Preventing and Treating Poison Ivy

If you ever had poison ivy as a kid, you know how miserable it can be and how it can ruin a family float trip or campout. The last thing you want is for your kids or anyone else in your family to suffer unnecessarily. That’s why it’s a good idea to teach your kids what poison ivy looks like and the steps they need to prevent getting poison ivy before your next float trip. Here are some tips for preventing and treating poison ivy.

Identifying poison ivy is key to avoiding them and protecting your skin. What does poison ivy look like? Poison ivy has three small leaflets on each leaf and grows as a shrub in the far Northern and Western United States as well as in Canada and around the Great Lakes. In the East, Midwest and South of the United States, poison ivy grows as a vine. In the spring it grows yellow-green flowers. In early fall poison ivy has green berries that turn off-white. What about poison oak? Like poison ivy, poison oak also has three small leaflets on each leaf, grows most often as a shrub but can grow as a vine in the Western United States. Some poison oak plants have yellow-white berries. And don’t forget poison sumac. Each leaf has a row of paired leaflets and another leaflet at the end. Poison sumac grows as a small tree or tall shrub. In the Midwest, it grows in standing water in peat bogs. Poison sumac leaves often have spots that look like blotches of black paint and may have yellow-white berries.

Despite the ability to identify poison ivy, sometimes they just can’t be avoided. This is why taking some precautions is essential. Using a skin-care product called an ivy block barrier can help. An ivy block barrier prevents the skin from absorbing the oil (urushiol) that causes the itchy, blistering rash. Ivy block barriers can be bought over the counter. Another way to protect your skin from poison ivy, oak and sumac is with clothing. Wearing long pants, long sleeves, boots and gloves along with ivy block barrier on any exposed skin is best.

Despite the miserable rash that results from exposure to poison ivy, oak and sumac, you can safely treat the rash at home. Treat a rash from poison ivy, oak or sumac by rinsing your skin with lukewarm, soapy water as soon as possible. This is the best and fastest way to rinse off some of the oil. The sooner you rid your body of this oil, the less likely the oil is to spread from person to person or other areas of your body. Because the oil can stick to clothing, you’ll want to thoroughly wash all the clothes you were wearing when you came into contact with the poisonous plant. You’ll also want to wash anything that may also have oil on its surface like your pet’s fur, pent pegs and poles and other objects with warm, soapy water.

As hard as it is, avoid scratching as this can cause an infection. If your skin blisters, leave the blisters alone. The overlying skin on a blister is actually protecting the raw wound beneath and preventing infection. To ease the itch, take short lukewarm baths in colloidal oatmeal solution available at local drugstores. Or, you can add one cup of baking soda to lukewarm bathwater. Cool showers also help ease the itch from poison ivy. Mild cases of poison ivy, oak and sumac rashes can also be treated with calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream. Another over the counter medicine that can reduce itching is antihistamine pills.

Finally, go to the emergency room if you have any of the following symptoms as a result of exposure to poison ivy, oak or sumac.