Never Get Poison Ivy Again! The Science Explained
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- Опубліковано 16 лис 2022
- I poured poison ivy on myself to show you how to never get it yourself! The solution here isn't a magic bullet but there are at least 4 good things to consider when you're out in the woods this year.
I want to thank doctor Maureen Olivier and our film crew for their help making this work. Especially Jonas Stenstrom, Michelle Lotker and Haley Chamberlain.
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Dad taught us how to ID it the first time one of us got it. In spite of recognizing and avoiding it, we all kept getting it. Years later, I figured it out. The dog was the culprit. She plowed right through the stuff and we hugged and played with her.
Yes, for me as well. Dog runs through it, I pet him, not thinking, I rub my eyes. I had it on my face several weeks, no detergent worked. I very carefully used cotton balls and small amounts of everclear which cleaned off the oils and the rash began to dry up. After that I sprayed mists of everclear on my hands after petting the dog and haven't had it since. I mist arms and legs if I suspect I've had contact.
Yep. My dad washed his dog with dawn after hunting. He's had that happen.
yep!
SHOES, too!
I got it from milking goats 🐐 that were in a new pasture. Took me a few days to figure that out.
I grew up on the family farm, with LOTS of poison ivy. The absolute worst is to burn it. Never burn poison ivy, if you can avoid doing so! You can also get it from clothing that has been exposed to the oil from the plant, even if you never touched the actual plant yourself. So, if you're out in the timber, and you've brushed against poison ivy, you CAN get it from touching the clothing. So, what to do? We'd always go home asap, take the clothing off, put it in the washer immediately, and then take a hot shower with strong lye soap, or Dawn dishwasher soap (it really is the Best!) that way you can get it off of your skin before you have it cause the reaction. Very good video, so thanks for making it!
Thank you, Roger.
100% Roger. This is exactly what we did growing up in Appalachia
One other note tying into it being on our clothes..... Your pets can bring it to you also. If they get the oil on their fur and you give them a big hug......... you can get the Ivy! Be mindful of your pets, especitally while hiking.
We wash of instantly as well and it does the trick my crazy goats love poison ivy it seems to be one of their favorite leaves and in Virginia there is a lot of it
I use colder water to wash it off with. Warmer water opens up your skin more. Let’s more oil into your skin. Cold water and good strong soap!
I have been a land surveyor for 25 years. After first signs of blisters rub it vigorously with the leaves of golden rod, usually clears up after 2 application
after 2 applications*
@@zavatone Wow zovatone, so glad you corrected the OP's grammar and made sure everyone knows that 2 applications has to have an "s" at the end, otherwise, it's hard to imagine all the people who would be unnecessarily suffering from poison ivy rash, had you not come along. You are the hero we didn't ask for, nor did we deserve. Many cheers to you my good friend 🤳🙏
The hairy vines was the one thing I did not know about poison ivy. I removed a HUGE vine from the fence of our house in the winter...
and then discovered that I had covered myself in poison ivy in the process... 🤦♀
A similar thing happened to me. My face swelled up 2 days after clearing up some of these and had to get a steroid shot to clear it up.
I had a similar experience several months ago. I knew to avoid “leaves of three” but had no idea about the “hairy vine” until watching this video. 😮 I ended up with the worst case of poison Ivy I have ever had and can relate to the camera guy’s story.
Oh man I have been ripping that off fence bare handed. Not again I won't thanks
Me too. I tore out old shrubs hairy vine was in twined unfortunately!
As a little child I climbed over a fence completely covered in it and I swelled up like the hunchback of Notre Dame... I woke up and hit my face three seconds before I should have with my hand.... and I couldn't open my eye they fed me a whole bunch of horse pills and I've never gotten poison ivy again. An old Italian lady showed me how to take care of it. Red wine vinegar and salt paste
You have to make sure you use DETERGENT not soap. Soap has oils in it, detergents like blue dawn (ultra) have de-greasers.
Yes, Dawn breaks down oil, which is why it works good
Good point. And, very important to know. Thank you.
Benadryl
Nope
@@modquad18 What do you mean "nope"? "Nope" to what? Your reply has no substance.
As a land surveyor in NC, I was infected with poison ivy, poison oak 12 months a year,
I'm very allergic and have been to the hospital because of the infection the plants caused,
I was once cutting my way up a hill in very thick brush among pine trees, when I noticed these limbs coming off a tree I didn't recognize, it was an 18" pine tree with a HUGE poison ivy vine wrapped around the tree and completely choking it out,
The ivy vine was bigger around than the tree itself, with branches up to over 1 inch in diameter and at least 10' from the tree, forming a thick canopy unlike anything I've ever seen from poison ivy or poison oak!!!
Holysh t! That sounds like a nightmare! I hope you got a better job today!!!
That's incredible! I never saw one that big but I sure believe you! This stuff is evil!
My brother in NC quit his surveying job for the same reason. Became a mapper for the county. Retired with good benefits.
I know exactly what you are talking about. I have a 3 acre property with a lot of non-native invasive plants on it that I've been cleaning up for years. One section and a big tree had a Poison Ivy vine like that. I think it might have been a couple inches in diameter. Not something you could even use loppers on. It wasn't just on the tree either. It spread across the ground and covered a large area. I think the vine is a different variant. The stuff I normally see is on the ground and much smaller. It is easy to confuse Poison Ivy vine with Virginia Creeper. The stems are hairy like that. It would put the fear of god in me during Spring before the leaves came out. Luckily, I found that a lot of what I was seeing was actually Virginia Creeper, which as vines go isn't bad. I have a lot of Asian Bittersweet as well which strangles the trees. It's not poisonous, but, a very damaging non-native invasive plant that spreads around by birds eating the berries.
I've been there in the Philly suburbs...I am an arborist and I've been in many trees where you couldn't see me through the poison ivy 'branches'...
Here's a few more tips: do not wash with hot water as your pores open and absorb more (may be a myth?) I always wash 3 times with COLD water and use an abrasive like a wash cloth. But here is a lesson I learned from my duck (yes..duck, as in water fowl) when out in the woods and there is no cold stream or soap or wash clothes, use DIRT. "Wash" the area well with dirt. A lot. Then rinse the dirt off (with some of your drinking water).
I would imagine that the dirt absorbs the poison ivy oils on your skin.
