Poison oak,ivy,sumac.

daddo

Did a job for a man too far from here and he was burning brush to clear a spot at a creek bed. I recognised a few tall plants (w/o leaves) as poison oak/sumac and told him he shouldn't burn it till he was sure I was wrong about it. He's in the hospital now and will be o.k. but, I bet he looking for a "I told you so" from me. I won't though- he doesn't need that! I've got a bunch of that poison oak out back and keep it there to keep the wanderers away. If they don't-I'll know who was back there!

mudge

Luckily, I've never been allergic to that stuff. Mrs. Mudge can look at it the wrong way and she'll break out. Go figure.

Mudge the immune

I can't come to work today. The voices said, STAY HOME AND CLEAN THE GUNS!

tideman

I've already gotten my first dose of poison ivy this year from mowing. And, it's only February.
However, there's a new ointment on the market called 'Zanfel". It's supposed to clear it up in 1-2 treatments.
Burning it has never been a problem for me, though.

Tideman [itchin' in TEXAS]

Rafter-S

Poison Ivy Immunization, Treatment, and
Control

From the reading I have done, I have concluded that developing a level of immunization to poison ivy is possible. Or at least some people claim to have done it. But it is a very inexact and dangerous process.

The basic problem seems to be: the level of sensitivity to poison ivy varies from person to person. Some people are mildly sensitive while others are extremely sensitive. People who were once highly allergic to poison ivy may lose their sensitivity in later years. Some may go thirty years with what appears to be an immunity only to develop and allergy to it later in life. And there is a small percentage who maintain a lifetime immunity. But for some with extreme sensitivity, AN ATTEMPT AT IMMUNIZATION COULD PROVE FATAL. That is the reason the shot, which was at one time available, has been removed from the market.

One reported immunization process involves eating three poison ivy leaves a day for three weeks. If anyone is interested, Euell Gibbons explains it in detail in his book Stalking The Wild Asparagus. Another reported process is to boil poison ivy leaves and make a serum. Then put a couple of drops of this serum in a glass of water each day and drink it. But personally, I WOULD NOT TRY THESE DO-IT-YOURSELF IMMUNIZATIONS NOR WOULD I RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE.

The conclusion I have come to: the best thing one can do is to learn to recognize and avoid poison ivy. If you come in contact with it, immediately rinse with cold water being careful not to smear or transfer the poisonous sap, known as urushiol,(1) that causes the irritation. If you use a soap, use one that is designed to cut grease, such as Joy or Palmolive dishwashing liquid. Rinsing with alcohol has been claimed to work in that it removes the urushiol.

Once urushiol binds to the skin cells (it requires about 15 minutes), a rash usually occurs in 12-48 hours. It will normally last 10-15 days with severity depending on the sensitivity of the individual.

Treatments range from calamine lotion to you-name-it. One treatment that came up frequently was to soak the rash with a solution of Clorox bleach diluted with water. This is claimed to dry the rash and speed healing. However, be careful not to burn the skin with the bleach. Several people reported that frequent (oral) doses of benedril antihistamine relieved itching while others claim they found success with over-the-counter homeopathic medicines.

I have concluded you will have, at best, limited success at riding your property of poison ivy. The best one can expect to do is "control" it. The simplest way for me, and the method requiring the least work and exposure, is with the chemical Roundup.(2) Roundup seems to work best in the spring and early summer when the plant's leaves are tender.

Websites with related information:
http://poisonivy.aesir.com/cures.html
http://poisonivy.aesir.com/fastfacts.html

(1) Urushiol, is in the roots, stems, leaves and fruit of the poison ivy plant. It is released when the plant is bruised, making it easier to contract Rhus-dermatitis in the spring and early summer when leaves are tender. The sap may be deposited on the skin by direct contact with the plant or by contact with contaminated objects, such as shoes, clothing, tools and animals. Severe cases have occurred from sap-coated soot in the smoke of burning plants. Because urushiol is inside the plant, brushing against an intact plant will not cause a reaction. But undamaged plants are rare because poison ivy is very fragile. Stems or leaves broken by the wind or animals, and even the tiny holes made by chewing insects can release urushiol.
(2) Be advised: Roundup is a non-selective herbicide. It will kill or severely damage other nearby plants where it gets on the leaves.

H.S. 10-X

Mix round-up (glyphosate) with trimec-992 (mecrop, dicamba, 2-4-D) gives better control than round-up alone. And make sure to mix in a little surfactant, dishwashing soap like Dawn will work.


