Women's Forum: Posion Oak Remedies

[KatBalouE350]

Well I intended to post my last thread "NewNewbie" in the girls room but messed that up,
. Hope I'm doing so this time.
I caught poison oak yesterday. A few years back I bought an soothing oatmeal bath powder, can't see a brand name but manufactured by: Triad Group and package states " Compare...  Aveeno". It is 100% Colloidal Oatmeal. I had a  really bad case at the time and one application decreased the weeping and oozing in half and itch relief for an entire 12 hours. Uses listed: rashes, eczema, poison oak, ivy, or sumac and insect bites.

I do not have access to a bathtub so I made a pasty poutice (like smooth cookie dough) and applied it thick. Will see if it works.

 

[Queen]

Poison oak is a misery, hope the paste works!

 

[TrainChaser]

A guy that I used to work with got a nasty case of it, and his girlfriend suggested a baking soda bath soak, and he said it worked great. Maybe a baking soda poltice smeared on and kept moist might help?

Good luck -- I've never had that problem, and haven't missed it a bit.

 

[KatBalouE350]

Well the oatmeal poultice may of worked if I were able to keep it wet. It dried fast, however it did seem less puffy when I woke this morning. The baking soda may work the same, again if I could keep it moist as you suggested, Trainchaser. Seems in the past I used rubbing alcohol and lots of cotton balls. Thankfully it's mild and hasn't opened yet. Will try it tomorrow or just break down and buy the pink calamine lotion. Lol. Wish I had my Old Garden of Eve home remedy book with me. Lol!
Once when I was younger, my boyfriend was backhoed a deep ditch and couldn't see the bottom any longer. His helper didn't show back up from lunch so after a quick crash course on hand signals he lowered me into the ditch and put me to work. Now all would of been fine but two things:
One, It was a super hot August day and I had pulled my shirt up high across my midriff and I was in short shorts
Two, he didn't think to tell me that all those huge red roots I was brushing against were from poison oak. Within thirty minutes there were blisters forming on blisters and off to ER I went. Funny later...but not then. Lol.

 

[KatBalouE350]

Used rubbing alcohol and cotton balls. I wiped each spot and surrounding area numerous times allowing to dry between each. It is working. Would like to hear of other's remedies too.

 

[bigsallysmom]

Next time you think you might have rubbed up against the plant, scrub the touched area with soapy water as soon as possible. It removes the toxic substance if you do it quickly enough.
And definitely don't burn any part of the plant.
Once I do get it, I use a soap product with oatmeal in it.

 

[TrainChaser]

And always keep in mind that the plant oil that causes the problem can be transferred to other body parts if you don't wash like BigSallysMom advises above. A guy I used to work with discovered this when he stopped to pee before he headed home after catching crawdads.

Two other topical remedies that can help are Calamine Lotion and Hydrocortisone Cream. It would be a good idea to keep some of these remedies on hand BEFORE you get exposed. They say that 20-30% of people aren't susceptible to poison oak/ivy, but the rest are. I consider having some meds/treatments always at hand is like a vaccination: if you've got it, Bad Luck may look elsewhere instead of focusing on you.

 

[Almost There]

An old Kentucky country doctors' suggestion for poison ivy/oak - pure turpentine from the hardware store.

Seriously!

I contracted poison ivy rash from b/f who had rescued my collie from the river. After 4 days of agony we had at least one of every product from the drugstore. He was headed to the dr for shots and I was climbing the walls because it had spread up my arm and down my chest...boobies with poison ivy is - well, use your imagination.

I tried the turpentine - wipe on with a disposable cloth, it feels cold when it goes on. If after a few minutes it starts to feel too hot for you, wipe off with clean wet disposable cloth. Repeat several times a day.

I was dried up and clearing up in 48 hours, his was still wet and spreading so we tossed out the drugstore stuff and used the can of turps on him too. Oh yea, he got the sofa until his was cleared up....

 

[KatBalouE350]

Great ideas! Turpentine, I would of never thought of. I think I better get a poison oak remedy kit ready, cuz it is everywhere around here. BIG, Huge Glossy green patches with their formidable red baby leaf new growth. Ugh!

