Essential oil or over the counter poison ivy/sumac rash remedy?

[Sqrl Klr]

I picked up the local outside cat and got poison ivy/sumac rash on my arm from her. Anything to get rid of the rash without going to steroids from a Dr? I've been using organic Thyme oil, tea tree oil, lemon balm oil along with lotrimin too but the rash isn't getting better.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Wait... I screwed up.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Being HIGHLY allergic to Poison Ivy all my life, I have tried everything.
This is my go-to.

[Hoosier Daddy]

triple post?

[Blowpipe Sam]

Marie's Essentials work and so does All Terrain soap.  I'm allergic to everything else in the woods but not poison Ivey, Oak, or Sumac.  However, the Florida Park Service swears by Marie's and All Terrain and my co-workers report good results if you use it quickly after contact.  Anti-Histamines work too.

[Sqrl Klr]

Are these at walkmart or walgreens? Thanks guys.

[Hoosier Daddy]

"Ivy Dry" is... or at least at CVS / Walgreens here.

[Sqrl Klr]

Didn't have it here but got ivarest.

Sam you mean this one? They didnt have it either.

https://www.walgreens.com/store/c/marie-originals-poison-ivy-&-oak-relief-soap/ID=300418438-product

[pipestone]

I grew up in S/W Ohio in the Miami river valley and lots of poison ivy around, as kids we had are encounters, worst ever between the legs

My Dad use to pick it off the fence line bare handed between the neighbors and us, but always use to wash in the deep sink in the basement with this stuff and never had a problem with the side effects.

Your mileage may vary



Dana

[pipestone]

Whoops!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fels-Naptha

Dana

[ER00z]

Wish you the best dealing with that poison ivy/sumac rash. I've never had a reaction to any of it but have passed it on to the Misses a time or two, she gets it bad. Ivarest works for her. The "pink stuff" (calamine lotion) doesn't do anything for her... Her words, not mine Lol

[airgunaut]

Hope whatever you use helps. The only time I had poison ivy it was a mild case, which I just washed with soap and water, then painted with calamine lotion.

I don't think the calamine did much, but a soothing lotion feels good at least temporarily. The lotion I use for itching is "Original Sarna" analgesic lotion. The active ingredients are camphor and menthol, 0.5% each. It smells great, too. It works for dry skin, bug bites, poison ivy/oak/sumac, and sunburn. Steroid-free and available at supermarkets and pharmaceutical stores.

I always keep Sarna around; it does work.

[Gramps-Too]

Whoops!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fels-Naptha

Dana

That was always my goto as a kid or young adult. Wonder if it’s still as good now that they took the naphtha out?

[JPSAXNC]

Never caught it as a kid, I could break the vines and rub the juice on my arm and no reaction at all. My brothers would get bad, so the Doctor gave my Mom a prescription for poison oak extract. She had all of us take it, one drop in a glass of water the first day, two drops the second day and so on. We were up to 7-8 drops a day when we went on a picnic. I caught it so bad I was out of school for three months. I had it externally and internally, the palms of my hands and bottoms of my feet were blistered my entire body was swollen so bad I was almost unrecognizable. I had to spend the next three months in bed. I still catch poison ivy, my cure is simple, I put the infected area under the hottest water I can stand, it kills the itch and dries out the blisters. The same for chigger bites I'm highly allergic, large deep blisters and terrible itch.

[Sqrl Klr]

Sorry to hear that James. Sounds awful. Meanwhile one prescribed med hasn't been helping so starting on another and hoping it will do the trick.

[anti-squirrel]

Ora-Ivy.

Find it on Amazon.  Calmosptene other wise which helps relieve itch and dry it out, but Ora-Ivy is the Grand-Poobah item of choice for dealing with any of the erushiol-bearing nasties. 

Why?

MY wife is was highly allergic to poison ivy, oak, and sumac.  We have had a preponderance on our property.  I'm talking patches of poison oak 200 yards long and 30 feet deep.  Sumac on every tree, and poison ivy vines thicker than my thighs.  Thanks to the judicious use of horticultural vinegar, aggressive use of machetes and axes, and overzealous mowing, we've brought all 3 under control.  The cost was a steroid shot 2 years in a row for her, and usage of lots of Calmoseptene (we ordered by the case).

We found out about Ora-Ivy from a server at a plant shop/restaurant we occasionaly go to, and it has been life -altering.

You can adjust dosage of the Ora-Ivy as befits your needs, but where we used a lot of Calmoseptene after the rash hit, then several days dealing with the itch and blistering, now we just take the Ora-Ivy at the first sign of dermatitis and do it a couple times (20-40 drops per ounce of water) and have had no problems..

Incidentally, English Ivy has enough erushiol in the sap to also cause issues for my wife; the Ora-Ivy works on that as well.



For clearing especially the poison ivy, cut the vines about 1 foot up from the ground in the fall at the first sign of ivy leaves changing color and spray the stalk leading to the roots liberally with horticultural vinegar (20% acetic acid solution or higher).  The vinegar will be drawn into the roots and kill it.  Like I said, we had some whopper, I'm talking diameters over a foot on many of the vines.  Over the last 4+ years we've brought 95% of the ivy under control, the poison sumac is eradicated, and we've got the poison oak well depleted and under control.  The other thing that has helped is as soon as we finish doing work on the nasties, we bath 2x using Dawn to cut/rinse the erushiol oils off our skin.  We can now walk our dogs through the woods and handle them afterward without any issues.  And if any signs of rash appear, we have Ora-Ivy and Calmoseptene waiting on hand. (didn't use any last summer!)

[Sqrl Klr]

Congrats on getting the problem under control Peter! I got most of the sumac gone but still a lot of poison ivy around which is normally no problem for me. I picked up the local outside cat then forgot to wash right after as I usually do when I pet her or pick her up and it cost me so maybe that will help me remember to do so in the future.

[avator]

triple post?

Maybe should have read the fine print for the side affects..   

[Hoosier Daddy]

triple post?

Maybe should have read the fine print for the side affects..   

"What twitch?"