Health & Body > Home RemediesAugust 09, 2005

Treating Poison Ivy

Any new ideas on treating poison ivy? My arms started with the rash, itch three days ago and I am about to go crazy. Not to mention that it looks so gross!

Jan from South Carolina

Answers

Read answers for this post below.

By Rwhittletx (Guest Post) 02/15/2008

I don't know if this will work once you are in heavy break out mode but, it works for me when I do this just a few hours after contact and welts appear.

1) Get out of your contaminated clothes.

2) Apply liquid dish soap (Dawn) to area. No water. Rub in, and then wash off - don't dry.

3) Apply Baking Soda to the wet area liberally. leave on a minute or two. It will itch a little.

4) Rinse baking soda off with vinegar. (yep, the stuff in the fridge with vinegar will bubble like crazy and tingle.)

5) Rinse with fresh water and dry.

My welts were completely gone within 3 to 4 hours. It's worked for me 3 times so far. It's cheap and it's stuff I already had in the house.

By debbie (Guest Post) 12/02/2005

when I was a kid, a neighbor burned brush with poison ivy. I had it everywhere and doctors gave internally and external medication but I had it so severe, it barely worked. The doctor was going to admit me into the hospital but told my mother to take me to the beach and let me soak in the ocean. It worked wonders and back at home my mother made a salt salution but it didnt work. We went back to the beach for another soaking and brought home gallons of sea water home. I was able to wear clothes again and keep my eyes open within 4 days. Everything cleared up within a week. Since then mild cases of it is always cleared up in a day or two after a day at the beach.

By
08/19/2005

Go to the Health Food Store and request Poison Oak Tablets. They are a Hyland product and are about $5.00 a bottle. I have been using these successfully and recommending them for about 30 years. If you plan to go camping where there might be poison ivy, just take a couple tablets a day for several days before your campout. It immunizes you. I used to pick wild blackberries every year to sell at the farmer's market, and I took them daily during the season, beginning about a week before I started picking. I once fell off a log backwards in a large patch of poison ivy, and never got a blister. They really work well.
Harlean from Arkansas

By Mary (Guest Post) 08/19/2005

Jewel weed is the best. Also known as touch me knots. They are in the impatient family. If you have impatients in your garden, break off the stems and squeeze the juice on the rash. I dry them and make soap for my friends. Works great Good Luck!

By annie. (Guest Post) 08/10/2005

If you can find fels naptha bar soap in your area - slightly dampen the area and rub the bar all over until you are completely covered with lather. Let it air dry and it will be gone in no time

By
08/10/2005

Have you tried taking benedryl , it'l stop the itching and dry it at the same time. good luck

By mary (Guest Post) 08/10/2005

I found that athlete's foot powder helped me the best, it will stop the itch and dry up the spots, It worked for me when aveeno etc. would not.

By JERRY (Guest Post) 08/10/2005

If the poison ivy is just a small patch, I recommend
using a solution of 1 part bleach to 9 parts water.
Use a cotton ball to wipe the area with the solution several times a day. Worked for me.
Also I had a larger patch, and my husband bought some Ivy-Dry and would put it on the spot (it was on my back) for me 3 times daily. After about 4 days it really started to dry up.

By Julie (Guest Post) 08/10/2005

I used to get poison oak constantly as a kid. We would mix salt and vinegar together and pack it on our body. I also would swim in the pool alot. It seemed to cool everything down. Good luck!!!!!!!! It is so miserable.

By
08/10/2005

CalaGel made by Oak-n-ivy is a wonderful product that we use here. Poison ivy grows throughout the bush in the valley next to us. Someone gets poison ivy each summer on themselves, usually my son.

CalaGel is a clear gel. You thinly spread it on the poison ivy rash and it instantly takes the itch away. When is dries it forms a "crust" over the rash keeping the poison ivy rash from weeping. No one else knows you have it on because it is clear...not like calmine lotion doea by leaving a white area. You reapply is about 2 - 3 times a day as needed.

I also use CalaGel to put on a bee sting, mosquito bites, mild sunburn, etc. It is wonderful.

Here is Canada we can not buy it but in the US you can get it at the local pharmacy, I believe. Or...call 1-800-ITCHING. It is made by Tec Laboratories, Inc. Albany. OR 97321. Look in google to see the reviews of it, you will be quite impressed. I highly recommend it!!

By
08/10/2005

Band-Aid makes a calamine that comes in an aerosol spray- that way you don't have to touch it. My husband found that to be very helpful. Also the traditional soaking in epsom salt-water helps dry things up. When washing, you might want to try a poison ivy wash by Tech-nu. I don't remember the exact name, but it cuts the oils so it doesn't continue to spread. You can find it at Wal-Mart or wherever. Hope you get to feeling better!

By Barbara (Guest Post) 08/10/2005

I have been able to get rid of poison ivy by scrubbing the rash with a brush and strong soap. The scrubbing causes the blisters to open up. The soap removes the fluid quickly so that it will not cause the rash to spread.

The rash will dry up and heal. I am convinced that high doses of Vitamin C will help the body to heal.

By
08/09/2005

Jewelweed is best known for its skin healing properties. The leaves and the juice from the stem of Jewelweed are used to cure poison ivy and other plant induced rashes.

Questions

Here are questions related to this page. Click "Ask a Question" if you have a question to ask about this topic.

Treating Poison Ivy

I have poison ivy on my face and I have done all of the treatments and I believe that it is getting better. Well, I don't know if it's getting better because it's all dried up! Please tell me if that's good or bad. I need info.

By Bean-o from MA

 

Most Recent Answer

By JustPlainJo 05/15/2011

Yes, the fact that the rash is drying up is a very good sign. The liquid that comes out of the bumps is what spreads the rash. My entire family is extremely sensitive to poison ivy. Calamine never helped, but a gel called Rhuli-gel worked like a charm!

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