Poison ivy

[hairbear]

if you ever want to be fear free learn about jewel weed.everything in nature seeks a balance,so for every plant that gives you a rash there is one to take it away.jewel weed is that plant.research it so you can find it.take the plant and rub it hard between your palms then rub it on the exposure point .the juice that is in it nueatralizes the ivy plant.it works within moments of contact.jewel weed grows in places sometimes right in the patch of ivy.you will never have to fear ivy rashes again.i carry it on the side of my pack(just the stems)for quick use when needed.a few moments after aplication you will begin to think of other things not even remembering you were itching.jewel weed also kills jock itch and athletes foot,even ring worm.good luck.

[Ironchic]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am a native Floridian and have seen poison ivy many times. I can't believe I missed it. I know to look for it in the woods but my back yard it just never occurred to me. Lesson well learned unfortunately the rash is on my face. However it's not to bad and beginning to go away with treatment. Now I need to clean my hammock and get rid of this vine.

[Mouseskowitz]

You could come up north here where the poison ivy stays on the ground and everything is dead in the winter. Shy of that what other people said sounds good. There is preventative stuff out there. But once it is on you there is a rule of thumb for skin stuff. If it is wet try it out, if it is dry keep it wet and if you don't know use cortisol cream.

One thought about soaking your gear in turpentine is maybe to some research as to the effects that has on those materials as it is a solvent. Good luck!!!

[HURTHEART]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am a native Floridian and have seen poison ivy many times. I can't believe I missed it. I know to look for it in the woods but my back yard it just never occurred to me. Lesson well learned unfortunately the rash is on my face. However it's not to bad and beginning to go away with treatment. Now I need to clean my hammock and get rid of this vine.

Are you aware of the fact that the oil from Poison Oak and Poison Ivy can travel in the air via smoke. If someone is burning brush, and burns the Ivy or Oak, it can cause a sensative person to break out. One of my cousins ended up in the hospital that way, it was just awful, he had a rash everywhere.

I would be careful what I put on my skin, some of the suggested items have lead in them. Lead is absorbed through the skin. Women in particular need to be aware of that fact. Very dangerous for little kids to be exposed to lead.

I hope there are not any pyromaniacs reading this thread.

[BillyBob58]

Poison ivy manly grows in areas that have been cleared. I have the same issues around my house but it's not so bad in the woods I've noticed.

Well it is ever present in the woods up here, so I envy you! I am very sensitive to it starting in my mid 30s ( about to be 64 ). It requires a very active approach for me to hike off trail in MS and hang from the trees and avoid it, but I have become pretty adept. My last case of it was ~ 20 years ago. I had already become pretty good at spotting it and avoiding it. But I was helping clear trails of fallen trees after an ice storm, and most likely one of those evil wooly vines, which I did not know about then, got me. I only knew about watching for leaves of 3 back then, didn't know about the vine. To make it worse, seems like there are plenty of innocent leaves of 3.

I haven't had this problem, probably because I can spot poison ivy vines with or without the leaves on the vine. Seems like the best solution is to avoid it.

Ironchic, learn, learn, learn to identify the woolly vine! It is the easiest way for me to spot it. Sometimes it stands out like a fat black furry snake in contrast to the tree, sometimes it is skinny and barely wooly and the exact same color of the tree. IOW, it looks like the tree. But you can see the difference if you look close.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen zero leaves of 3 anywhere, but then luckily I spot the vine. Then I start folloeing the vine woth my eyes, from the ground sometimes 10 or 20 ft up into the tree. Finally, I see a branch coming out from the tree, looking like it is a tree branch. But looking carefully, I finally can see that branch is not part of the tree, but is coming out of that wooly vine, and finally AHA! There are a bunch of leaves of 3, right in the midst of all the other tree leaves! A PI sensitive child climbing that tree would be awful, or an adult brushing against that vine would never know where it came from. Because you have to work hard to fine the leaves of 3 that the sneaky evil vine puts out.

Once you start spotting the vine ( sometimes seems like on every 4th tree in these parts ) , and you know exactly what you have, start paying close attention to the leaves of 3. They are different from a lot of the look alikes. I am no botanist, so keep that in mind, but there are so many things that look a lot like it that it can make it real hard. No thorns, sooth or barely wooly ( near the leaf.) White berries that turn other colors later in the year. And it's not a leaf, but leaflets. Each "leaf" comes off of the branch in an alternating ( "left" then "right" ) direction, turning into the leaflets of 3. Then two of the leaflets go off in opposite directions- but very close together- at the same point, with the 3rd pointing straight ahead some distance out from the other two. Kind of like if you held your hands out as far as they would go left and right ( the 1st 2 of the leaflets ) and your head is the third.

