Do you get poison ivy?

[Lisaren]

My husband seems to get it just by walking by the plant. My son reacts with heavy exposure. My daughter and I do not react at all. I do not go out of my way to come into contact with it because I know you can begin reacting at any time, but I am the one who pulls any that shows up in the yard.

 

[tina.tina]

DH, DS9, & I are highly sensitive. DD14 is not. Having small amounts of exposure definitely hasn't made me immune at all. I'll have tiny spot or two several times a year and up to 2-3 big reactions a year. I recently got over having blisters like those in the picture between the fingers on my right hand.

DH had never reacted to it in 55 years. Last year, he saw some in the yard and pulled it with his bare hands. Then went in and washed. A few days later, he had a bad rash in a spot I won't mention, that had been totally covered with clothes. He had no clue what it was until his doctor told him it was a poison ivy rash.

Your DH probably took a bathroom break with the oil on his skin. I'm not convinced you can truly wash the oil off your skin with regular soap. You can't catch poison ivy from someone else's rash, but if you acquire the oil from their skin or clothes, you can get it. DH started scratching in a sensitive area and a couple of days later I was in misery. I worked closely with a small group of women and they all thought it was hilarious.