"If I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know"- Kansas

mark christian

I do a lot of wandering around aimlessly in the boondocks while I travel and when you are in the back country all over the world you need to be aware of these plants (as well as landmines- it all depends on where you are). Items I have used with great sucess are Stokogard outdoor creme which is spread on the skin before you enter the danger zones and although it is made in Germany, there is a US distributor in Greensboro, NC @800-334-0242. When exposed a liquid called Tecnu removes the oils as well as decontaiminating clothing and is available from Tec Labs, Inc. in Albany, OR @800-ITCHING.

Mark T. Christian

TwoDogs

Chopped/cut P/Ivy all my life....first good dose about 5 years ago.
I watch it now.
The old term..."Getting caught Red-handed"...
Has something to do with folklore concerning P/ivy...

Story I remember...is someting along the lines that valuable art in old times were coated/painted with the juice of poison ivy.
The bad guy would take the item in turn being infected with the poison ivy....hands would be infected...itchy..there's your thief.

Maybe nonsense...anyway can be terrible stuff...I've heard of folks burning and the fumes infecting thier lungs...

"Always drink upstream from the herd"
Will Rogers

bambihunter

I never had it growing up, we even used to chop it up and burn it with no problems. However, quite a few years ago I got a small case of it (my first symptoms) but I worked in a pet food plant and I ran ovens that were 700 degrees. Needless to say I sweat like crazy (this was during the summertime) and I got it all down my arms. Well, one day I had enough of it and went to the back and roughed it up with sandpaper and then poured commercial-grade chlorine bleach on it and it burned like heck for a bit then in 2 days it was gone! I got the idea from something I'd read about kids that have it that go to the pool. They said the combination of sunlight and the chlorine did the trick.

Brth729

My oldest sister is highly contagious to poison ivy. On one family camping trip, many years ago, she had a really bad reaction. Bad enough, that the family doctor wanted to take pictures of it because he said it was the worst case he had ever seen.

My grandfather once told me,"It's not what a man possesses that determines the importance and quality of his life, but rather what possesses the man.

chuck

Do Not Ever use the leaves fer Tolit Paper.[:0][:0][:0]

barto

We went to the Rogue River jet-boat races 2 summers ago & I got into some p/ivy. I've never had a reaction to it in my life but a couple hrs. later I had a red burn on my side. Wifey sprayed me down with Benzocaine. Turns out it was a sunburn & I was allergic to the Benzocaine. 1 emergency room visit later all was fine, though.
[xx(][xx(]barto

Win some, lose some.
Winning's better.

Swwbo

Our son Jason was always getting poison ivy as a child/teenager.. Sometimes I think the child would roll in it. You couldn't keep him out of the woods.. I always kept a tube of Lidex on hand.

Iconoclast

I can get the rash practically by looking at the plant (ivy) and have developed a good "early warning radar" for it. The bad thing for me is that we don't have the oak and sumac up here, so I'm concerned I'll learn those "the hard way" and the one time I came in contact with it was in the spring before the leaves were out. Put me in the hospital with my whole body covered and eyes swollen shut. The good thing is that the meds are far better than back then, when the only remedies offered were calamine and patience.

"There is nothing lower than the human race - except the French." (Mark Twain) ". . . And DemoCraps" (me)

Suspension

I can lay down and take a nap in the stuff and I never get it. Some of my fishin buddies are totally opposite though, they have to go to the doctor if they catch it. Strange how that works.



NRA Life Member ---"A pocket knife, a clean hankey, and a pistol... things I can use." - Ted Nugent

Rafter-S

Your pets can bring you a good case of poison ivy. My granddaughter who is highly alergic to the stuff, got a severe case from riding her horse. The horse had abviously rubbed against a tree with poison ivy vines.

Letting your dog romp in the woods, then letting him jump in your lap can give you a rash in "interesting" places.

I have found that cattle and horses love to eat the stuff. Obviously they aren't alergic to it.

Rafter-S

dakotashooter2

Watched one of those home gardening shows once. They said DO NOT burn it. The smoke can carry it and do permanent lung damage if inhaled. I have also heard than most people do not have a reaction on the first exposure but on following exposures.

jerjoh

There is a product called "Ivy Block" you can get at drug stores. It's a cream you put on before you think you might run into it. I used to put it on before biking in the woods, after I fell in a big patch of course.

select-fire

I could get it just reading this post.