poison ivy
Post Fiend
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 6,473
Likes: 4
From: Lafayette, IN
I can get a reaction to poison ivy really bad. The worst time was when I cut through some with a chainsaw. My arms were covered. Also, the next time I wore that particular pair of jeans (about a year later, but they were washed), my knees broke out with a minor reaction. I take a two-pronged approach per the recommendation of a pharmacist. First off, he said all the bleach, vinegar, alcohol and other "home remedies" are, in his word, "quackery". They probably fall under the category of a placebo effect. He recommended, and this works quite well, is to wash with a product named Tecnu. If you wash with this within a few hours of contact with urushiol (the allergen from poison ivy), you may not even react at all. If you do develop a rash, wash 2-3 times per day with the Tecnu (to prevent it from spreading), and take an antihistamine such as Benedryl.
Jason
Jason
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