Except if you're digging around in dirt that also contains poison ivy / urushiol oils :(
I do the opposite: I shower with water as hot as I can stand it. Two or three days of hot showers and some benadryl pills and It's over in less than a week.
Ok if you're sweating and your pores are open when you get contact with it isn't it in your pours and then you just seal it in when cold water closes them?
Loofa with Mayonnaise or butter. Cannabis oil comes right off with butter and I bet poison oak/ ivy the same.
Since I learned that you have to SCRUB with a washcloth and soap, I haven't had poison ivy rash in many years. And I am extremely sensitive to it. This video is legit.
The best are the gritty mechanic soaps like fast orange or Gojo.
me too
Soap is a oil you need a "detergent" to cut through the oil/sap.
You can use paint thinner or alcohol, as well as kerosene and diesel fuel to dissolve the resin, then wash with soap. One time after spending several weeks in the dense bush, I found a tick on my balls that had grown to the size of an olive. Can't stress enough the importance of thorough hygiene after every day of roughing it through the heavy brush😅
As someone who is an unwitting expert on getting poison oak, watching you pour that nightmare smoothie over your arm was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve developed almost a sixth sense for poison oak and it’s amazing how much just seeing poison ivy triggers it too, the same evil lurks beneath 😂
Jonas said the same thing. EVERYONE who has had it bad is very aware of it! :)
We have a lot of oak and sumac here. Both very nasty just like ivy!
If you still go into the woods you may want to read my post above.
@@mitchgraves8197 There are 300 comments now and your "post above" is nowhere to be seen. Next time, consider posting a link to your comment (right-click or long-press on the time stamp of your comment to get the link).
I can't catch ivy ,but oak it fcks me up lol bad
I used to survey on the East coast. This often involved cutting line through thick woods. Avoiding poison ivy was not an option. I knew it was an oil that caused the reaction so I started bringing rubbing alcohol with me, and wiping down after exposure. That worked like a charm. I also found bleach works, but not quite as well. If you ever have to cut poison ivy you should know when you do so it often sprays it's sap from the cut. Try to position yourself in a safe location before chopping it, and be very aware. It's really hard to see, and feel the spray when it hits you. I'm not super sensitive to poison ivy, but getting the spray on me from chopping it would leave a spray line. This took a while to figure out. Hopefully you won't have to now.
I can vouch for the rubbing alcohol. I did some archaeology on an island nature preserve that had been farm land until 10 years previously. It was almost nothing but poison ivy. All 15 or 20 of us got it and we compared remedies. Alcohol was what everyone liked best. The prescription stuff was marginally better. No one stuck with the bleach because it stinks. Lye soap (like Fels Naphtha) was said to work if you let the lather dry on your skin before you rinse it off. Alcohol feels great. When you want to scratch, do it with a rag soaked in it. It will be gone in 3 days.
Bleach will damage your skin.
Alcohol is one of the best ways to cut through oil or resin. You can use hydrogen peroxide too
I purchase Everclear instead of rubbing alcohol. More expensive but higher in alcohol percentage and not made from petrochemicals. Works like a charm for me when my pets were running through poison ivy.
@@playfultones You never know if someone had PI on their hands when they prepared your food. As a precaution, I rinse thoroughly with Everclear, not just my mouth, but the whole system.
I used to play in poison ivy as a kid, and all the other kids were freaking out, and I was considered immune because I would get no reaction. Until one time, I was once again showing off how "immune" I was, got a minor itchy rash. Didn't last long, Sounds like the more you mess with it, the more susceptible you are.
I've never gotten poison ivy, and I've literally wallowed in it a few times. First time was unintentional while helping clean out a brushy area. I was carrying big armloads of it. That's how I knew for sure that I didn't get it. Since then I've helped a few people who were trying to get rid of poison ivy. Most notably my brother-in-law, who bought a barn with one whole side and half the roof covered in it. I pulled it all down by hand, and even got up on the roof to pull it off.
At some point I heard about the possibility of becoming sensitive to it so now I'm much more conservative in my actions with it. I'll still work with it, but I try to wear gloves, and not carry around armloads of it like I used to. I also wash with cold water and Dawn detergent afterwards.
It seems that the immunity is genetic though, because none of my siblings, none of my kids, and only one of my nieces and nephews on my side of the family get poison ivy.
@@AlarKemmotar My dad wasn't allergic to poison ivy, but my sister and I were. I have a lot of allergies though, as does one of my grandsons, his are even worse, as he has food allergies.
I don't think there's an exposure/susceptibility link. I think we're just in the 15% of humans who don't have the allergic reaction. I've never had a reaction to poison oak or ivy.
idk if i have encountered sumac and don't really care to test my luck if i knowingly do encounter it. 😅
Yep. I almost tried it on purpose last year to see... until I read about sensitization.
I ended up getting it by accident last year but didn't realize what it was. Thought it was some bad allergy or something.
Then this year it happened again very shortly after removing poison ivy from my yard.... then I knew it was that last year too.
The worst is on my face. My face is dry and jt hurts to smile or frown or anything and it cracks and oozes and it's so bad I looked so bad.
I used to be extremely allergic to poison ivy. We had a cottage on Lake Erie in Wheatley, Ont Canada. There were fields behind the cottages that had lots of poison ivy in them. I could walk down the road in the spring and literally come down with poison ivy that night. My worst case was went to a beach party one night when I was 16 and crawled threw some and didn't know it at the time. The next day I was covered in poison ivy. I had to be hospitalized. I looked like a leper. It took three weeks to get over it that time. Your doctor said there should be a way to stop people from getting it. One year they had these tiny pills that you broke into quarters to start. The first week you took one quarter of a pill daily, the second week 1/2 a pill daily. Third week 3/4 of a pill daily. Fourth week, whole pill til the pills were gone. They were only available one summer. Next summer went to the doctor and they had been pulled from the market supposedly because someone had taken too much at once and had died. I was pissed off because that was the first year I didn't get poison ivy. Today almost all new scripts can kill you and they don't seem to mind, Bring back the poison ivy pill.
Apparently, if u eat it, u become immune. That’s probably what the pill had in it in small doses. It probably has to be injested in very small doses, but u would have to know? Find a doctor that is knowledgeable. Maybe a Native American doctor. They know about plant better than us. They used to burn poison Ivy to deter their enemies. The Native Americans weren’t effected by it. So, they know something. Find an old Native American. They r good ppl with great natural knowledge!!
