Poison Ivy

Hikebike · 05-16-2011, 06:39 PM

When does poison ivy come out? Is it out all the time or only in the warmer months? My son has red itchy yuk bumps on his legs (was almost 90 degrees last week so we went hiking in shorts). The rest of the family is fine, but he did go off a couple of times on his own. I wasn’t really paying attention to see if there was any poison ivy out. I’m not even sure that it’s poison ivy – could be something else he is allergic to. Any ideas?

Judy Ann · 05-16-2011, 07:46 PM

Poison ivy is out in my neck of the woods. You may want to look up and print out what the poisonous plants in your area look like so that everyone in your family can avoid them. Another thing that you can do is google poison ivy and look at the pictures of a rash for comparison. Sometimes steroids are required for those of us with bad allergic reactions.

Jobiwan · 05-16-2011, 08:28 PM

Although poison ivy dies off each year it still contains the toxins that are allergic; in the right environment of course. In theory, it still can affect the skin even when dead or sprouting anew due to the little "hairs" on them. Maybe look into chiggers??? They leave a nasty rash as well. Itchy little suckers they are...

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dinosaur · 05-16-2011, 08:37 PM

Jobiwan is totally on target. Poisin Ivy is a threat twelve months a year. The resins are prevalent even in the Winter. Watch your step.

Refrigerator · 05-16-2011, 08:40 PM

according to new research poison Ivy has stepped up to a stronger toxic plant. Seems this plant is adapting to global pressure from climate changes and getting stronger. Biologist here in Va are calling it Super Ivy.

Hikebike · 06-03-2011, 08:42 PM

The bumps went away

I ended up taking him to the doctor's. It was just a heat rash and then spread because he would not stop itching it. We did print off the pics of poison ivy and poison oak so now we all know what NOT to step on.

Telna · 06-03-2011, 10:03 PM

I've heard that you should be on the lookout for poison ivy year-round. It's a smart idea to print out the pictures and teach everybody in the family to avoid those nasty plants. I've seen a few reactions to stepping on poison ivy and it is not pretty.

wvbreamfisherman · 06-04-2011, 07:24 AM

Yeah- poison ivy is a threat year round. I know people that have gotten a rash from petting a dog that brushed up against it in hunting season.

I'm fortunately not too sensitive to it, but my frequent camping partner is extremely sensitive to is, to the extent she gets a rash in places that were never contacted by the resins. The last time she got exposed, she had to take two course of oral steriods.

Best treatment is prevention. Know the plant and avoid it. Wear long pants. Teach your kids what to look out for.

Second best is scrubbing down with something like Tecnu Poison Oak and Ivy Scrub as soon as you can even you even suspect you've been exposed. This will at least minimize your exposure.

Best home treatment is a good scrub of affected areas and then 10% cortisone cream. Benadryl and aspirin help with the itching too.

My $0.02, YMMV

Telna · 06-04-2011, 07:46 AM

One question I have is that I've seen two terms used, poison ivy and poison oak. Are they the same plant or different? I've always treated them as the same but maybe they are different.

wvbreamfisherman · 06-04-2011, 01:11 PM

I suppose they are actually different species, but they appear to be pretty similar to me. I've only seen pictures of poison oak, we only have the poison ivy around here (WV) as far as I know.

One other thing- poison ivy is pretty derned tough to kill if you have it growing around your house or property. The best thing I've found other than the specialized poison ivy killers is Roundup plus a shot of Dawn dishwashing detergent. I believe the Dawn helps the Roundup solution "wet" the surface of the leaves and penetrate it instead of running off the oily surfce.