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Poison Ivy, Pets, & People…Scratching the poison ivy, oak, and sumac itch!
By Heidi Connolly - Feb 5, 2005, 12:20
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Poison ivy or oak—it’s all the same when you or one of your loved ones comes home scratching! And then it’s off to the drugstore for as many products as you can find, hoping that at least one will do the trick and stop the spread of the ghoulish greenery. And that doesn’t help to answer all the questions you have either. Is it too late? Is it dangerous? Will it spread to other members of the family or the other kids at school? Where did it come from in the first place?
Well, we’re here to share the good news, break the bad news, and give it to you straight.
1. The only way to contract poison ivy (oak or sumac) which are technically not poisons, but allergic reactions, is to come in direct contact with the oil (called urushiol) from one of the plants. That wouldn’t be so bad but, in fact, the plants grow almost anywhere—from beaches to parks to gardens—and the oil sticks to just about everything and stays around for ages unless steps are taken to wash it away.
2. By the time the scratching starts and the arm or leg or other body part is red, inflamed, has blisters or has a rash, it’s too late to wash away the infection itself, but you still need to wash immediately to remove any residual oil. Fortunately, after you do wash, there will no longer be any oil on the skin that can continue to spread. Most experts agree that once the oil is gone, even oozing blisters cannot spread the oil because they do not have the oil in them. The problem is that minute amounts of oil cling to clothing, other people, etc., and it’s just about impossible to know when it’s completely gone.
3. When someone comes home scratching, you want to stop them in their tracks! Bag everything they’re wearing—even their shoes, or rather, especially their shoes—and toss them into the washing machine. Then toss the bag! Wash the clothes and shoes thoroughly and then wash the person too. Then make sure anything they touched is washed. I know it sounds excessive, but it’s the details that’ll get you every time. (Remember the baseball that came home from the field last week that ended up in the yard with the kids?)
4. Your pets are a major source of transferring oil…not only to humans themselves, but onto the walls, furniture, just about everywhere. Luckily, they don’t have allergic reactions but they can sure spread it around, as can goats, cows, horses, pigs and birds, just to name a few. So if your pet likes to explore, it’s a good idea to get him or her used to taking a bath and for you to get used to giving them—with gloves on.
We can’t say it enough: prevention is by far the best treatment, so learn what these plants look like and stay away from them! But practically speaking, here are a few household items that can really help when you’re crazy with the need to scratch.
Baking soda
Ice Water (immerse the affected areas)
Skim Milk
Hemorrhoid Cream (believe it or not)
Aveeno Oatmeal Bath
Zinc oxide
And one last piece of advice: Don’t ever burn or mow the plants. The oil is extremely toxic and can be fatal for both pets and people. That’s exactly how this author learned the hard way— as a boy her husband almost died from inhalation of the smoke.
If you’d like to learn more about how to treat, avoid, identify, and eradicate poison ivy, oak and sumac, you can find “Poison Ivy, Pets, & People…Scratching the poison ivy, oak, and sumac itch” along with their other books on sale at www.2lakespublishing.com. Heidi and Randy Connolly write the 10thingstoknow™ series of books based on personal experiences. Their books reflect their passion for providing critical information on a variety of topics in a format that is both easy and fun to read, and they have great photos for identification. You can contact them at 2lakes@2lakespublishing.com with any questions.
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