Or drops! Early 60's a dosing regime 1 drop to 10 in ten days.
Did Wheatley ever explode while you were there?
I took those. Had preventive shots as well.
There's no money in a cure, only treatment. They know how to cure it.
I had a coworker one time that lived on an acreage. They were doing some landscaping maintenance and had a big burn pile. Her husband accidentally cleared a large amount of it without either of them realizing it before they burned it and they both ended up in the hospital for severe respiratory inflammation! She said it was extremely uncomfortable and scary.
My late Uncle Roscoe burned poison ivy and scarred his lungs and eyes from the smoke an it affected him some the rest of his life. I waded through a swamp when I was a kid, walked through briars on the way home and missed 2 weeks of school from a bad reaction. I've gotten less allergic over the years for some reason. I had a neighbor younger than me as a id that would get poison ivy from just being near it.
Any “Mean Green” mechanics hand soap is great to have around, cuts the oil great. Use alcohol too. Both work great! Wash cloth, Dawn dish liquid soap, and diluted bleach!! That’s all u need. Dilute bleach by half. 1/4 cup bleach, 1/4 cup water. Put all on cloth and wash the spot once u know u touched it, or if u have it. And keep the product Technu around. Killed vines still retain the poison up to 5 years.
@@robertpatrick1824 It may not be you are "less allergic" to it, but that you now take better care around it, and after contact, then you did as a kid. I had the stuff literally over every square inch of my skin when I was around 8, even inside my eyes. But, like most kids back then, I didn't have a thorough understanding of the importance of proper daily hygiene so I basically just scratched away at myself without ever considering invisible plant resin was on me, and under my fingernails.
We keep Tecnu Oak & Ivy in all the medicine cabinets. It's a cleanser designed to bind to urushiol resin and remove it from the skin. It works well. I'm minimally reactive to urushiol, but my partner is very sensitive.
I find it interesting that in Japan, their lovely lacquer, used on bowls and boxes and chopsticks and Shakuhachi flutes, is made from urushiol resin. They have a native tree, the urushiol tree, that makes far more of the substance than poison ivy. They have a process that, over time, oxidizes the resin, making it harmless. There are individuals who are so sensitive, though, that even the oldest and most oxidized lacquer can still cause a rash.
I play the Shakuhachi (badly) so I needed to know this. It's for this reason I use flutes made from synthetic materials, no urushi lacquer at all. Also, I collect fountain pens, and some, usually from Japan, are lacquered with urushi lacquer. They're some of the most beautiful pens -- Japanese urushi lacquered items in general are well known for their inlay and extremely delicate layered work.
Wow! That's a GREAT tip!
This is one of the most interesting comments that Ive ever read 😲😲😲😎🔥🙏🙏🙏
Very interesting.
+1 for Tecnu. It's the only stuff I have found that works. As a kid, I had some poison ivy rash on some part of my body at all times and had a couple of terrible episodes and one that required a trip to the hospital. Calamine lotion only made it itch more and did nothing to keep the blisters from getting worse. I wish we had Tecnu back then.
Wash cloth, Dawn dish liquid soap, and diluted bleach!! That’s all u need. Dilute bleach by half. 1/4 cup bleach, 1/4 cup water. Put all on cloth and wash the spot once u know u touched it, or if u have it. And keep the product Technu around. Killed vines still retain the poison up to 5 years.
Like he said, it's like getting off thick and sticky car grease. With that said, washing off with dish soap can definitely improve your condition, but with it being clear, it's almost impossible to get it all off. Also consider that if any is left on your hands, than anything you touch can spread it to other surfaces like faucet handles, door handles, steering wheels, clothes and shoes. And keep in mind that shoes can spread it to your hands as well. Also, it helps to be home where you have access to running water and dawn dish soap. Many times I come into contact with it on my job, sometimes not even knowing I got it, and other times seeing it and thinking I avoided it, but didn't. It's a real tricky thing and there's no fail-safe way like the title of the video insinuates.
Use a washcloth with dish soap and cold water and do it within a couple hours of exposure. The washcloth exfoliates to pull the urushiol out, the dish soap is a degreaser which helps remove the oil, and the cold water keeps the skin pores from opening and absorbing the oil. Urushiol has a similar consistency to axle grease and if you've ever messed with axle grease you know how hard it is to get completely off.
A sweet, very elderly lady saw my arm when I was having a reaction to poison ivy (I'd stupidly cut it back with clippers and wasn't that careful). She went to her fridge and took out a jar of the nastiest looking liquid I'd ever seen, handed me a paper towel and told me how to brush it on my arm. The treatment was simple, keep the jar handy, and keep patting the liquid onto the rash every time it dried up. The very next day the rash was dry, the itching was gone. What was in the jar? She'd made a very strong tea of fresh St. John's Wort leaves, strained the leaves out, and put the jar of tea in the fridge. I keep my own jar in my fridge now, and it works as well as it did then. She was nearly 100 then, long gone now, but I thank her every time I'm dumb enough to get exposed.
interesting...
Herbalism saves!
Another thing that works well to relieve the rash after it appears is to go into the shower, rub soap all over your rash and make the water as hot as you can stand. Scrub the soapy water into your skin, and use your nails to scratch the skin as hard as you can without tearing your skin too badly (You might get a couple nicks in your skin because the rash tends to be bumpy and your nails might scratch off some of the bumps, so just scratch as hard as possible without doing damage). Rinse and repeat a few times. Then after you get out of the shower, dry your skin and then apply some regular, pharmacy-grade 3% hydrogen peroxide, and let it dry on your skin.
The rash will not immediately go away, but the relief from the itching is fast and amazingly effective. The peroxide might burn a little bit, especially where your skin might have broken slightly, but it is short lived and the relief from the itching and burning is well worth it. Not sure why this works, but my uncle told me about it and I have used it multiple times. It works almost immediately, and you will forget you even got poison ivy rashes within an hour after applying the peroxide.
Jewel weed soap always
You can do the same thing with plantain weed. Boil & simmer it down. Wipe on like the elderly lady said. I am very allergic to poison ivy & have never found anything that works as good as plantain.
This was very informative. I'm extremely allergic. 2 times my face has swollen so bad my eyes swelled closed due to poison ivy. Also for anyone reading this, the ABSOLUTE WORST thing to do is to burn it!
I have horrible reactions to it also. I had the same experience of having my eyes swollen shut.
