Poison Ivy Myths and Treatments: First-Hand Lessons

Until last week, I had always thought of poison ivy as something that created a small itchy spot that went away with about two days of hydrocortisone cream application. Over the course of the last week, I have learned more than I ever wanted to know about poison ivy, the rash it creates and ways to treat it. Many of the things that I always believed to be true about poison ivy were proved to be myth, and many things that I had never heard of have proved to be lifesavers when dealing with a child with poison ivy.

One of the most important things that I learned is that in a person who is severely allergic to poison ivy, the rash can spread quickly to cover the entire body. What started out as a spot about the size of a quarter on my son's right foot spread within days to be a terrible rash covering his entire body. I had often heard that the rash is spread when a person scratches the affected spot causing the blisters to burst and the oil to be transferred through touch to other areas of the body. A trip to the doctor proved this to be a myth. What appears to be the spread of poison ivy is actually just a difference in reaction time in different parts of the body.

I was also under the impression that the only way to contract poison ivy was to touch the plant itself, this also proved to be untrue. You can get poison ivy anytime that you come in to contact with the oil secreted by the plant. This oil, called Urushiol, can survive well after the plant has died, it can become airborne if the plants are burned, and can even be transferred to people from clothing or other articles that have come into contact with it.

The oil causes a rash that can range from small and seemingly insignificant to absolutely horrifying dependant on how allergic a person is to this oil, and how much of it they come into contact with. For more moderate rashes, usually hydrocortisone cream or another over the counter poison ivy cream is sufficient to get rid of the rash. However, in more serious cases the affected person must seek medical attention. In the case of my son, this meant two trips to the pediatrician, a shot and a prescription for oral steroids, and this treatment was simply added to the over the counter itch creams and Benadryl that he was already taking.

A great home remedy suggested by the doctor to help control the itching was oatmeal baths. I simply put some oatmeal into a knee-high stocking and tied the stocking. Then when my son got into the bath, I dropped the stocking in with him. I cannot tell you what component of the oatmeal soothed the itching caused by the poison ivy, only that it did.

How dramatically a person is affected by coming into contact with the oil secreted from a poison ivy plant can vary from one individual to the next. However, the best way to avoid serious injury via a poison ivy plant is to be aware of how the spreading of the rash works. It is also important to know how to treat the rash if one does develop, and just what is fact and what is myth. Also, it is very helpful to be aware that some of those old home remedies do in fact work in treating the itching caused by a reaction, and that they can be your best friends should you or someone you love catch poison ivy.