 

[DrJean]

The poison oak/ivy family is oil based.  You can reinfect yourself by touching any clothing with it on it.   Do not wash your tainted clothes with other clothes or it will spread to them, also be careful about your sheets, towels, etc... cloth with which you may have come into contact. A degreaser in that washload and hot water should do it.

TURPENTINE IS NOT A GOOD SOLUTION as it is toxic in itself!!! Turpentine causes skin irritation and eczema right on down to intestinal distress...   Using acetone or (rubbing) alcohol is viable.



Don't use cloth to attend to the affected area: use paper towels and don't wipe, but dab and lift (it's oil based and wiping will spread it). Drying agents for skin is good at the start.  Calmine lotion and such help because they are drying agents.



You don't need to buy the special oatmeal.... put regular American oatmeal in a cotton sock, tie the end, and beat it a bit to break it down (colloidal oatmeal is just powdered oatmeal so it breaks down faster) and wet it with warm water to release the benefits.

If you add either epsom salts or baking soda to the mix, it will work better.  The baking soda will dry on the skin and flake off.
Keep affected areas covered with absorbant cotton or like... cotton gloves are a good thing to have as hands are often the first contact.

Keep your hands away from your face no matter what!  Contamination of sinus/nasal area can be life-threatening as this is moist area and won't heal and it can spread down into your bronchi...oozing, crusting, and damaging as it goes.


For those who can't identify poisonous plants, study up!  Even with education though, we all get into it at some point.
I am highly allergic and took 6 months to clear my exposure (with all my education on the matter, too! :O  )

 

[TrainChaser]

My brain was r e a l l y s l o w to respond about keeping the poultice moist, and I just now remembered.......

My first boss, the veterinarian, got a good case of poison oak on both arms. He came to work wearing his wet poultices! His wife bought some cloth diapers for the occasion. She smeared the poultice on his arms, wrapped each arm with a damp diaper, then wrapped the diapers with kitchen plastic wrap fastened with scotch tape.

 

[bullfrog]

Years ago there used to be a product I believe called Ivy-Dry that had a big bottle of solution that basically sealed in the blisters and kept the oil or fluid from affecting the clear skin areas around them. The other tiny bottle had a soap developed for the government to wash off radioactive fallout with was really good at lifting oils out of and off the skin, wish I could find where to get the soap by itself. Any way thick cotton socks on your hands and forearms at night so you don't spread it and one dab per cotton ball, alcohol will prevent infection but can float the oil to uninfected areas so wash uninfected areas with harsh soap after if it runs. Keep hands away from face and deal with broken blisters carefully. If the fluid from a broken blister touches clear skin without immediate cleaning it will blister.

 

[TrainChaser]

Bullfrog, thank you for the info on Ivy-Dry! They have their own soap, don't know how it compares to what you were looking for: http://www.ivydry.com/

 

[Gypsy Clipper]

I spent two days in the hospital with a horrible case of poison ivy this past summer.
I keep getting it off my dog. For me taking a shower in COLD water everyday using dawn dishwashing soap and washing VERY,VERY,VERY thoroughly every day has kept me from getting it again. I live in an area totally surrounded by it and my dogs sleep in it. I have one that will stand right by a tree covered with it and rub his face and head all over it while I stand there and cringe.
I had to take Prednisone and antihistamines for a week. Since that time I haven't had more than a spot the size of a mosquito bite on my ankles or inner arm. Now I just make sure I don't miss a single spot when I wash.

Sent from my Alcatel_5044R using Tapatalk

 

[AnnieSantiago]

I use TECNU for Poison Oak. I hate that stuff and get it if I'm within 50 feet. I worked for USFWS and occasionally got it while cutting brush. The Tecnu helped.

The WORST I've ever had it was a time I was down at my river property; very remote.
I had been sitting on rocks in my bikini. I had it in my buttcrack, under my arms... everywhere...
It was miserable.
No way to get to a town.
I picked oak bark and leaves and boiled them until they were a pretty thick brown water, then bathed the poison oak breakout with that.
I actually dried it up pretty good.

The second worst was when I got slapped across the face by a branch and ended up looking like the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
That time, I washed it so much I got a chemical burn... stupid me.

If I knew I was going to be around it, I'd sure carry a bottle of Tecnu and wash up after any exposure.
It really does help.
The itching though... holy hell!
I hate it.

 

[Wander Woman]

Aloe is sometimes helpful.