If you still go into the woods you may want to read my post above.
Yup, i grew up around it no problem,
Until my dad burned it.
Benadryl and clorox are my new friends.
Any “Mean Green” mechanics hand soap is great to have around, cuts the oil great. Use alcohol too. Both work great! Wash cloth, Dawn dish liquid soap, and diluted bleach!! That’s all u need. Dilute bleach by half. 1/4 cup bleach, 1/4 cup water. Put all on cloth and wash the spot once u know u touched it, or if u have it. And keep the product Technu around. Killed vines still retain the poison up to 5 years.
I'm so glad i found this channel! I love it!
I got that severe reaction from clearing brush & burning in the winter.
Additionally dogs can transfer it to you by collecting the oils on their fur.
Thank you!
Felsnaptha as mentioned below is exactly correct. I am highly allergic and I have used Felsnaptha whenever I suspect that I have been exposed. 50+ years experience and calamine (pink) lotion.
Calamine lotion is my hero at least once or twice a year.
I can relate to Jonas. I accidentally inhaled very little poison ivy whilst pregnant. Worst experience ever 🤢😭 .
My body was leaking fluid out of every cell of my skin. My sheets needed to be changed 2x a day. We wrapped sheets around all my limbs because I was oozing so much liquid. I am definitely not afraid of poison ivy but we no longer burn leaves. That was 22 years ago. Poor Jonas. Horrible experience! Bless you all! Now go outside! 😅
😅
If you still go into the woods you may want to read my post above.
I got a bad case about 5 years ago and even laying on sheets hurt my skin. I put damask table cloths on my bed, as the silky surface felt better. My family thought I was nuts.
I'm a land surveyor in Michigan so we see PI almost every day.
You should add to your show that you cannot get the rash by touching someone else with the rash unless they still have oil on them. Basically, the pus from the rash does not transfer the rash. This seems to be a really common misconception. You should also add that you get the rash in area's of your body that have not come into contact with the urushiol. Once your body starts to fight the oil, the response can travel through your body. Otherwise, good info.
I always wash with cold water and dawn when I’m finished in the garden. Then I will take a shower after that. I’ve also noticed that the leaves are shiny. I also take antihistamines on a daily basis due to other allergies.
I used to get poison ivy all the time growing up, it got to a point where I guess I built up a tolerance or something and didn't get it any more
Ivy league
More exposure less resistance
I am not allergic to it, neither are my relatives that are blood related. We grew up in it. So i don't know if it is genetic or getting tolerance. I think for us it's genetic because i have never had poisen ivory rash even as a child but i do stay away from stinging nettles. Those are torture.
I’m one of the very lucky percentage of people who has no reaction to urushiol. But, ironically, I’m *very allergic* to almost everything else, including cats, newspaper ink, horses and dust mites. My dermatologist did a test year ago, and every single thing she tested showed an allergic response.
As a kid I had the same thing it was actually really bad because I would get so much on me I actually spent a good chunk of my childhood as an actual poisonous person. 😂 I remember that my friends and siblings would get horrible rashes all the time because I was always running through the bush. But I had a severe shellfish allergy 🤔
Also used to get dared to prove it all the time as a kid. So I would chew it, Rub it on my face and arms and be totally fine as if they were normal leaves. But I've also unintentionally caused permanent scarring on people who were really sensitive. 😶
Me too! Dust mites the worse.
Me too, I have been able to lay in it, rub it on me and nothing ever happens. When we were kids everyone around me would be covered in it and red and itchy and I thought I had super powers.
I’m also RH negative blood type and I’ve often wondered if it has anything at all to do with my lack of allergy to the oil. Just out of sheer curiosity, do any of you know if you’re RH neg?
Very interesting and helpful ! thank you.
This is the best vid I’ve seen on this topic. I have a forestry management business and my employees and I frequently fight rashes from Poison Ivy, sometimes even in the winter (occasionally we unknowingly cut a vine and get sprayed). Drinking urushoil, eating it, bleaching your skin, and all that stuff hasn’t been as effective as time. Time or steroids is what heals it. I don’t go to he Dr unless it’s on my mouth or eyes. I take scalding hot showers to relieve itching and then wait it out. I get it much less frequently now that I wash my hands and arms anytime I’m in an area with PI. This helps prevent it most of the time.
While living in rural Missouri some decades ago, I had poison ivy vines growing on a few trees around the house. I left it alone so that the repeated sight of the leaves would make an indelible impression. Years later, I can recognize poison ivy like a flashing red light. I've never had a poison ivy rash even though I spend almost all my free time in the outdoors.
Nicely done and much appreciated, as always!👍✌
Dude, I work in demolition. I had to take down a whole patch of poison ivy that was attached to the siding of the building we destroyed. A nightmare is an understatement
As a few have already mentioned, Tecnu is the best OTC scrub I have experienced. I developed a sensitivity to poison ivy as an adult and was told about Tecnu. The next time I had a rash I used tecnu and it was gone the next day. Now I scrub down with it every time I have been in an area where there could be poison ivy. The stuff works wonders
Jonas' reaction was from the oil in the smoke from the woods. I've seen it many times on people that either had a bonfire or were burning brush and didn't think about it. My daughter and myself are extremely allergic and need the steriod pak. We have scars. My sons don't seem to react much.
I grew up around it no problem,
Until
My dad burned it...
Benadryl and clorox my new friends when i get around it.
My husband gets it bad I can walk through roll around a bit and don't get it. My daughter is 13 hasn't gotten it yet knock wood hopefully she doesn't
@@tanyasteers4802
The risk is that your immune system may learn from the exposure at some later time, and then you'll become allergic to it. It's not something to count on, as the experience of hanving a reaction isn't just a curiosity.
What works for me is pretreating my skin with dish soap. If I know I'll be performing activities that may risk poison ivy/oak/sumac contact, I simply coat my skin with a thin layer of dish soap, and let it dry. This provides a barrier and it is also helpful in washing off if I notice I've gotten into the thick of it.
I do the same before working on my truck. Afterwords the grease and oil wash off easily.
Amazing!!! Thanks!!! 😊
This is the only video that mentions the hairy vine. Thank you for this info
Very helpful , thank you!!
If you get it bad, be sure to treat whatever you touched. I kept re-exposing myself through the steering wheel on my car and the arms of the chair in my office! Once I cleaned them well, I was finally able to stop reacting.
What did you use to clean them?
