuff for poison ivy, you know. You don't have to experiment with whatever's in your pantry, or garage. :yoiks:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

35. the OTC stuff was NOT working. tyvm. nt

[Inchworm]

13. That's been my experience as well

I never was allergic to it until about 2 years ago when I HAD to have got it between my fingers from petting dog. Hec, I used to cut through the stuff with chainsaw cutting wood for house and get covered in the saps. Go figger.

Again.. between fingers, this time from fishing.

I have been avoiding water thinking it would spread more. :banghead:

You live: you learn ;)

:hi:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

17. I got allergic about 10 years ago. Never was as a child and so I am

still not used to being aware of it. dumbass, I am.

always caught in the woods in shorts and fip-flops to look down and see myself in a huge patch of the stuff!

got it twice already this year. sheesh.

I would imagine that it must be hard keeping that baking soda paste on between the fingers.

I live but, will I ever learn ;)

:pals:


heh. they moved the thread on me :D

[Inchworm]

20. Whoa! I've never been moved to Health

hehe. I thought I'd share my findings in General over the Lounge thinking it may be moved there.

I wanted folks to know what I read hehe. I have yet to have anyone think the jizz wasn't contagious and I ran a register at a 2 day yard sale covered in calamine lotion :rofl:

I'll try the baking soda paste next time I'm stupid :P

:pals:

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. calamine lotion gives relief but it does not dry it up like the

vinegar, salt and baking soda paste.

this time it worked overnight for me.

good luck.

[petronius]

32. Me too - I was 'immune' for years and revelled in my power to traipse through anything.

But then last year I pushed the Poison Oak Gods too far - looking back, I agree that crawling through a few hundred yards of PO-infested chaparral was an excess of hubris - and they revoked my immunity. Now I'm like a babe in the woods, never checking for the stuff until one step too late... :(

[Obamanaut]

12. Here's a nice poison ivy site, with lots of info, And, they think you can get if from your dog.

http://poison-ivy.org/html/faq.htm

[Inchworm]

18. "Some people appear to be immune, others become immune. HOWEVER,..."

you can gain or lose immunity, so to assume you can't get it if you never have before is foolish. People change as they age. I would never assume that I was immune at any time no matter what my past experience was."

That explains a lot :)

Thanks

:hi:

[Obamanaut]

28. Many years ago I was clearing around some pine trees, chopped near the

roots of some vines going up the tree, then gave a big yank. The vine structure came down upon me.

It has always been my custom to do yard work wearing shorts and sneakers, without shirt.

Until then, I did not know what poison ivy looked like. After healing, I never made that error again.

[Ozymanithrax]

19. Haven't had poison Ivy since I was 13.

But I know that if you have it on your hands it will sprad to whatever you touch.

[haikugal]

21. Tecnu works great for all kinds of plant toxins....

[Inchworm]

23. I ended up buying some of that

I got tired of getting calimine lotion ALL over everything.

Now that I understand the science of it I guess it worked. At the time, I could tell no difference.

:hi:

[haikugal]

24. It's really good stuff

My ex was horribly allergic to poison ivy and would get huge blisters the size of silver dollars....he would wash with Tecnu and never had a problem after that...we live in the country so it was awesome to find a solution for him, I'm not allergic to it.

[gkhouston]

30. Never heard of it. Where do you get it? n/t

[BridgeTheGap]

33. Our local Food co-op sells it. It does work, just make sure to follow the directions! n.t

[gkhouston]

34. Thanks, I'll keep an eye out for it. n/t

[PoliticAverse]

22. If you do get poison Ivy...

Zanfel is an amazing invention.
http://www.zanfel.com/help/
It instantly removed the itching when I used it.
A bit pricey however.


Also everything I ever read indicated that the ooze doesn't contain the oils that
cause the allergic reaction.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

26. Here's a tip for you.... do not ever, for any reason, think that it is a good idea to burn

poison ivy vines/leaves and stand near it. You can get it inside your lungs, that is what I have been told. Others may know otherwise but I wouldn't want to find out the hard way.

[ensho]

27. you can get it from touching your pets coats, you can get it from smoke

from burning poison ivy/oak

once you have it, it can go inside your body and come out other places on your skin

been there, done that

[shraby]

29. My Dad got it from the smoke from burning it, too.

[hedgehog]

31. Poison ivy rash spreads two ways 1. by spreading the oil around yourself,

say by rubbing the sweat from your face (ouchy!)

2. For some people, at a certain point, the immune system goes into overdrive and the rash just keeps spreading -

think hay fever and asthma, only this time it's the skin surface that reacts. That's a good time to call a doctor - you may need some steroids to break the cycle.

[uppityperson]

36. False. Though if you get a skin infection on top of the poisonwhatever, you can spread it by

scratching at your skin. Impetigo on top of poisonwhatever rash is quite easy to spread.

[astral]

37. Having got into poison oak once makes me an expert ; )

I was told when it happened, that I would experience a hard time getting rid of it, it could take weeks, and that it can pop up in other places than where I was exposed. This was all true. I do not know the medical explanation for it, but I am sure it spread from travel under the skin or in the bloodstream or something.

But then again, can you make it worse by scratching, as well? I am sure the answer is 'yes.'

I don't live around poison oak anymore so I didn't have to continue educating myself about it. I am a LITTLE prone to hay fever, as was mentioned in another reply here some people may have more of a reaction than others.