Is this poison oak / poison ivy (pics of my arms)

[Toast n Jelly]

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Here's an url to an absolute solution for poison ivy, hives or an allergic skin reaction. You may not have access to it now but in season what I do is collect it and freeze it since I have allergies that show up as hives....Please read Rob and let me know what you think ...Good luck!

http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/jewelwed.htm

 

[MissPrissy]

You need some of my homemade jewelweed soap.

Check around at some of your herbal stores in your area and I bet you will find a bar of jewelweed soap .


I make and keep a batch on hand for myself. I harvested a huge batch of jewelweed this summer and ground it up and use the leaves and juice in my soap. It does stop the itching.

If I sent you a bar it would get to you monday at best.

Want a bar?

 

[RockyToggRanch]

Portagegirl is right. It's spread by it's oil, not by the rash. The oil lasts for years on even dead vines or other surfaces. There's a special soap called technu that helps wash the oils away.
I live in the forrest and my husband gets it yearly (poison ivy). If I get it, I dab it with an AFTERBITE pen, which is mostly amonia. It dries it out quickly and stops the itch. Also the chlorine in swimming pools works wonders!

 

[smom1976]

ahh sorry .. my DH gets it every time he goes hunting to missisippi.. I tell him that the deer put it out for him to trip him up.. LOL

But it is spread through the oils.. and they can stick around.. I would be very carefull with that fire wood.. make sure that the smoke does not enter the house..

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Thanks again everyone!

Emily found some lotions and soaps especially for oak /ivy so I'm trying that and it seems to be helping.

I wish I could narrow it down to a specific tree / type of wood in the pile so I could avoid it.

I'm looking all over for time from exposure to symptoms but can't find anything. How long does it take you guys to show symptoms after you've had contact with the plant?

 

[PortageGirl]

Itching starts quite soon, obvious rash a few hours for me.

 

[RockyToggRanch]

I really think it depends on how sensative you are to it. I also believe (and I could be wrong) that plants have different levels of potentsy (sp). Like a hot pepper plant, you get different levels of hot from the same plants, depending on growing conditions. My husband sometimes breaks out the same day he's been in the woods. Other times it's days after. Could that be that he carried the oil home on his clothes and didn't actually come into contact until he put his clothes into the washer 2 days later? Yeah, could be.

So, I don't think there's an accurate answer to that question. Most of us never know that we've made that contact ubtil after the itch and rash appears.

Perhaps you could get some volunteers to expose themselves to some poison ivy and do a little research?? Then we'd all know.

 

[seminolewind]

Nifty, that's an awful lot of whining over a few little bumps.

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

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Come on... after 2 years on here you should know by now that I year for attention!

 

[ruth]

When we first bought this old home last winter there were some grape vines growing up a trellis wall, dormant for winter - so I spent some time pruning and trellising them a little better. Then I went to clean out a small fenced area that I was going to use for a garden and the fence was covered in what I thought were also grape vines. So I spent a good bit of time carefully weaving them in and out of the fence so that they could be trellised better. A few days later I had a rash you wouldn't believe and itching to death. I knew right away that come spring those "grape" vines would be sprouting beautiful "leaves of three".

Local pharmicist told me about this product. It's the best thing around. Stops the itch immediately, stops the spread, and dries it up quickly - only $14.

http://www.tecnuextreme.com/

Now I keep a tube in my kitchen window and use it as a preventative whenever I work outside because the 100 year old trees and bushes here have poison ivy vines that require a chain saw to cut through they are so thick - no kidding. I wash with this scrub as soon as I come in and I have never had another outbreak and I handle poison ivy all the time.

I did do a lot of research on poison ivy/poison oak while I had it though. And it's an old wives tale that scratching spreads it. The articles I read said the reason some areas break out initially and others days later is because the ones with the direct contact as well as the most sensitive areas break out first. Then other areas follow over several days. It also said it is NOT contagious. And you cannot get it by touching someone's blisters. Just thought I would throw that in before your wife banishes you to another bedroom.