@@zoezzzarko1117 Dish soap.
That’s what I must be doing,re-exposing myself!
I got it last week while doing yard work and had it on my face ,hands and arms. Saw the doctor,and took prednisone for a few days (I don’t like the way it makes me feel so I stopped taking it) but It started to dry up after 4 days. I keep getting small little spots that itch like crazy in random places. I did wipe down every place I thought it could be,just not good enough I guess. 😬
I walked in some poison Ivy one summer without knowing it. Next day I put my shoes on by putting each foot up on my chair to tie my shoelaces. Couple of days later, I was getting a mild case on the back of my thighs from sitting on the chair in shorts, touching where my shoes had transferred it to the chair. When I finally figured it out, I felt like a Forensic scientist.
@@PlantsRMyJam it can remain on items FOR YEARS!!!!😮
I was one of the lucky ones that never reacted to poison oak. Unlucky for me that I didn’t know that the more you get exposed the more likely you are of getting it. Sooo I used to clear it for farmers and rub it on my body to win bets or dares. Then one day as a young adult one of the chickens didn’t want to go into the coop and decided to hide in some poison oak. I went right in and grabbed her like nothing and went about my business for the next couple days. Started out as a little patch on my arm and a few days later I looked worse than poor Joanis. My legs looked about like his, including both my arms, half my chest, most my stomach and half my back…what fun. Didn’t complain one bit when the Dr pulled out the needle and stuck my backside with steroids. If only the internet had come around a bit sooner.
That’s a great (and terrible) story. Thanks for sharing.
I didn't know that. I used to play in the woods as a kid and touched it a lot, never got a reaction. Now I'll try to avoid it extra 😅
Yours is the story that worries me. I have been pulling poison ivy out with my bare hands for years, I can make a 1 meter high pile of poison ivy and I'll have just a very small reaction. People keep warning me this might change, but why would it suddenly change after years, even decades, of doing this? I get a tiny rash, or at worst a small rash, like a red forearm or something.
The woods in CT are carpeted with a solid mat of poison ivy, when you mountain bike thru it, the second, third and forth biker is basically riding in a rain of poison ivy.. The first bike turns it into confetti.
I find that the more often I get it, the less of a reaction I have, as long as not too much time has elapsed between exposures.
Everyone is different, my sister has an extreme reaction to the smallest exposure. My kids have no reaction. Everyone is different so just be careful.
@@UntamedScience I ran across an article on cleaning a swordfish that proves why some people who clean a swordfish get poison ivy symptoms. Apparently bacteria on the swordfish put out a chemical that mimics the same symptoms as urushiol.
Keeping makeup remover wipes handy in pack or for me in the disc golf bag have kept me from having a reaction countless times. Pulling discs out of patches and wiping up right after... And I am someone who's had significant reactions before.
Super educational and interesting. That you for making this video. (Poor Jonahs)
been foraging for years with the terrible secret that i couldn't ID poison ivy. I had been told what it looks like on feildtrips as a kid... but as the tallest kid i was always in back and unable to actually see it. i obvs tried to learn as i started foraging but everytime i thought i learned it someone would say "oh watch out for the poison ivy right there" and i'd never be able to spot it. thank you so much for this seeing that table really helped
The single thing that has helped me the most is the center leaf being longer, like a middle finger.
I’d rather avoid false-positives than miss one and suffer again.
@@firstmkb great way to describe it! 🖕I will always remember now
I love these comments. The humility to admit not being able to spot poison ivy in an area of expertise. And a helpful reply with a great memory device! I know too many people who pretend to know but won’t explain it-just to have the upper hand. Which situation is worse: toxic people or toxic vines? I loved this video and the comments section; it’s fun, knowledgeable, and didn’t trigger any anxiety.
Being a nurseryman I can't relate. Get it bad and you won't have a problem identifying it
I was a landscaper for 15 years. Technu extreme was my saving grace.
Just like blackberry, raspberry has leaves of three also! We have wild raspberries growing at hole 13 at the nearby frisbee golf course. It’s a nice little treat while you’re playing!
The best way to get grease off is to use some vegetable oil, which can then be wiped and/or washed off easily, without scrubbing.
Yep, I remember from high school chemistry we were taught that like dissolves like, so you want to use a similar or lighter oil to dissolve the urushiol.
We used to use mayonnaise to remove latex and oil based paint from hair and skin. Also works on gum, resin etc.
ID difference between PoisonIvy and BoxElder seedlings that has helped, since they look so similar and we have both, everywhere, is that PI as a vine has random branches around the stem (with the leaves) and BoxElder branches at 180 deg in pairs, so when you look at the center, the leaf stems come out in a cross.
There's a color difference as well. Box elder is a yellowish green, PI is a darker, cooler green.
I have a lot of both at my place. Scared me at first. I still have to check carefully because I've found poison ivy growing up and around the box elder. I also have clematis vines in random places. Unfortunately, I killed off a fair bit of clematis before I realized what it was.
Great video! Many thanks! It made me laugh a little as I sit here in my tormented state.
Growing up, I'd get blisters that would grow upwards of 1/2" in height. I remember waking up one morning unable to open my eyes because it had spread to my face and crusted over. I don't think I've ever been more scared in my entire life! It always got me out of mowing the back yard, but I'd rather have had to mow than deal with the unbearable rash. Now, I just avoid the woods altogether.
Worth note is that the lookalikes can serve as camouflage for Poison Ivy, the real stuff is usually nearby. It's also worth knowing that a plant which is clearly not Poison Ivy but has an oily sheen on it, although it won't cause the same allergic reaction, can still irritate the skin.
I have been a Naturalist for 40 years and have helped many identify P.I. I also got it in my blood stream and it covered my body, EVERYTHING was covered. My doctor wouldn't touch me, It took about 3 weeks of agony and wet clothing before it subsided. I now avoid it but when I do get it it's very small and doesn't bother me.
My dad seems to have an immunity to P.I., he could rub it on his arms or legs without experiencing any adverse effects. Myself, on the other hand, can count on having a reaction to P.I. Luckily, it was fairly mild.
If you still go into the woods you may want to read my post above.
Steroids does the trick, immediately
Boy do I know what you went through, same results and no alternatives but calamine in the late forties, early fifties!
@@rikspector groin attack hehe
If you want to get sticky grease off your skin, put vegetable oil on it first, which will dilute the grease, and then wash it with detergent and water. I would expect it would help with the poison ivy oil too.
