Be aware of poison oak

[JVA5th]

I guess I don't learn my lesson and boy am I paying for it. I went camping and get a little too ambitious metal detecting and well long story short had a run in with poison oak. Due to the severity of this maybe others will be more cautious. Let's just say this bout of poison oak about has this grown man in tears. Be careful out there guys. The picture pretty ugly but that's the reality of it. View attachment 1609543 View attachment 1609544

 

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[Lucky Baldwin]

I guess I don't learn my lesson and boy am I paying for it. I went camping and get a little too ambitious metal detecting and well long story short had a run in with poison oak. Due to the severity of this maybe others will be more cautious. Let's just say this bout of poison oak about has this grown man in tears. Be careful out there guys. The picture pretty ugly but that's the reality of it. View attachment 1609543 View attachment 1609544

Sorry about your bout of poison oak. Hope it goes away quick.

Having spent most of my life dealing with poison oak patches, I'll let you in on a little secret I've discovered. Whenever you know or suspect you've been through poison oak, as soon as possible afterwards take a clean rag, soak it with rubbing alcohol (isopropyl I think it's called) and use it to wipe off all exposed skin. I like to do it twice, just in case. That'll get rid of the plant oils that cause the itch. The trick is to get the oils off before they can soak in, so I wouldn't wait more than 10 - 15 minutes. The sooner, the better.

If you're ever digging in poison oak country and uncover something that looks like a potato, AVOID IT LIKE THE PLAGUE!!! If you cut into it, it'll ooze a clear, thick, sap like fluid that slowly turns black. These are poison oak root nodules (i guess you call them) and the sap that comes out of them is pure dynamite. You can almost get poison oak just by looking at one. Be sure to clean off everything that was just around one of those things.

I wish you beter luck in the future!