Poison Ivy! any home remedies to get rid of poison ivy? I need help

[iGuest 3]

Dispelling poison ivy mythsPoison Ivy!

Sarna is a non-steroidal lotion that you can get in most stores where the rest of the anti-itch stuff is. It works for several hours to control the itch of poison ivy and mosquito bites. Avoiding itching is the best way to prevent infection, and shorten the duration of your pain.

Everything that I have read says to use rubbing alcohol as soon as possible to break up the oil, then wash with cold water and soap (NOT hot water, which can open the pores and increase the oil absorption). Wash all clothing, gloves, etc. That might have touched the oils separately and be careful not to touch these items, as you may contact the oils again, bringing about another eruption of the rash.

This info is from Penn State University on poison ivy (http://extension.psu.edu/pests/ipm):

Myth 3. Fluid from blisters can spread the rash to other body areas.

False. This is a tough myth to dispel because scratching the red area appears to spread the rash to other areas. Actually, the reaction develops over a period of time - usually taking hours or days to occur. The occurrence of a new rash, say further up the arm, doesn't mean the rash was spread but that that area was slower to respond to the poisonous oil.

Once the oil triggers the reaction, our own bodies release defensive chemicals that cause the redness, itching, and blistering. The blister fluid doesn't come from the plant at all but is produced by our ownBody.

Myth 4. Poison ivy enters the blood stream and can be carried to other parts of the body where it can outbreak later.

False. Poison ivy rash is caused by contact with an oil (uroshiol) from the poison ivy plant. The oil attaches to the outer horny skin cells and the layer of living cells below. Washing with soap and water to remove the oil is an effective control, but such washing normally has to be done within minutes to avoid any rash at all. In addition, washing must be far more thorough than we normally wash our hands in order to be effective.

Outbreaks on other body areas means the oil was transferred to that area from another body part, by articles of clothing, tools, or pets that held the same oil. Remember, it's the contact with the uroshiol oil that causes the reaction. This oil is essentially nonvolatile and can remain on articles and clothing for as much as a year.

[iGuest 3]

Poison Ivy-Oak-SumacPoison Ivy!You can also use Benadryl Allergy capsules to dry up the poison Ivy. This is actually the quickest and most effective way to get rid of it. I personally have a hard time taking them because they make me drowsy and grumpy but I am forced to take them if it gets bad. Also, Ivy Dry is another good thing to help dry it up in form of a spray I continue to get it because my whole yard is covered with it around the fence line and I have to maintain it. Drives me crazy. I have had it 4 times already this year and this time I was hoping I was building an immunity to it but didn't happen-reply by Scott

[iGuest 3]

You should try table salt,  it works like a champ I promise you. Get the infected areas wet then apply the salt and rub it in until you cant feel the salt. The itching went away in like 2 min not even. I have poison ivy right now and no more itchng nothing 

-reply by koolkat

[iGuest 3]

spreading of poison ivyPoison Ivy!

Replying to arza1I'm definitely not an expert, but I do have poison ivy on my face right now and after googling it a million times, I've read on a lot of medical websites that the only way poison ivy can be spread, is if the actual cause of it (urushiol, the oily substance on poison ivy, sumac, and oak plants) is spread to something. The actual oozing from the blisters will not cause it to spread anywhere on the body or to anyone else. There are a few things at walmart and pharmacies that get rid of the urushiol, but you still have to treat the rash that occurs from it. Even once the urushiol is gone, the rash can still last up to 3 weeks so the best advice I can give is alot of calomine lotion, antihistamines, and steroid cream(hydracortizone). Good luck guys, cause it sure is a pain in the butt!-reply by Chelsea

[iGuest 3]

I don't care what any of you "experts" say and I don't care what medical websites or doctors say either. Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac will continue to spread if you scratch it regardless of whether you have removed the oils from your skin or not, depending on how bad you get it. I could scrub my poison ivy skin with bleach, alcohol, dishwashing liquid several times a day, but in the morning the rash has spread in lines that are from scratching. Just because it has never happened to you doesn't mean that it doesn't happen to anyone else. Regardless of how well you clean the oils from your skin, the poison ivy will still continue to spread in some people from scratching. I don't wish this high level of sensitivity on anyone. Not everyone is this sensitive to it thankfully. I'm sick of reading on this topic that it won't spread if you clean it adequately. I'm speaking from experience that for some people it WILL continue to spread if you scratch it. I got the rash from my daughter and it had been cleaned because I am highly sensitive to it. I am speaking from experience that it can happen. By the way, straight lavender essential oil applied directly to the rash before it gets broken open helps with the itch and I think may even dry it up. This is a new experiment that I am trying now. I had the rash on my upper eye lid and my eye was swelling closed, so I tried the lavender oil because I knew it was not a caustic chemical (also the straight lavender oil has gotten rid of bee sting pain and swelling very quickly on my daughter). Anyway, I put the lavender oil mixed with PURE aloe vera gel on a q-tip and applied it to my eye lid. It dried up in 3 days. This application was soothing for the itch when I didn't want to scratch and spread it further. I kept the aloe in the fridge and used a new q-tip each time so that I wouldn't get the ivy into the aloe or lavender oil. I kept the aloe in the fridge because it is the pure aloe without any preservatives so it needs to be refrigerated so it won't go bad, but the coolness of the aloe also helped settle the itch down for a little while.