Great video, really enjoyed it. I’m one of these individuals who gets a severe reaction to poison ivy. This is until I noticed one summer about 20 yrs ago while on a vitamin supplement to help with my varicose veins. I had just arrived home after being out and was in our yard talking to my husband while he was working pulling weeds and doing some trimming and gardening. As usual I couldn’t just watch as we’re talking so I started helping.
Now, he’s dressed practically as a bee keeper to protect himself where I’m in shorts and a sleeveless shirt after just running a few errands. He goes inside afterwards and showers, where I forgot and got busy with our kids and life. Fast forward the next morning my husband has full on poison ivy! Me, not a thing.
A few weeks later while on a beach vacation I usually burn if I’m not on top of re application of suntan lotion, as does my family. Though this trip I didn’t burn at all. Another yard cleaning where this time my kids all got poison ivy (yet everyone was wearing gloves and long sleeves etc.), again, I got nothing. So I looked what was in the supplement I was taking. This was verified this with a friend who was doing research at the time for the National Institute of Health on ZINK. Since then I take zinc daily in the spring going through until a couple of good frosts and I encourage my family (and anyone else that will listen) to take zinc before doing yard work or being in the sun and to continue for a few days afterwards just to be safe. Zinc has healing properties which helps in the healing of your skin some how. Any dermatologist I spoken to hasn’t heard of this, though none have said to stay away or not to continue. They all find it interesting. Btw, my husband only started taking the zinc about 10 yrs ago after realizing that showering immediately after yard work with lava soap and washing his clothes spin hot water wasn’t preventing him from still getting poison ivy. As someone stated in the comments, it was likely on his sneakers.
Anyway, consider looking more deeply into taking zinc prior to yard work or being out in the sun. Hope my story is helpful. Thanks again for your video.
Very fitting video, considering I'm sitting here looking at the small rashes on my arms. Yeah... slipped up and didn't get it washed off in time.
This might be a bit radical, but I've found that blowing very hot air from a blow dryer onto the rash soothes it for about 12 hours. It doesn't make the rash go away, it just relieves the itching. For me, anyway. Great video.
A few others have mentioned Fels-Naptha soap as well. I've always used this when I had suspected contact with Poison Ivy, and have never broken out.
But the key to remove the resin from your skin and clothing is the right approach.
Remember that exposed items can carry the oil for years if not removed - so second hand contact is possible.
My mom always scrubbed down with Fels-Naptha soap after gardening/weeding, and never had plant rashes. Great stuff for getting oil stains out of jeans, too.
The product known as "Goop" (hand cleaner) might work really well too. That stuff works miracles on resins and oils.
It is the friction of scrubbing the skin that removes the oils. The detergent helps disolve the oil, but the friction is key.
I'm in my mid forties and have been in farming and ranching my entire life. When I was young, I was extremely allergic to poison ivy. When I was probably 8 or 9 years old we burned some brush that had been cleared for a fence line. Playing in the smoke I got a poison ivy rash all over including in my eyes and in my nasal passages. I still continued to get it after that, but I can only recall one or two extremely minor cases in the last 30 years or so. It seems like if I go a while without exposure I will loose some immune response resulting in a minor case that will build up my immunity again. What I find extremely interesting is my father grew up being exposed the same way I have been, but he never had a reaction until he was in his late 50's or early 60's.
Yep. Used to get it bad as a child to where my eyes would nearly swell shut…but thankfully somehow developed immunity. Learned that in my early 20s and now at 51 still doesn’t affect me.
Also note that there are other plants (that are not poison ivy/poison oak) that can nevertheless also cause unpleasant skin reactions. One commonly seen one is Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), which is just as invasive. As the species name "quinquefolia" suggests, like poison ivy it also has leaflets, in this case of five, and similarly climbs up trees and walls. Contact with it can cause contact dermatitis.
always called it 5 leaf ivy and i definitely get a reaction from it!
I've never heard of this before. I touch it all the time and it actually doesn't bother me at all.
I taught my kids that Virginia Creeper is shaped like a hand because it always "holds hands" with poison ivy. On our property, if you see Virginia Creeper, poison ivy is in there, too.
Very interesting, and I'm not even from the US. I think the only similar thing we have here in Germany are nettles, but they are way less dangerous, easy to identify, and make a good tea or even salad (once the little spikes are somehow destroyed, they are harmless). We have real ivy here, and I got a rash when removing them (alcohol seems to work well - on the skin, not oral)
Thanks that was very interesting
Thank you so much. I was clearing land, and mindlessly rolled up my sleeves, and as I was showering at home, felt the burn. Next day? Rash, then soon after blisters and the crust all over my forearm. My response to poison ivy has gotten worse over the years, and thank you for confirming that idea. Also, thank you for saying that the over the counter remedies are useless, because that has also been my experience. As a Sylvan, I will not stop roaming the Woods, but will take Dawn dish soap and a rag. Bravo.
Rubbing alcohol is better for removing resins. Or salt scrubs.
Orange goop would probably work well.
its awesome to here someone else know about the jewel weed trick
In the latest 60s or early 70s my mother nearly died from a reaction to poison ivy. She breathed the smoke from a brush fire that was loaded with poison ivy plants. She had the reaction in her mouth throat and lungs. She spent a week in ICU and another week in the hospital before she was released to come home. She had the worst sensitivity to poison ivy I have ever seen. She could walk downwind of poison ivy 50 or more feet from it and would break out on all exposed skin.
My wife and I figured out the Dawn trick back in 2000. We were working on a tract of land we had bought and the entire forest floor was a sea of poison ivy. We also learned that you MUST thoroughly wash the clothing you wore before putting any of it back on.
Our most puzzling thing was that we kept getting it between our fingers, despite great care in cleanup. Then one day I was tying my shoes and the light came on. Shoelaces are perfect for transporting urushiol to your fingers and, perhaps, thence to other parts of your body, including some places that can be rather embarrasing to seek treatment for. So we learned to tie our shoes while wearing rubber gloves.
I can spot P. I. in any season and not confuse it with it look alikes.
Good tip
I'm not sure why people keep referring to washing with soap as a "trick". It's literally the first go-to method to get anything off of your skin.
@@Dziaji Don't use SOAP. Soap will not remove the urushiol. You have to use a high quality detergent, something that you would use to remove heavy grease, which is why Dawn is such a good remedy.
