She comes on like a rose...
I'm susceptible and have had maybe a half dozen serious encounters in my life.?ÿ Here's what I've learned that may not be old wives' tales:
- Become an expert on identification (leaf configuration) and avoid contact if possible.?ÿ Realize that in spring & summer the risk is rather low if just touching the plant because big doses occur after injury to the plant because the sap leaks to the surface of the plant, so avoid brushing/clearing activities.?ÿ Late in the fall, the sap leaks to the surface of the plant, and bare branches will be dangerous, especially because there's no clue from leaf identification.?ÿ I've gotten a dose in the dead of winter from bare branches.
- In high risk terrain wear long sleeve & pants protective clothing, safety glasses and Ivy Block barrier cream on exposed flesh, hands, neck and face. Before getting back in your truck strip off your outer clothing and put on clean clothes, putting the contaminated clothing in a garbage bag which you leave in the garage or front porch so the wife knows she's gotta use rubber gloves when handling them.
- ASAP after a field day hot shower with plenty of soap.?ÿ Urushiol is an oil and just using water will not wash it off.?ÿ The sooner you get it off the less reaction will occur.?ÿ Realize that it can survive on surfaces for months to years so proper hygiene of your blade tools is required, etc.
- Once you've got a dose try to not scratch?ÿ which makes it much worse.?ÿ Best is to bandage it to absorb weepage and prevent you from scratching.?ÿ It'll take months before a big wound completely heals, such is life.?ÿ Cortisone/prednisone treatment seems like overkill to me, less itching but powerful drugs to be applied to what is essentially a skin irritation and they do have side effects.
- The?ÿvery best solution is?ÿ to find one of the 10% of the population which are completely immune to urushiol and make him your brush monkey.?ÿ?ÿ
I rank poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac pretty low on the scale of fieldwork dangers.?ÿ #1 is chiggers, then mosquitos, bees, biting flies and way down the list are snakes, bears and irate humans.
People tend to be immune until they aren't any more, often triggered by a large contact incident.
I never had a reaction and certainly had walked through it many times, until I got some sap from a broken tall plant on my shirt and then mopped my sweat with the shirt.?ÿ I had never seen poison ivy taller than me and mistook it for another common weed. My brother pointed out my mistake so I cleaned my hands and avoided it the rest of the time there, but I didn't realize it was on my shirt. Oops.
I rank poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac pretty low on the scale of fieldwork dangers.?ÿ #1 is chiggers, then mosquitos, bees, biting flies and way down the list are snakes, bears and irate humans.
I'd re-categorize that as two lists: Nasty irritants: chiggers (especially so because you don't see them), mosquitos, urushiol plants, biting flies, and bees (unless you are allergic).
Dangerous, but less frequently a problem: bees (if you are allergic), poisonous snakes, bears, irate humans.
I use Tecnu if I??ve been near poison ivy and it seems to work well. ?ÿNever had a reaction to the plant when I use it.
Tencu is in my truck. I've not gotten a reaction since I started using it. The stuff can get on tools, rods, stake bags, hammers, the two worst reactions I've had were from reinfections, a hammer handle and a stake bag. Once I figured it I threw them away.
Now I take boots, tools, stake bags to the car wash and use engine clearner on them, hit them with hot soap.
Banana peels. The inside part.
It works well for my kids.
I get a minor black scab, usually once a year. Scrape it off, and I'm immune for the year.
Some folks are really sensitive to it.
N
@bill93?ÿ
I too was one of the lucky ones.?ÿ So much so that I think over the years, numerous of my colleagues almost resented how I did not even look for the stuff.?ÿ They would let me know I was standing in a field for poison oak hoping I would get it.?ÿ That all came to a screeching halt about five or six years ago.?ÿ It was late fall and I was brushing blackberry for a job along the railroad.?ÿ I was oblivious to the fact that the thicket contained poison oak.?ÿ A couple of day later I started to notice a weird skin condition along the scrape lines from the vines.?ÿ Apparently the oils from the poison oak had gotten into my scared up arms, it got pretty bad.?ÿ I ended up getting some pills from my doctor.
Now I keep my eyes out for the stuff and avoid it when possible.?ÿ I have not had any sever reaction since then even though I know I've been in the stuff (it is about the only stuff that grows at a long term project I'm on).?ÿ One bad encounter was enough.?ÿ?ÿ
And don't discard the dangers of contracting poison Ivy. One person I know got it on his legs. He was very sensitive to it and couldn't wear pants for a while. Later, a melanoma appeared where the infected area was and he has spent years fighting cancer since.?ÿ
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When I first started surveying, I could literally machete my way through 15-foot tall jungles of poison oak (yes, we encountered those at the beach in SoCal) without getting any signs of it on myself. About 5 years into my surveying career, I finally managed to get a mild case of poison oak. Over the years, I had a few more cases and they increasingly worsened with each one. The last one lasted a good couple of months and then I didn't have any cases for quite a few years after that.
Several years ago, while doing a topo in Hillsboro, Oregon, I contracted poison oak once again. This one lasted SIX MONTHS. I went to the doctor, who told me that it will only get worse. He said it would likely worsen significantly with each event until such time as it kills me. I stopped surveying in the field shortly after that.
Oak and Ivy are the same species. Their form varies somewhat from region to region and circumstance to circumstance, but generally the naming convention is just a local preference.?ÿ The pictured variety is typical of NW Oregon in May.?ÿ
Prednisone and Dawn dishsoap is my go-to remedy. You have to get the oil off so it stops the spread. Wash wash wash!?ÿ
