I'm working on an article re: "Irritating Plants"- would love to receive personal experiences and/or comments on the information below... Thanks - Ericka ---------- http://www.healthy.net/asp/templates/article.asp?PageType=article&ID=1320 For weeping blisters: * Mix 2 teaspoons of baking soda in 1 quarter (4 cups) of water. * Dip squares of gauze in this mixture. * Cover the blisters with the wet gauze for 10 minutes, four times a day. (Do not apply this to the eyes.) * Make sure you wash all clothes and shoes with hot water and a strong soap. Also, bathe pets who have come in contact with poison ivy, oak or sumac. The sap can stay on pets for many days. * Keep your hands away from your eyes, mouth and face. * Do not scratch or rub the rash. * Apply any of these to the skin rash: * Calamine (not Caladryl) lotion * Zinc oxide ointment * Paste made with baking soda - mix 3 teaspoons of baking soda with 1 teaspoon of water * Take a bath with lukewarm water and an over-the-counter product called Aveeno colloidal oatmeal * Take an over-the-counter antihistamine such as Benadryl, as stated on the label If self-care/first aid measures don't bring relief, call your doctor. ---------- http://www.aad.org/pamphlets/PoisonIvy.html Poison Oak In the West, this plant may grow as a vine but usually is a shrub. (pictured). In the East, it grows as a shrub. Hair grows on its fruit, trunk and leaves, which have three leaflets. Poison Ivy In the East, Midwest and South, it grows as a vine. In the far Northern and Western United States, Canada and around the Great Lakes, it grows as a shrub. Each leaf has three leaflets. Poison Sumac Grows in standing water in peat bogs in the Northeast and Midwest and in swampy areas in parts of the Southeast. Each leaf has seven to 13 leaflets. Poison Plants: Ivy--Sumac--Oak Those nasty weeds - poison ivy, poison sumac and poison oak - are the single most common cause of allergic reactions in the United States. Each year 10 to 50 million Americans develop an allergic rash after contact with these poisonous plants. Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac grow almost everywhere in the United States, except Hawaii, Alaska and some desert areas of Nevada. Poison ivy usually grows east of the Rocky Mountains and in Canada. Poison oak grows in the Western United States, Canada and Mexico (western poison oak) and in the southeastern states (eastern poison oaks). Poison sumac grows in the eastern states and Southern Canada. For the sake of convenience, poison ivy in this pamphlet will refer not only to ivy but to sumac and oak as well. Poison Ivy Rash Poison ivy rash is an allergic contact rash (dermatitis) caused by contact with an oil called urushiol (you-ROO-shee-ol). Urushiol is found in the sap of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. It is a colorless or pale yellow oil that oozes from any cut or crushed part of the plant, including the roots, stems and leaves. After exposure to air, urushiol turns brownish-black, making it easier to spot. Contact with urushiol can occur in three ways: * Direct contact - touching the sap of the toxic plant. * Indirect contact - touching something to which urushiol has spread. The oil can stick to the fur of animals, to garden tools or sports equipment, or to any objects that have come into contact with a crushed or broken plant. * Airborne urushiol particles, such as from burning plants, may come in contact with your skin. Once urushiol touches the skin, it begins to penetrate in minutes. In those who are sensitive, a reaction appears as a line or streak of rash, usually within 12 to 48 hours. Redness and swelling occur, often followed by blisters and severe itching. In a few days, the blisters may become crusted and begin to scale. The rash takes 10 days or longer to heal. The rash can affect almost any part of your body, especially where your skin is thin, such as on your face. A rash develops less often on the soles of your feet and palms of your hands, where the skin is thicker. The rash does not spread, although it may seem to when it breaks out in new areas. This may happen because urushiol absorbs more slowly into skin that is thicker, such as on your forearms, legs and trunk. Who's Sensitive, Who's Not We are not born with a sensitivity to poison ivy. Sensitivity develops after the first direct skin contact with the oil urushiol. An allergic reaction seldom occurs on the first exposure. A second encounter can produce a reaction, which may be severe. About 85 percent of all people will develop an allergic reaction when adequately exposed to poison ivy. This sensitivity varies from person to person. People who reach adulthood without becoming sensitive have only a 50 percent chance of developing an allergy to poison ivy. However, do not assume that you are one of the few people who are not sensitive. Only about 15 percent of people seem to be resistant. Sensitivity to poison ivy tends to decline with age. Children who have reacted to poison ivy will probably find that their sensitivity decreases by half by young adulthood without repeated exposure. People who were once allergic to poison ivy may even lose their sensitivity later in life. Some people are very sensitive to poison ivy. They can develop a severe rash with blisters and extreme swelling on their face, arms, legs and genitals. Such severe cases need medical treatment. Treatment--A Poison Ivy Primer A typical case of poison ivy If you think you've had a brush with poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac, follow these simple steps: * Wash all exposed areas with cold running water as soon as you can reach a stream, lake or garden hose. If you can do this within five minutes, the water may keep the urushiol from contacting your skin and spreading to other