As for "trick", I was using the word as in "solution to a specific problem". Sorry if the semantics confused you.
@@Dziaji not just soap. The original go to was Fels Napa, and extremely harsh laundry soap that comes in a bar. Now Dawn has become popular because of how well it breaks down oil and grease, And your Ruscio is an oil that is very effective at getting through skin layers, which is apparently why it causes such a violent reaction, apparently the most common allergy in the world. So it’s not about soap and water, it’s about which particular soap you’re using. And if you’re ever blessed with the joy of poison ivy, you will see that there’s a massive difference. And that’s what these posts are about.
Fels NAPTHA....Spell check
Poison Oak is probably worse IMO I've seen massive trunks on it in California, but the resin dripping off of them is a gorgeous dark black sap that can hang off of vines and looks like nothing else in the forest.
That gorgeous black sap is used in some Japanese bowls and boxes as a black lacquer finish. It is dried, so it doesn't transfer well, but if you are sensitized, handling these items can cause a reaction.
@@davidberrien9711 wow good to know
Use baking soda. It mixes with all the oils, both yours and the plants. It's gentle abrasion helps scrub through layers of oil and mix with it. Needs to be used pretty soon after exposure before the plant oil is absorbed into your skin. Also, odd as it may sound, don't take a shower the day before you go into areas prone. Your natural oils can help keep accidental quick encounters from becoming an issue. And when scrubbing, don't forget between the fingers and inner wrist are the likely hot spots. And yes, never get into smoke that may be burning any of the poison plants. Seen several people hospitalized on powerful steroids.
Thanks! part of my little property I leave almost natural, but sometimes I have to cut back the creepage, lol. I have been tryin to identify poison ivy for years and this helped more than anything else I have seen, and I watched and read alot! Great video
Awesome video. I grew up getting it all my life as a kid, one year to the point my legs went septic looking similar to your cameraman. It’s purely anecdotal but I kept bottles of isopropyl around forever after that. I don’t think the alcohol helped but learning to identify it definitely did, I haven’t have it since. I’ve heard about the 7 year itch I don’t know how true that is.
I used to play in wood a lot when I was a kid. I'd always be in poison ivy and oak. I would break out, but after a while, I stopped being affected. For a while wash my hands in mud and it worked
I usually get it a couple times a year durning the summer due to brush cutting with a trimmer. The dawn dish soap in the shower is an absolute must afterwards.
I have found Benadryl to be quite helpful. Along with the mitigation techniques you talk about.
Oils are miscible in alcohol, it's a lot easier to wash with rubbing alcohol (iso or ethanol)... I might be part of 15%...
I had a terrible reaction to the sap from a mango tree. I was holding the mangos in arm while grabbing others off the tree. Completely oblivious to all the sap getting on my arms and chest. The next 3 or 4 weeks were rough. ☹️
Yes and many Drs seem uneducated and they should be warning folks that if they are sensitive to poison ivy that they need to stay the hell away from mangoes. I had blisters inside my mouth, all over my hands and intestinal distress. There is no way to cut into a mango without dragging some of the oil into the fruit. So no more mangoes for me. Sadly I bought a house recently with 2 mango trees!
I saw the comment about detergent below. We used the detergent solutions in my family. My grandmother and my mother were very sensitive to the Urushiol in poison ivy and both had horror stories from their youth. We found that detergents worked far better for them than soaps. Detergents break down oils. I never had any reactions to Urushiol, but I never used soaps. I only used detergents when I thought I have had any contact with poison ivy. We used lotion on the skin after a detergent washing.
There was a large vine growing up a tree in my yard. I didn't want to get close to it so I shot it with 12 ga birdshot at ground level. It started growing back so I shot it again. Now it's dead but there's plenty of other small plants around including a small tree that may or may not be poison oak. It has oily looking leaves and milky sap
it's better to use a washcloth or t-shirt to wipe the ivy juice away from the body,not just your hand. any soap but even just water is better than nothing if you use a washcloth.
So thankful to be in the few percent that doesn't react to prison ivy
I personally have a big container of the “orange” soap which is meant for degreasing. I’ve found using this very effective after contact. I get small rashes/irritations at times, but nothing significant as in times past when I did not treat it before discovery!
I use ice to rub the exposed area until it starts to hurt a little. I believe this constricts the pores in the skin. Then I use more dish detergent.
I'm very sensitive to poison ivy and even more so to the skin of mangos. Didn't realize the relationship to mangos until I lived in FL with a giant mango tree. I was picking them up from the ground without knowing I was allergic. It finally clicked for me when someone told me about the relationship. Until then I thought I was just running into poison ivy somewhere and didn't know where. Fyi, I can eat peeled mangos just fine. Just can't touch the skin or any surface where the skin has been.
Are you okay with cashews? Think the video mentioned they were similar to the mangoes.
Cashews are no problem. But, of course, I don't ever touch the fruit. I've only ever touched the seed part.
I'm also allergic to mango skin, and poison ivy.
I am sensitive too and last time I ate mangoes there were blisters all over my mouth (inside) and on my hands as well as intestinal distress. I had been treated at hospitals before for poison ivy but no one warned me to avoid mangoes!! Sucks as the house I own now has 2 mango trees. I avoid like the plague! How do you peel it without getting even a drop of oil onto the fruit??
@@nicolaxoxo1 I don't even try. If I really want mangos, I buy it in a jar or frozen. When my daughter was still at home she would peel them for me. But then she had to scrub the sink really well in bleach before I could use it again. Sorry you have to deal with mangos on the property and be teased by them.
55 years ago, I attended a Navy school in a bucolic area of Maryland along with several other young couples. A major diversion was an informal competition of gathering black raspberries. By the time my wife finished her degree to join me, most of the bushes were picked over.
However, one large of perfectly ripe berries stood in defiance with a heavy load of unmolested raspberries -
- guarded by broad apron of shiny poison ivy leaves. That needed a plan.
I'd previously done decontaminations and put the knowledge to use.
When my wife arrived, we converted our bathroom into a decontamination station, wore old clothes with bags over shoes and tape around ankles, wrists, etc. The main idea is to undress without touching the exterior of our clothes and shoes when we later undressed with brown soap and a shower at the ready.
Then we went boldly where no one had been before -- gathering several pints of perfect raspberries.
Yes, we started late, but easily picked the most.
