This, boys and girls, is why you should watch where you kneel when detecting...

[TrpnBils]

Apparently I knelt in some poison ivy the other day (spoiler alert: I kneel on my right knee when digging). It's swollen enough that my kneecap jiggles when I walk...gross.

 

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[pepperj]

Jewelweed, Nature's Poison Ivy Treatment, About Jewelweed plant

 

[Fletch88]

Tell me about it! It took a steroid shot, then 5 day round of steroid and a Z-pack (for upper respiratory thing I had at same time) to get rid of mine! it was just as bad on both arms and spots all over the rest of my body where I had spread it unknowingly.

 

[Charlie P. (NY)]

I knelt on one of these years ago that was under leaf litter and drove a spine up under my kneecap. Used much nautical terminology that day.

 

[relicmom]

does that itch? meaning are you sure that's poison ivy?.....i only say that because that's what my husband's knee looked like when it was discovered he had lymes.....it was swollen, red, and hot and he could hardly walk......i honestly hope it's just poison ivy....spray it with hydrogen peroxide

 

[flatbutton]

Man! I feel for ya bro. That's some miserable crap to go through. Ranks right up there with chiggers in my book

 

[flatbutton]

Tell me about it! It took a steroid shot, then 5 day round of steroid and a Z-pack (for upper respiratory thing I had at same time) to get rid of mine! View attachment 1181439it was just as bad on both arms and spots all over the rest of my body where I had spread it unknowingly.

Yep, that's normally what I get, a shot and a pack of Prednisone.

 

[CincinnatiKid]

Bummer with a capital B!
Mend well and fast.
I once drove an 8' long lightning rod into a " mud dobber" nest. Them bees �� was pissed!
Woke up with one eye swollen shut.
My favorite location to detect has shards of glass and rock. I wear hard plastic knee pads. Absolutely hate 'em, but they do save these ole' knees.
GL
Peace ✌

 

[coinman123]

Sure it's poison ivy? Looks a little different to what I'm used to. I get it more like Fletch does and it gets very itchy.

 

[Keppy]

Well not good for you ... But for me poison Ivy and other poison plants do not bother me ... Same with bee & hornet & wasp bits they do not bother me either... I guess you could say i am lucky that way....

 

[TrpnBils]

does that itch? meaning are you sure that's poison ivy?.....i only say that because that's what my husband's knee looked like when it was discovered he had lymes.....it was swollen, red, and hot and he could hardly walk......i honestly hope it's just poison ivy....spray it with hydrogen peroxide

It's very itchy and there's some on the inner part of my left knee too I'm assuming crossed over from my pantleg (I was wearing shorts)

Edit: oh yeah, and it's starting to blister and ooze...lol. I'm assuming I sort of ground the plant in which is why it's so bad. The whole thing seems like one giant blister though, which is gross. Doesn't hurt though other than feeling stretched out and dry from the inflammation and the IvyDry I've been spraying on it. We took the dog for a 3 mile walk this morning and the joint itself feels fine. That picture was taken when we got back and the bottom part of my pant leg had been rubbing on it the whole time we were walking so I think that irritated it a bit.

 

[DanielFrew]

That looks bad. I have to really grind it in for me to have a reaction to poison ivy / oak / sumac. And even then it is usually very minor. Never had an issue with stings until I was in Louisiana and got stung by a red wasp. Guess my body didn't like something in its diet. Had to take some Benadryl to get the swelling to stop.

Dan

 

[Msbeepbeep]

Ya I get the weepy blister reaction to poison ivy, and it can become severe, so I always carry Benadryl gel caps with me. Doctor told me if I ever inhale smoke from the stuff being burned get to the ER ASAP!

Hope your over it real soon...and take precautions out there.

 

[Muddyhandz]

I agree with the few who said it doesn't look like poison ivy. You will see much bigger bubbles spread out in patches. I've had what you got and it's worse.
It's either poison oak or sumac and way more itchier. It also lasts longer too. Not trying to be a downer but I think you would have been better having poison ivy!
I've gotten it all so much every year for most of my life that I'm almost immune.
ALMOST!
If you run hot water (almost scalding) over your knee, you will feel some relief from the itching.
Good luck!