parts of your body. Within the first 30 minutes, soap and water are helpful. * Wash your clothing with a garden hose outside or in a washing machine with detergent. If you bring the clothes into your house, be careful that you do not transfer the urushiol to rugs or furniture. You may also dry clean contaminated clothes. Because urushiol can remain active for months, wash camping, sporting, fishing or hunting gear that was in contact with the oil. * Relieve the itching of mild rashes by taking cool showers and applying over-the-counter preparations like calamine lotion or Burrow's solution. Soaking in a lukewarm bath with an oatmeal or baking soda solution also may ease itching and dry oozing blisters. Over-the-counter hydrocortisone creams are not strong enough to have any effect on poison ivy rashes. In severe cases, prescription cortisone can halt the reaction if used early. If you know you have been exposed and have developed severe reactions in the past, consult your dermatologist. He or she may prescribe cortisone or other medicines that can prevent blisters from forming. If you receive treatment with a cortisone-like drug, you should take it longer than six days, or the rash may return. Scratching poison ivy blisters will spread the rash. False. The fluid in the blisters will not spread the rash. Before blisters form, the rash is spread by urushiol on your hands, for instance, by scratching your nose or wiping your forehead. Avoid excessive scratching of your blisters. Your fingernails may carry bacteria that could cause an infection. Poison ivy rash is "catching." False. The rash is a reaction to urushiol. The rash cannot pass from person to person; only urushiol can be spread by contact. ---------- http://www.yourhealth.com/ahl/2343.html AudioHealth Library Topic 2343 Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac Poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac plants can cause a severe skin reaction when their leaves come in contact with human skin. The result of contact with one of these plants is a red, bumpy skin rash, usually on areas of the body where the skin is thinnest, like the arms, shins and face. There may be swelling near the rash, which usually progresses to itchy blisters that ooze, harden and then crack. The rash may appear as early as a few hours or as late as 2 weeks after exposure. What determines how soon a person reacts after exposure is how sensitive he or she is to the plant and the number of previous times the person has been exposed to it. The rash reaches its peak about 5 days after it begins. The blisters break open, releasing a watery liquid. Healing usually takes 1 to 2 weeks. Most cases of poison ivy, oak or sumac can be cared for at home and don't require a trip to a doctor. However, a small percentage of people are highly allergic. If you break out in a rash within 4 hours of exposure and your eyes swell shut and blisters form, seek medical attention immediately. To care for poison ivy, oak or sumac at home: * wash the area thoroughly with lots warm water. If the skin is washed immediately after exposure to the poisonous plant, a rash may not develop, * to relieve itching: apply cotton cloths soaked in cool water or colloidal ointment like Aveeno bar to the area, or sponge the skin with alcohol, * try soaking in a slightly warm bath with Aveeno or baking soda added to help with healing, * apply calamine lotion or a paste of baking soda and water over the rash, and * take an antihistamine like Benadryl or Chlor-Trimeton. Pregnant women should consult their physician prior to taking any over-the-counter medication. Other people, including those with medical conditions are advised to read product labels carefully and consult a pharmacist if they have questions about use. Clothing exposed to the poisonous plant should be washed. Shoes or clothing that can't be washed should be kept isolated in a well ventilated area for 3 weeks. If the rash becomes extremely severe and painful, making normal activity difficult, or if any of the following symptoms appear, you should consult a doctor: * the blisters continue to ooze longer than two weeks * a fever develops, or * lymph nodes in your neck, under your arms or in your groin area become swollen and sore. Any one or more of these symptoms could signal an infection, which may require antibiotic treatment. A doctor should also be consulted if the medication prescribed for the poison oak, ivy or sumac causes any of these side effects: * insomnia, * nervousness or irritability, * stomach upset, or * weight gain. In rare cases involving people who must come in contact with poison ivy, oak or sumac on a regular basis-like firefighters or park rangers immunization treatment is available. The procedure is difficult, since treatment is needed over a long period of time and requires continual maintenance. Also, immunization treatment can often have uncomfortable side effects. Therefore, the best advice is to try to avoid getting the rash in the first place. Here are some preventive tips: * learn what each of the three plants looks like and avoid any contact with them. A poison ivy plant that grows in one area of the country may look different from one grown elsewhere. Learn what each plant looks like in your area, * when in wooded areas, wear protective gloves, long sleeves and long pants tucked into socks, * don't turn pets loose in the woods, since they may rub against the plants and pass the irritant along to other humans or animals, * be careful not to touch dead branches from a poisonous plant since the chemical irritant on them lasts up to several years, and * do not burn these plants. You could inhale the oil from the plants through the smoke and infect your lungs. ### - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]