HELP!!! Poison Ivy infected :)

[Mina]

Well, after spending a vast amount of time in my garden and in the woods around my house I have developed a definate case of poison ivy. I've only got spoltches here and there, but trying to keep my mind on work and off the overwhelming urge to scratch obsessively is becoming quite a challenge. Does anyone know of an herbal remedy or any advice what so ever? Thanks in advance!

[Eudaimonia]

Calamine lotion ;)

[Fawn]

oatmeal paths help and you also might want to take an antihistimane I know that's not herbal but it will help with releif of the itching and the poison.

[Emerald Sky]

Ah Mina, I sympathize! I just got over a very bad case of it myself. The darn stuff is everywhere in my sacred space. :mad: I tried using calamine, cortisone cream, oatmeal bath, etc., but the rash was spread to too many parts of my body so I finally had to go to the doctor and get a script for prednisone. It cleared it up beautifully! I just finished taking it today. Nice thing about the prednisone is when mosquitos bit me they wouldn't itch either. Good luck. :)

[Mina]

Ya, well, my father is constantely getting poison ivy...granted he's always out and about planting things here and there. Other than my garden I'm usually not in the thick of it, so I don't get anything, but last month my sister, who is also wiccan, and I found the perfect place in the woods behind our house...(imagine that, woods on Long Island, NY!) to create a sacred space and celebrate the oncoming holiday of Litha. Let me tell you, it looks great out there. We have tons of flowers and ferns surrounding our circle, and the perfect hole for a small fire. It was great! We had a fun time tending to it and holding a small gathering there for our Litha ritual. We had the best time, and being smack dab in the middle of nature made the whole thing surreal! The problem is that it takes a bit of trecking through the woods to get to, so we must have run through a bit of poison ivy! So, now I'm popping the Benadryl tabs, and smearing on the calamine lotion. It doesn't really seem to be working, and I'm leaving on Monday to drive down to Washington D.C. for the forth of July! I have a feeling that I'm going to be running to the doctor to call on modern medicine once again! I was just hoping there was something other than the usual "benadryl, calamine, oatmeal" treatment. Thanks for all you advise!

[Yvonne Belisle]

My son got it when we first got here. I found calohist! It's calomine and an antihistimine in one. My son's was gone to 2 spots in one day and completely by the second.

[Dria El]

Poison Ivy Killer
by Annie Berthold-Bond

The land around our home is overrun with poison ivy. It is everywhere; a vine has even wrapped abundantly around the tree that holds the end of the clothesline so we can't fix the rope pully that is broken there. After a few years of passively accepting that I can't hang clothes on the line, or that various family members get terrible rashes every summer, I've decided to do something about the scourge. I won't ever use herbicides out of concern for health and the enviironment, so I've been trying out various "down home" remedies.


Simple Solution:
Before I tell you about what I've found that works, let me tell you of another alternative solution to herbides: Goats! For some reason, Spanish and Angora goat breeds absolutely love poison ivy. Make sure you get those particular breeds; most others don't like poison ivy for their main meal. I would love to have goats, but my family won't let me... !

Here is the homemade poison ivy vegetation killer spray that I've found is safe and effective:

Poison Ivy Vegetation Killer
1 cup salt
8 drops liquid detergent
1 gallon vinegar

Combine the salt and vinegar in a pan and heat to dissolve the salt. Cool the vinegar, add the detergent, and pour some of the liquid into a large spray bottle. Spray the vegetation. (You can also just pour the mixture onto the weeds.) Refill the spray bottle as necessary. Note that this formula will kill all the vegetation, so make sure that you are only spraying the plants you want to kill. If you need to use a lot of this spray, avoid spraying it near wells, as the salt can leach into your water supply.

[abbyseyes]

Hubby got into poison oak this weekend - bless his heart... he's got it everywhere. I feel so bad for him - right now I've got him covered in calamine lotion but he's still itching like crazy. Does anyone know of anything else to help stop the itching. I don't know how much longer he can make it without scratching...

Thanks.

[Hope]

I hope these ideas aren't to late!

Aloe vera is helpful, or 1pint buttermilk w/1T of sea salt, goldenseal can be applied topically, and it helps skin inflamation.

good luck and fast healing

blessings,
hope

[abbyseyes]

Thanks. By the time morning came, he was easily persuaded to visit his Dr. who prescribed something for it. Actually the poison oak was so widespread by morning - the Dr. was the olny one who could help. I'm happy to report he's doing much better and I didn't catch it -thank goodness.
Cat

[Lavender]

Hope your hubby is doing better. An oatmeal bath may be helpful. Use an old nylon stocking & fill it with about 2 cups of oatmeal. Tie off the ends & use it as a sponge in the bath. The oatmeal will help soothe the itching as well as draws out the toxins of the poison oak.

[moonflower]

Something else that may help is a cold mint rinse. Basically really strong iced mint tea. In the shower (so it doesn't get everywhere silly!) pour it over the itching skin. It should cool the skin, tingle a bit, and sooth a bit of the itchyness. I haven't tried it on poison oak yet though.

[Summer Solstice]

HELP PLEASE ..

OVER THE PAST WEEK IN BOSTON IT HAS BEEN WARM & STUPID ME WENT HIKING & FELL INTO POISON IVY ....I HAVE IT FROM MY NECK DOWN.....ANY REMEDIES WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED.....A VERY ITCHY GIRL IN BOSTON ...

