HERB - Re: Poison Ivy & It's Ilk (longish)

[Wes & Adrienne Will]

Greetings.

Delurking for a quick posting on the poison ivy problem.

Someone joked that they could get a rash by thinking about the ivy.  For
me, I'm afraid it's not a funny joke, since I am at the allergic point that
walking within 6 feet of the plant will cause me to break out, if the wind
sets wrong.  I have to spend a lot of effort every year to keep from being
one large, oozing blister.  I've become something of a local expert here,
having tried every possible herbal or scientific cure.

BTW, plantain and jewelweed don't do diddly for me.  I've never seen anyone
else who did use them that it actually helped, either.  If it works for
you, wondermous.  I don't rely on the stuff.

As for the bushy, low-growing, 5-leaved plant that everyone insists is
"virginia creeper", it is not that at all.  It's a type of poison oak, and
it's really prevalent in the midwest where I live.  The vining type of
5-leaved plant, very similar in appearance, usually trying to choke a tree
or cover a wall, is virginia creeper.  The bushy stuff is worse than poison
ivy for urushinol production......

Poison sumac looks a whole lot like ordinary sumac, except the berries it
puts out are white and not pink.  Pretty easy to spot, and not nearly as
common most places as either of the other two.

For prevention, I have had to rely on some non-friendly stuff called
"TECNU".  It comes in a little bottle, and often has a "free" pre-exposure
lotion in the box.  Both products work very well.  Costs about $6.50 US for
an 8-ounce container.  Expensive, but it's the only thing I've found in a
life of searching that works well at all.  (If I get the stuff, even
injections of prednisone don't help any more.)

If you know or think you will be exposed to the plants, use the
pre-exposure lotion on any exposed skin.  Not real pleasant stuff, but
tolerable, considering the alternative is a rash that can last (on me) as
long as 6 weeks, and leave considerable scarring even if I don't scratch.

The TECNU lotion is a type of detergent, and is made from the by-products
of paper production.  (Beats letting the junk run into a river or lake
somewhere.)  If I notice that I am in contact, or could have been in
contact with a poison plant, I use this stuff as quickly as possible.  Read
the directions and the insert - there's good information in there.  Rub it
in well, and be generous with the product.  It doesn't seem to keep well
for more than about 8 months, so use it up by the end of the season and buy
more next spring.

One of the big  NO-NO's for poison ivy cleansing is DON'T WASH OFF IN A
BATHTUB!  If you use that good ol' lye soap of Grandma's, and sit in a tub
while washing the oils off, you will simply cause a thin layer of the
urushinol oil to be floating on top of the water.  When you stand up to get
out, Presto!  You now have a thin layer of the oil spread nicely across a
large portion of your anatomy.....Wait 2 days, and guess what itches?  Wash
off in the shower instead.  Less chances of redepositing the stuff on
yourself.

I hope some of this helps someone avoid the nasty stuff.  If someone on the
list is non-allergic, and happens to be passing through Southern Illinois,
kindly stop by my place - there's a patch of poison ivy growing amongst the
english ivy on the retaining wall, and I can't get close enough to it to
spray it or grub it out, TECNU not-withstanding.  Last time I tried, it
cost me some permanent scars on both legs and the use of my hands for awhile.

I'll pay you well to have you destroy it for me....

Eoin Caimbeul
and 
Rowenna de Montacute
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