Poison ivy, oak, and nasty sumac no detectorist friend

[MetalArchSC]

A friend of mine who is highly allergic told me the only thing that helped to stop the itch was found out by accident.... Liquid laundry soap..

I had got bit up by mosquitos one time and she told me to try it...IT WORKED!

 

[RW]

I was playing disc golf with a nice guy about 10 years ago. My disc was lodged in a tree covered in poison ivy. I said "leave it" but the nice guy swore he was not allergic to poison ivy and shimmied up the tree to retrieve my disc. Two days later the nice guy was in the hospital, swollen shut, with a catheter inserted...

I try to jump in the hot tub or take a hot shower after being in the proximity of poison ivy, seems to help. What worries me most is burning the stuff and breathing the smoke. Heard that can be life threatening.

 

[civil_war22]

I was playing disc golf with a nice guy about 10 years ago. My disc was lodged in a tree covered in poison ivy. I said "leave it" but the nice guy swore he was not allergic to poison ivy and shimmied up the tree to retrieve my disc. Two days later the nice guy was in the hospital, swollen shut, with a catheter inserted...

I try to jump in the hot tub or take a hot shower after being in the proximity of poison ivy, seems to help. What worries me most is burning the stuff and breathing the smoke. Heard that can be life threatening.

I’ve used milk. Milk or even dawn dish soap will rid the oil off the leaves from your skin. When people burn it, they don’t realize inflammation is caused by heat or made worse by it. I get what you’re saying cause I’ve burned my itch before to make it better, but medically I’ve dealt with sensitive skin my whole life, and an ice pack on the area helps, and doesn’t leave anything dangerous

 

[RW]

I’ve used milk. Milk or even dawn dish soap will rid the oil off the leaves from your skin. When people burn it, they don’t realize inflammation is caused by heat or made worse by it. I get what you’re saying cause I’ve burned my itch before to make it better, but medically I’ve dealt with sensitive skin my whole life, and an ice pack on the area helps, and doesn’t leave anything dangerous

I was talking mainly to prevent, or lessen chance of reaction, not to treat a reaction. Soap makes sense. As far as burning it, I am talking about burning brush piles and tree limbs covered in poison ivy. Imagine poison ivy in the lungs. Man.

 

[pa-dirt_nc-sand]

I carry a spray bottle of windex and a cloth rag on my car. I spray and thoroughly wipe down all exposed skin after detecting in the woods, then toss my clothes in the washer before heading up to the shower. This has prevented 99% of poison ivy for me. If I get a small bit here or there I dab bleach on it for a day and it clears up. Nasty stuff!

 

[civil_war22]

I carry a spray bottle of windex and a cloth rag on my car. I spray and thoroughly wipe down all exposed skin after detecting in the woods, then toss my clothes in the washer before heading up to the shower. This has prevented 99% of poison ivy for me. If I get a small bit here or there I dab bleach on it for a day and it clears up. Nasty stuff!

I am luckily not allergic to any of the poison plants. I do the same and pull them out by the roots barehanded out of the ground and the others off the trees. Funny because when I was younger I used to be allergic just to cedar sap, but not anymore

 

[RW]

The poison ivy vines get huge around here, sometimes 2-3 inches in diameter. Cut them down and they come back... I found cutting them down a few inches above ground, soaking a paper towel in Roundup, balling the towel over the exposed freshly cut stem, wrapping the towel with a sandwich bag and letting it stew in the sun usually works on all but the most vigorous. Some still sprout up off to the side. I have often wondered if their is a market for selling poison ivy cuttings in maybe China or the ME. Hmm...

 

[civil_war22]

I was talking mainly to prevent, or lessen chance of reaction, not to treat a reaction. Soap makes sense. As far as burning it, I am talking about burning brush piles and tree limbs covered in poison ivy. Imagine poison ivy in the lungs. Man.

I can imagine the burning part. I live in a wooded area, and burn brush all the time and have luckily not had any of my kids get ill from it.

 

[GeoW]

I've mostly encountered Poison Oak from cutting it's roots as I dig. Cutting the the roots releases the sap and it seems to be very potent as compared with the leaves above ground.
Gloves help but also washing soon after contact with Octagon Soap will remove it before it can get under the skin.

g

 

[nomad 11]

another friend i dont need. ya just had to remind me again. dint cha ? dey drink all ur beer............................den ya loan em money and dey dont pay ya back....................den dey sneak around behind ur back with ur girlfriend or old lady....................deres a couple more but its too early to be gettin my feathers ruffled. add ur own if u like ? K

 

[djqix]

I just found a little info on it: Medicinal Plants-Jewelweed I always found it interesting that it seems to grow right along with the poison ivy here.