[wyshbringer]

I know jewel weed helps. A patient of mine I think use to boil it. I'm not really sure how he did it but I know it did stop the itching. Sorry I couldn't be more help.

Wyshbringer

[Yvonne Belisle]

Jewel weed also known as touch me not is best fresh. I don't know if it works any other way. Sadly this time of year the odds of finding it are almost nonexistant.:(

[Old Witch]

Something called Rhuli-gel works pretty good.

[Lavender]

Oatmeal bath is great for poison ivy & chicken pox. The oatmeal acts as an emollient to soothe the itchy skin & draws out the toxins in the skin to promote quicker healing. Put a cup of regular oatmeal (not the instant kind) in a clean nylon sock or several layers of cheese cloth. Run a warm bath with the oatmeal sock in the water. Use the sock & sponge the liquid over your skin. Really nice & soothing & good even if you don't have poison ivy. :)

If you're going to use calamine lotion, look for the one with anithistamine in it.

[Pagecrd]

little late but hey for next time maybe....i have three kids and we love nature. last year while on a hike we came across a small little creek and my kids got naked and went for a dip...well my son got it on his penis sooooooooo poor kid...anyway i found baking soda to be vry effective in drying the rash and aloe for soothing the itch!

hope it helps

[Shaman0325]

MM

There is an homeopathic remedy called Rhus Tox.....Homeopathy is a safe and natural method to repel imbalance out of the body and allow the body to heal. Homeopathy has distinct differences from conventional (also called allopathic) medicine. It works with the body's natural defenses and doesn't seek to merely suppress symptoms. It stimulates the body's ability to heal with very small amounts of natural substances.
The wonder of homeopathic medicine is in its safety, the incredibly small amount of medicine needed, and the rapidity of healing....I would prob go for a strength of 30c... You can find this at any local health food store or even an GNC, but try to go to your local health food first. I find it that they are a little more knowledgeable on alternative medicine...I hope this hepls...Peace :)

[Nissala]

Can anyone tell me what herbs can be used for poison ivey and poison oak? I have only had it once when I was a child and went fishing with my sister this past weekend and have it :( It really itches but am trying not to scratch. My husband swears by Calamine lotion, but it does nothing for this (not for me anyway)

Thanks in advance for you help!
*hugs* you guys are wonderful, just thought I would throw that in ;)

[Yvonne Belisle]

I have never had luck with plain calomine either but last year my son got it and I tried calihist which is calomine with an antihistime in it and he cleared in one day! There are also a couple of threads here on it i will bump them up for you

[Yvonne Belisle]

I decided when I saw how many we had to merge them then stick the thread at the top of the forum till winter since we seem to get it alot around here it also has poison oak in it since the remedies for that often are the same.

[Nissala]

Thank you so much Yvonne!! I thought I saw a thread similar but when I searched it came up empty....Thank you thank you thank you!!!! :D

[Yvonne Belisle]

Always happy to help :)

[Danustouch]

Calendula ointment works well. As does Oatmeal baths, as Wildchild said. When I had chicken pox, it was the only thing which kept me from going insane. Aveeno makes an oatmeal bath, that you can get in most pharmacies, to save yourself the time of making it yourself.

We found campho-phenique to be our best friend recently when both John and I had a mild case of Poison Ivy. When I used it, it cleared up in a couple of days.

Also..I heard this tip from a pharmacist. Wash the area with dish detergent..that's right..good old fashioned "DAWN" dish detergent. Why? Well..poison ivy spreads through the spread of the oil within the blisters. Dawn is "Famous" for it's grease cutting abilities. According to this Pharmacist, Washing the affected area with Dawn Dish detergent, especially on children who keep scratching the blister's open, helps dry up the fluid, AND keep it from spreading.

[tainted echoes]

my dad and i used to go camping a lot and i would get into poison ivy all the time. oatmeal baths helped the itching, but as for the spots, calamine lotion or a doctor's prescription is all i can think of...

[layianna]

You can also take benadryll and powder it and add it to the calamine lotion. It helps with the allergic reatction side of the itching.

Diphenhydrimine HCL is the generic name for benadryll to save you money.

[ckynes1968]

poison ivy/oak in the east usa are genetically the same plant. If you get a rash due to the oil it is an allergic reaction. Taking a antihistamine (like Benedryl) helps. The oil from the plant is absorbed into your skin within 10 minutes of contact. If you know you have had contact with the plant - wash with soapy water immediately. What spreads on your skin is an infection due to scratching. The oil can also be carried on animal fur and on clothing. It can also spread through the air via burning. (My mom had it in her throat before when they burned some brush). I've heard jewelweed helps stop the itch but I'm not sure if you just rub the plant on the rash or what.

[Old Witch]

Kenneth works outside and is so allergic to poison oak and he gets it every year, some years worse than others........ This year so far hasn't been real bad, but when he did get it we used Ivarest, it's a combination cream, calamine and diphen....er, benadryl and here's the kicker.....that cream I had for my actinic keratosis.........Triamcinolone acetonide.......and some actifed tablets......got him through just fine....oh, by the way, the Dr. said he could use my cream for it.......