Thank you john, 10/10 story, what degree did your wife earn? Who picked the most berries, you or her? Did you throw-out the raspberries that weren't perfectly shaped?
soap isn't wise, it's an oil, it won't remove the sap/oil, you should have used detergent.
A waterless hand cleaner dissolves the oil, grease, and resins, so rather than scrubbing with a detergent, you can massage with the waterless hand cleaner. You can find them at the auto parts stores. Avoid the ones with pumice for poison ivy.
orange hand cleaner is the BEST. your comment should be pinned
@@eric-. Citrus degreaser. Won't be without it.
GOJO Orange has been very effective for me- Also, if I'm going to do weeding, I pre-wipe my arms with the GOJO to put up a sort of barrier layer, and that seems to help even more when cleaning up after. I learned that trick working on cars.
@@TheJorgSacul what a fantastic idea! I am totally going to start doing that!
The hairy vine was new to me. We are always taught to look for “leaves of three”
I had a reaction to poison ivy as a child in Omaha. Later I was relocated to Georgia. In my yard right now,It grows all over the place. I typically wash my hands and arms and use rubbing alcohol after. Usually just washing my hands alone and washing my clothes after yard work suffices. I also always shower after doing yard work. The only evidence I have found of any reaction is a light blistering usually between a finger. I usually pop those,wash and apply rubbing alcohol and it goes away in a few days.
Yikes! I had a very similar outbreak on my legs, similar to Jonas. It was like I had flesh eating disease for a month. It also ended up popping up all over my body. I believe it got into my blood stream and then just started popping up all over. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.
That's your own allergic response, it's not an infection spreading thru your blood stream.
I would. Perhaps you don't have any real enemies.
Virginia Creeper also works the same as jewelweed, and it's usually growing intertwinned WITH poison ivy. Thing is, it kinda resembles poison ivy as well, but has FIVE leaves like a palm leaf and doesn't have hairy stems.
I would not recommend using Virginia Creeper. Some people (myself included) are allergic to it and it can cause a rash similar to poison ivy. I'm also highly allergic to poison ivy and the best home remedy I have found is a combination of jewelweed and bentonite clay. I boiled the jewelweed and froze the liquid into cubes for when needed. I melt a cube and mix in the clay powder to make a paste and leave it on my skin until it completely dries, then wash it off. You can also just rub the ice cube on your skin to help with itching or just mix the clay with water if you can't find jewelweed.
Very mature virgina creeper DOES have hairy stems
There was this stuff my parents always had, we called it Campophonic (Campo-Fo-Neek), it treated everything from bee stings to stinging nettle and other stuff.
The smoke in that fire is, as I understand it, a deluxe carrier of the poison ivy oils. That smoke can cover you with oil. That was the scariest scene for me.
Wouldn't some Georgia Pine gum spirits of turpentine be effective in removing the resin in conjunction with the soap?
Wowee! Seems like that would also remove the skin, too!
The only thing is there are many solvents which penetrate the skin DMSO, Acetone, paint thinner, lacquer thinner, turpentine, alchohol, gasoline etc. Any of these might carry it futher into your pours/skin/blood. Solvents are often used in drug delivery systems, if your exposed to solvents avoid toxins, poisons, insecticides, weed/foliage killers etc.
@@dananorth895 interesting, that does make sense. I did use gasoline once and it worked, but again, maybe I was lucky. I have washing my hands with mineral spirits and even paint remover for years, I was furniture refinisher.
For the auto mechanics; If you take a stick approximately 1 1/2 - 2 inches in diameter, get it good and wet. Hold it with one and and twist your hands around the stick. Then switch hands. Keep wetting the stick. Sounds weird I know, but my dad taught that little trick when was just a lad, and I still use it today. I never inquired how or why it works. Or you can wash your hands with soap and water. That stuff you can't get off? Try the stick. Keep it wet. My point is that if it gets auto grease and grime off, I am wondering about poison ivy oil.
I, too, am allergic to urushiol. For the past couple of decades, my solution (especially if I won't have access to a lot of running water) has been to carry a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a clean rag. Whether I'm out in the back, or in wild areas, I will generously pour alcohol on the rag and use it to wipe any contact areas. Even if I'm uncertain I made contact. This has been 100% effective at keeping ME from the suffering the horrible after effects of poison ivy...
I had poison ivy once covering over half of my body when I was younger, had to go to the ER because it was even on and around my eyeballs.
my son also.so many times. he's almost 40 now. makes sure to stay 6 ft away at all times.Praying you never get it again. 🙏❤️
We don’t usually get poison ivy down south, but we do get poison oak.
My mom, my grandmother, and I all have the same resistance to it. My mom would roll around in the stuff as a kid and try to hug her siblings. So long as we don't have any open cuts or wounds it doesn't bother us in the slightest
Where I live Jewelweed doesn't grow so I buy a jewel weed spray that has witch hazel. It's works pretty well for times I accidentally brush up against it. I do wild foraging from time to time so I need something I can apply quickly and that doesn't require lots of water to rinse.
Now since it can't usually rinse super well I will still get a rash but it's always way less than if I did nothing. It also helps with it spreading via my clothes.
My brother a cousin and I walked through a brush pile fire. With in a hour my mom was taking him to get treated for poison ivy. My brother and I never got it but we didn't know he was that bad. Also we didn't know there was any poison ivy in the brush that was burning. I'm not sure if any of my nephews are allergic to it. I don't have kids to know.
Excellent report: educational, thorough, and entertaining. The urushiol “poison” can be acquired by secondary sources such as hunting beagle fur, the handle of a shovel, and-the worst-smoke from burning poison ivy. The spectrum of sensitivity is real. My first exposure as a nine-year-old was like your cameraman’s: a severe burn-like, weeping rash from head to toe, causing tremendous swelling especially in the face. Scrubbing affected skin-not just slathering the degreaser detergent-is crucial in preventing a rash. In case of rash development, immediate application of mometasone (Elocon) 0.1% topical corticosteroid cream once a day is highly effective treatment. Hope this helps someone.
Took a one minute pit of advice (wash it off thoroughly) and made the explanation take over 17 minutes.
I think box elder is an important one to learn to distinguish from poison ivy. Very similar looking, but box elder has opposite branching, while poison ivy is alternately branching
I have found that "hot" water will stop the itch for about 8hrs or so. You can't hardly do that to sensitive areas but arms and hands, it will work.