Ideas to help with poison ivy?!

[Pammi 0]

Okay, I'm offically desperate. Well, maybe not THAT desparate cuz I'm not trying the pouring bleach on it theory. But anyone have ideas on how to help the itching?! And does it really spread when you scratch?! I hear yes and no. The thought is frightening because it's on my inner thighs..both of them...what if it were to go UPWARD?! ARGH!

Anniversary is Monday. Last year we spent our first in the hospital where Merrick was healing from surgery. This one I have nasty red rashes on my thighs. Screw this anniversary thing from now on!

(BTW...it wasn't from anything perverted...prob'ly when I was squatting in the bushes when I had to pee in the middle of the night and was too lazy to walk up to the restrooms. That'll teach me :/)

[Michele 1]

Hi, Pammi!

That has just got to be the most annoying thing!

Several things to try - they helped when I had chicken pox (at 28!). All "home remedies"...good for itching ailments, including p.ivy, p.oak, and so forth.

1. Oatmeal baths. They're nasty, but they do help the sting and itch. Aveeno I think is the brand out here, but there is soap and lotion etc. to use.
2. Vinegar on a cotton ball - will neutralize the itchies.
3. Calamine lotion (again, neutralizes the itchies).
4. An aloe vera lotion.
5. O.K., this works, too. Dunno why, either. Regular tea bags, soaked, and then placed on the rashes.
6. Air - don't wear pantyhose, or pretty much anything else (hmmm... on the affected area.

As to "does it spread", I haven't got the foggiest notion.
Hope this helps!

Ciels and Pinks-
Michele

~Do Angels keep the dreams we seek
While our hearts lie bleeding?~

[seedy 0]

The oil that causes the rash can spread from contact. I had it on my wrists once and it spread to my tummy when I slept at night and had my arm laying across my tummy.
Aveeno lotion helps as well as Calamine lotion.

I intend to live forever -- so far, so good.

[smak 0]

boil up a bunch of rosemary in a pot of water for 15 mins or so..
let the water get good and dark, then remove the rosemary and let the water cool. apply that to the affected area and it should help.

if that doesent do the trick i'd reach for the tea tree oil.

[kmcguffee 0]

Pammi, I have had it bad on multiple occasions. It will spread like wildfire very easily when scratched. The bad thing is you will probably scratch it in your sleep and make it spread even if you keep ointment on it all day long. You can do two things to stop it immediately:
1. Go to a doctor and get a shot. It will dry up in 24 hours.
2. Scratch it up and then wipe it with a bleach soaked cloth.

I've done both. #1 is less painful but costs more. #2 is just as effective, slighty painful, and is very cheap. If you try #2 have Merrick there to blow and fan after you apply the bleach and it won't be that bad. BTW, it will spread from one person to another if it is runny when you make contact. Based on the area that could be dangerous!

"Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do." Ben Franklin

[PLFKING 3]

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2. Scratch it up and then wipe it with a bleach soaked cloth.

You say you don't want to, but this has always worked for me......dry in 24 hrs, and it only burns for a few minutes.

You're a skydiver -- you can deal with the pain !

Don

[Pammi 0]

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BTW, it will spread from one person to another if it is runny when you make contact. Based on the area that could be dangerous!

Bwahaha! That'd be just mean wouldn't it?
Thanks guys...sounds like I'll have a couple of beers and try the bleach. Been a week, I've done the benedryl cream (helps briefly), vinegar, calamine lotions....nothing helps too much. It's been a week and I'm desparate, yet no insurance leads me to option #2.

Thanks guys!

[lewmonst 0]

http://www.zanfel.com/

i used it. it works on surface, but if you get it systematically like i do, it can come back. this with lots of prednizone is the only way i can deal with it.

http://www.exitshot.com

[skydiverbrian 0]

This stuff works great. Stops the itching and dries up the blisters quick. You can find it at Walgreens.

In a world full of people, only some want to fly... isn't that crazy! --Seal

[jfields 0]

When I get poison ivy, it is ugly. It has sent me to the hospital before, when I was younger.

If I get exposed (which I can literally feel within minutes), I take cold shower and scrub with a grease-cutting dish detergent. If I get it fast enough and get the oils off, I can avoid having it really take hold.

If that fails, I use something similar to kmcguffee's method. Instead of using bleach, I use acetone. And I don't have to scratch the stuff and pour on an open wound. (Although I have done that if I've been scratching.) I liberally pour the acetone on the effected areas, and rub it around to make sure I get everywhere. It gives a really cold sensation, then it evaporates fairly quickly. The acetone does a really good job of stripping the oils out of the skin. It can leave the skin super-white and sort of dry, but I'd take that temporarily over the poison ivy. I keep a quart of the stuff in the house just for this reason.

[SkymonkeyONE 3]

Like Justin,
I was terribly susceptible to poison ivy/oak/sumac when I was younger. I still get tore up badly when I don't catch it in time now, but when I was younger it would puff me up like the michelin man and I would be a walking ooze-ball. Very ugly to say the least. Anyway, none of the home cures was effective with me, and prednisone was the only thing that would truly dry me up. That being said, if I got the shot, I would be magically healed in less than a day, minus the scabbing from my incessant scratching.

Will it spread from scratching? You bet your ass it will! I don't even want to talk about how bad it can get. Ugh. Nowadays, If I get a tiny bit on me I scrub it with alcohol and then cover it with a bandage so it won't spread.

Chuck

[jfields 0]

I've never gotten a shot for it, but there is a series of pills I had to take a number of times. I forgot the name, but it helped. Of course, I still itched like hell while it was taking hold, so I used the home remedies. There are a number of things that can help with the symptons, but don't actually make it go away. Aveeno baths and cold showers fall into that category.

The bottom line is that poison ivy just sucks! I'm getting itchy just thinking about it.

[jtval 0]

I hear if you dont wear clothing on the effected part and run outside yelling at the top of your lungs....My Crotch it on fire??? I think that works!

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[jfields 0]

Pammi,

I've never tried it myself, but JT's method can't hurt. And to make sure you did it correctly, please post video. For medical purposes, of course.

[Pammi 0]

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I hear if you dont wear clothing on the effected part and run outside yelling at the top of your lungs....My Crotch it on fire??? I think that works!

ROFL! Yeah, suck my left tit boys

Thanks for all the help guys. Extremely off-topic, but I've been flipping out for over a week now and was desperate! Never had poison ivy before, and will definately watch where I 'squat' from now on!

[skymama 35]

Thanks for your public service announcement, Pammi. I have to go in the woods when we go to our river hangout. I'll be more careful now too!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[jfields 0]

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Yeah, suck my left tit boys

Operation Melons is back on. Repeat. Operation Melons is back on.

[FliegendeWolf 0]

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Operation Melons is back on. Repeat. Operation Melons is back on.

You know, it's been my experience that LOL does not usually mean somebody actually laughed out loud, but was just very amused by the post.
I literally LOLed, Justin!

A One that Isn't Cold is Scarcely a One at All

[jfields 0]

Glad to hear it.

While the line is forming for the left side, I'm personally going to sneak to the right to avoid the mob.

Who is going to watch out for Merrick, or are we going to cut a deal and just let him have first in line and video rights?

[Sebazz1 2]

I used to go in a pool with chlorine or the ocean and scratch the shit out of it in the water and just chill in the water for a couple of hours. When i grew up in the east it was Poison Ivy and in the West it was Poison Oak.

I got it so bad when I was a kid that the shots where the best overall way to go.....

[jtval 0]

i would imagine bleach would dry the hell out of your skin though. I'd try rubbing calamine lotion on it.
really I would haha.
now where the hell is the Merrick character.

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