 

[gunsil]

I was lucky to be born immune to poison ivy, I even used to eat some for a quarter or fifty cents in elementary school. My father was immune and so is one sister, but my mother and other sister were very susceptible and got severe cases of it. I made good money (for a child, as a child) pulling up poison ivy for friends and neighbors which I did bare handed and often in a tee shirt or shirtless. Sadly, at 63 I had heavy radiation therapy for cancer and now I am allergic to the damned ivy. Sure cuts down on my ability to hunt many places in the woods around here, was a real downer to catch it after all these years. I have known about jewelweed since I was a child also and have made poultices of it for friends and buddies and know it does work. Calamine does work too to alleviate the itching and dry out the blisters. Luckily I haven't digressed to where I catch it from my clothes yet, but I do have to be more careful around it.

 

[Bum Luck]

from Wiki:

The rash is caused by urushiol, a clear liquid compound in the plant's sap.

It can take different forms:

• as a climbing vine that grows on trees or some other support
• as a shrub up to 4 ft tall
• as a trailing vine that is 4—10 in tall

I learned a lot reading the article; I recommend it.

Immediate washing with soap (Dawn is good) and cold water or rubbing alcohol may help prevent a reaction. Hot water should not be used, as it causes one's pores to open up and admit the oils from the plant, Adding sand helps to take off the oil from the skin.

One disturbing thing is that it's doubled in potency since the 60's, based on CO2 levels. Crikey.

 

[Megalodon]

Take care of yourself. That stuff can be fatal. There's an old wives' tale that eating poison ivy berries can make you immune or cure it or something. Seems like every few years I read about someone dying from eating the berries or inhaling the smoke from burning poison ivy vines.

Kindest regards,
Kantuck

Sickest I've ever been was after inhaling burning poison ivy. To supplement my pay as a teaching assistant, I worked weekends as a carpenter at a girl scout camp. The director started a fire with the scrap lumber and added brush to it, including poison ivy. It was the only time from K thru grad school that I was too sick to go to class. I'll never forget the kindness of a grad student from Sweden; she insisted on nursing me back to health when I looked like a monster and could barely breathe.

 

[Megalodon]

I've mostly encountered Poison Oak from cutting it's roots as I dig. Cutting the the roots releases the sap and it seems to be very potent as compared with the leaves above ground.
Gloves help but also washing soon after contact with Octagon Soap will remove it before it can get under the skin.

g

Not familiar with Octagon soap. Around here, we use Fels Naphtha bar laundry soap in the shower as soon as possible after handling or exposure.

 

[49er12]

I want to everyone that responded very helpful to others, I myself finally getting normal, swelling and redness gone, itchy a little but man terrible, dawn dish wash soap and that tube scrubb at Walmart helped thankyou very much

 

[Bum Luck]

I was lucky to be born immune to poison ivy, I even used to eat some for a quarter or fifty cents in elementary school. My father was immune and so is one sister, but my mother and other sister were very susceptible and got severe cases of it. I made good money (for a child, as a child) pulling up poison ivy for friends and neighbors which I did bare handed and often in a tee shirt or shirtless.

Yeah, me too.

At a church camp, we wiped our butts with it on a dare.

Next day, we looked for one of our buddies, and he was nowhere to be seen. Several days later, he showed up all in bandages, butt you can imagine the rest. Youch!

kids........

 

[Professor of Engineering]

I hope you are on the mend!

 

[augoldminer]

Went out metal detecting with a friend once and he ended up with a bad case of poison ivy,

He called me the next day to find out how bad it got me and i had to tell him i was not effected.

He now goes out in hip waders and rubber gloves where ever there is poison ivy,

 

[teleprospector]

As an ex land surveyor beginning at age 8 I've come to recognize these plants. My dad and I always washed off field equipment, clothes and machetes in a separate washer. We also wore hip waders and gloves in heavy infested areas like augoldminer stated. Now as a treasure hunter I have to watch even more as I'm no longer just cutting thru a straight property line but wandering the whole property.
I know I've come into contact with the plants but have not had any issues. I likes this link:
https://www.prismhealthadvocates.com/truths-myths-poison-ivy-poison-oak-poison-sumac/

Jon