OT- Poison Ivy

[la79al]

As it gets to be that warm time of year, I am wondering if anyone has any hints on how to not get poison ivy or how to make it go away super fast. My DSS gets poison ivy every summer, very bad. When he gets it, his mom calls into the doctor and they call in a prescription for prednisone or something similar. Last year though, by June he had been on it so many times that they would not let him have it again for the rest of the summer. He is 10 years old and he knows what it looks like, it just seems like keeping him away from it does not work out. Any suggestions????

 

[karliebug]

My youngest daughter is the same way, she gets it so easily. I think she gets it from the dog. He goes trotting through it and the oil gets on his fur, then she pets him and she ends up with it. The last 2 years we had to put her on steroids because she had it so bad on her face. the dr. said that when we are camping or when she is playing outside she should come in about every 2 hours and wash with soap and water up to her elbows and wash her face. There is special soap at the drug store to buy and wash with if you think you have been in it but the trouble with kids is they don't know they have been exposed. So this year we are trying the frequent washing route. If it gets on his face or near his eyes he should get medical attention.

 

[donac]

Have you checked with an allergist to see if there is anything that you could do. That would be my direction now since he always gets it.

 

[ForeverDance]

Baking soda paste

I use to manage to get poison ivy all the time, yes I knew what it looked like, but being a kid running around and playing I didn't notice it until I was in the middle of it. Sometimes I didn't even notice I had hit it at all.

My mom always made a baking soda paste. Just get some baking soda in a dish and add a little water until it is paste like. Then apply to the area. It works wonders. Takes the itch away and helps it go away faster (as a side note it also works wonders on bee stings).

 

[Deffenm]

A friend of mine told me today that there is a new product in drug stores that you can apply it before you go outside and it is supposed to help prevent you from getting it. I don't remember the name but if you ask at your local drug store they should know. Unfortunatley for me she told me too late as I am covered head to toe in poison ivy!

 

[missymouse]

My mother gets poison ivy outbreaks from any kind of ivy. She uses Fels Naphta Soap. When she has an outbreak she washes with this soap and dries it up. It is actually a very old brand of Laundry Soap. She discovered it at a Civil War reinactment in Harper's Ferry. They had a laundress exhibit and were letting people wash clothes the old fashioned way. They were also talking about how during the civil war the soap was used for drying up Poison Ivy. If you go to http://www.thedialstore.com/product_detail.cfm?cat_id=1&prd_id=2420004303 you can find a store in your area that carries it.

It is easy to find in MD, PA, VA and other areas where there are Reinactments, not sure about other areas of the country. Sometimes it is in the pharmacy department and sometimes it is with the laundry detergents.

If you do a google search on Fels Naphta and Poison Ivy you will see that she isn't the only one who swears by it.