 

[TrpnBils]

Doctor told me if I ever inhale smoke from the stuff being burned get to the ER ASAP!

That's pretty much for everybody I think because of how irritable the lungs can be. A friend of ours did this accidentally a few years ago and ended up with it in her bloodstream and on all kinds of stuff in the hospital. Nasty stuff.

On another note, the only thing I'm allergic to medication-wise is antihistamines, which means Benadryl is out of the question (heart tries to explode...it's kind of unpleasant). I lubed my knee up with calamine lotion last night and wrapped it before I went to bed. Much better this morning, although there is still some swelling you an at least see a kneecap again!

 

[TrpnBils]

I agree with the few who said it doesn't look like poison ivy. You will see much bigger bubbles spread out in patches. I've had what you got and it's worse.
It's either poison oak or sumac and way more itchier. It also lasts longer too. Not trying to be a downer but I think you would have been better having poison ivy!
I've gotten it all so much every year for most of my life that I'm almost immune.
ALMOST!
If you run hot water (almost scalding) over your knee, you will feel some relief from the itching.
Good luck!

I wondered about oak/sumac, but I wasn't in the right kind of habitat for poison sumac (everybody around here anyway seems to think that regular sumac trees that grow in your yard are the "poison" kind). They're more swampy-type trees with white berries, but I'm not too familiar with poison oak so that very well could have been it. I'm half tempted to go back to where I was and see if it's around. The odd thing about all of this though is that I HAD to have been walking through whatever it was, meaning the oils should be on my shoes. It's strange that I didn't get any on my hands, even having worn the shoes several times since then.

 

[huntsman53]

Floristweb gave me and Brad (Limitool) an old remedy from her Grandmother that works for Poison Ivy, Chiggers, Ticks and a variety of other ailments that effect the skin. You pick leaves off of a Peach Tree, boil them, strain the liquid off and pour into a warm bath, then you bathe in it. It takes 2 to 3 gallons of the strained Peach Tree Leaf liquid to do the job. Since I am immune to Poison Ivy and most other Poison plants that effect the skin, I have not tried it but if I get chiggers or ticks, you can bet I will try it.


Frank

 

[sandchip]

Dang, that looks rough. Now I don't feel so bad after kneeling in nice, fresh dog crap camouflaged in the leaves and pine straw.

 

[SusanMN]

A double dose of ibruprofen with help tremendously with the itching and inflammation.

 

[coinman123]

That's pretty much for everybody I think because of how irritable the lungs can be. A friend of ours did this accidentally a few years ago and ended up with it in her bloodstream and on all kinds of stuff in the hospital. Nasty stuff.

On another note, the only thing I'm allergic to medication-wise is antihistamines, which means Benadryl is out of the question (heart tries to explode...it's kind of unpleasant). I lubed my knee up with calamine lotion last night and wrapped it before I went to bed. Much better this morning, although there is still some swelling you an at least see a kneecap again!

Calamine lotion feels good on poison ivy, funny thing is, everytime I go metal detecting I get more poison ivy (I figure it is worth it to find awesome colonial artifacts), ironically last time I was out I hunted in jewlweed patch part of the hunt, found some great relics close together. I had a pinched nerve or something and a patch of skin on my lower leg was completely numb, I got poison ivy on the numb spot next time I was metal detecting, calamine lotion worked really well on removing the itch which was unscratchable due to numbness. Right now I have some poison ivy on my legs, arms, under my watch, my back and ankles (it gets in my boots!). When I'm metal detecting I can't help thinking about great things that may be in there, and I probably won't even get poison ivy. My only banner find was in a patch of poison ivy my buddy was scared to go. The thought of treasure makes me sometimes put my own well-being in second and treasure in first, I don't care about ticks or poison ivy, I only care about finding treasure. I guess it is true that treasure hunting is an addiction .