Poison Ivy Relief

Tucker943

Tucker943

Bamboo Plantation Owner
Joined
Dec 14, 2007
Messages
8,713
Location
Northeast PA
I need some relief!!!!! I get it 3 times a year usually. I typically shrug it off. On Friday I did a removal that was so infested with poison ivy, that I had to cut a path through it going up the trunk as I climbed the tree. The poison ivy vine had branches with berries and all. Well, I couldn't wash it off me in time and here I am. This is a bad case. Eye lids, neck, arms, hands, groin, etc.

What do you use? Please, no suggestions to just put cool water on it. I want to kill this rash, not chill it. I hit it with tecnu wash on work day, been hitting it with tecnu scrub constantly since. Tried caladryl. I just stepped things up and dabbed it with bleach a bit ago.
My one forearm.
IMAG0446.jpg
 
I get it so bad that I have to get prescribed a steroid. I believe its called prednisone. It is the only thing that works for me. I just look at PI and I get it.
 
Take a roadtrip and go jump in the Ocean. Salt water works. I had a bad reaction to the steroid shot. I won't do that again.

I have had really good luck at cutting poison oak at the base and pulling it out with my pole pruner before climbing trees. That stuff can go 60' up in redwoods.
 
Chris, I get it bad too. What I have found that works very good is a half and half mixture of liquid laundry bleach and water. It won't burn you but it dries the rash out quick and stops the itching. Straight bleach will burn. Apply it a number of times per day (important). I think the more applications the quicker it will dry out. I read that treatment somewhere and it does work for me, the best I have discovered. If the itching is bad, hold the area under as hot as you can stand water for a minute or two, I mean really hot. It will itch like crazy while under the hot water, but then it gives some hours of relief.
 
Calamine lotion works good. Rub it on real thick and let it dry. It'll stay like a thin layer of crust on you so it looks a little odd but works very well
 
Technu is the best over the counter I have used. Prednisone is awesome but might make you edgy to say the least and needs a prescription from your doc. Come on out and visit you can jump in the ocean here. It helps, but is no miracle cure for me. Best advice I can give is whatever you choose to do, do it every hour or couple hours especially if you are sweating. Urishiol is the culprit. It is the oil in the vine, if caught early enough you can slide without too much trouble. Too late for you I am afraid.
 
With purchased medication, how long do you find that it takes before the rash doesn't bother you anymore? With the bleach method, I would say around 2-3 days.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #16
It's ALL over me. This was a bad scene. Butch, have not gotten it yet but I called my wife and told her pick some up while she is out. Jay, I straight bleached myself a few hours ago. Incredible results. The treated areas have stopped itching entirely. The new areas that are emerging are tough to keep up with.

I screwed up good this time. I thought I could shake off the ramifications of getting in that tree. This was amateur garbage on my end. Any idiot would have used a bucket on that tree, or girdled the ivy and returned down the road awhile and whacked the removal.
 
Or wore long sleeves! I do that, for sure!

If you can wash within 15 minutes, you can usually not have a reaction.
 
Careful with the straight bleach, repeated applications will burn you but you don't realize it. Diluted is better over time. That hot water immersion does work for quick but temporary relief. i had it all over my body once, terrible thing so I went and got a shot.
 
If you soap up with ivory soap and let it dry on you, it will help. In between the bleaching. As will the sea salt. I will also use alcohol (stings like hell) and that helps. Alternate between these and as Jay pointed out, try not to bleach excessively. Dilute the next few treatments with the bleach, 10% solution I am thinking.
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #20
IMAG0449.jpg


My other forearm is spreading quickly and into my armpits. My eyelids are driving me insane. I didn't bleach them. My wife is pissed. She came along and scooped up my clothes I was wearing in the tree and her arms are going nuts. She had to quit her errands and hurry home to treat herself. I'm telling you guys, this was super ivy. It was like a tree growing off the tree itself. Limbs off the poison ivy vine that were 2" in diameter. I sweet talked the homeowner into letting me leave the logs in the ditch they fell into between the properties. I didn't want my groundman handling this stuff. Once I realized how bad the ivy was, I decided he didn't need to suffer for my foolish decision. An excavator is coming to that property to extend an embankment out to increase the size of the backyard. I told the HO to have him bury the logs under his work. They were great about it. Repeat customer that I have always gone the extra mile for. They knew that and were eager to work with me on the situation.
 
Good info here. Sorry you are suffering. I would get a Dr. to shoot you up with heavy stuff, its a heavy case.
 
And stop by the customer's house tomorrow to 'pick up that piece of gear you forgot in the back yard' and let them see what kind of shape you're in. Might as well play the sympathy angle. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top