I see some things that look almost just like that, but when I look more closely there is another leaf or leaflet in the midst that might have 4 or 5 leaflets. That is safe. Obvious thorns are safe. But this can all be tough to spot while hiking, so thank goodness for the wooly bugger vine! Especially when I am looking for trees to hang from.

From some of my local hikes and a newly fallen tree. Thought I had some pics of some spectacular vines, but can't find them. But, you can see a furry vine, with no leafs, at the right side of the 3rd pic :









http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_h7GyAwvwc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96h6ov5iwTY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZjVNaOnsk

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwGDy...ture=endscreen



Here is what 1st got me back in 1984, out in AZ, poison Oak. Does this have the wooly vine? It might not:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipwER...ture=endscreen

Also talks about Zanfu for treatment.

if you ever want to be fear free learn about jewel weed.everything in nature seeks a balance,so for every plant that gives you a rash there is one to take it away.jewel weed is that plant.research it so you can find it.take the plant and rub it hard between your palms then rub it on the exposure point .the juice that is in it nueatralizes the ivy plant.it works within moments of contact.jewel weed grows in places sometimes right in the patch of ivy.you will never have to fear ivy rashes again.i carry it on the side of my pack(just the stems)for quick use when needed.a few moments after aplication you will begin to think of other things not even remembering you were itching.jewel weed also kills jock itch and athletes foot,even ring worm.good luck.

Hairbear, my next project is to become expert in identifying Jewel Weed!

[Mouseskowitz]

The CDC website has some good info on identification, prevention and treatment. Also, the USDA also has maps that can be zoomed in to see what is confirmed to be present in each county.

[Mouseskowitz]

The Jewelweed made me curious, probably because we just covered poison ivy in a Derm lecture today. Anyway I did some searching for research on its efficacy. The study I found showed that it is effective in the treatment of poison ivy but that good old soap and water is better. If anyone wants to see the journal article PM me.

[steveflinn]

You can get poison oak on a hot day just from the oil in the air near the plant. In the West we learn to identify it and avoid it. By the time you're an adult you're going to find you have mastered avoiding it - so that it's not something that you think much about.

Its not a problem in winter usually unless youre offtrail and it grows faster and redder and craftier with the summer heat.

Yes, the oil can get on your clothes. Yes, your dog may get in on him, so make him swim before you get all cuddly with him. Soap and water cleans it off your skin and gear. If you do get it you have a couple of days before you become uncomfortable. There's some goop you can buy at drug stores to make it less irritating. Scratching it can cause you misery so maybe re-learn how to cry again if you're a man - vocalizing relieves it a bit but that heats you up and exertion makes it a little worse.

Don't fall for fools' tales about eating baby leaves in the Spring to build immunity. That's dumber than licking a frozen fencepost.

Another thought...in theory I like to wear tomorrow's long johns to sleep in while yesterday's are drying out after washing...cuz it feels nice and cuz who risks sleeping in trail clothes?

[hairbear]

The Jewelweed made me curious, probably because we just covered poison ivy in a Derm lecture today. Anyway I did some searching for research on its efficacy. The study I found showed that it is effective in the treatment of poison ivy but that good old soap and water is better. If anyone wants to see the journal article PM me.

try it before you doubt it based on someones opinion.i cut power line right of ways for a living,have for 25 years.i suffered bad with poison ivy,because a chain saw will sling it all over you.a man showed jewel weed to me after years of suffering.i no longer suffer.as soon as i feel the itch i rub jewel weed on it,and it goes away.yes i was a doubting person too,but it works.soap and water may reduce the amount of oils on the skin,but it doesnt cancel out the effect of it.how long is it before you can do the soap and water treatment after contact?warm water will actually open the pores of the skin making contamination worse.try jewel weed before you poo poo it.you will be happy you did.

[FLRider]

Wow...that's rough. Sorry to hear about that, Ironchic.

Matter of fact, you're the second person I've seen 'round these parts from Florida who's gotten poison ivy exposure while hanging in the last month or so. I'm hoping that doesn't mean the Third Annual Hang will have scads of folks running into the stuff...

Your best defense is a good offense. BillyBob58's post above is a good one; keep an eye out for those vines, both on the tree and at knee level.

I'm one of those fortunates who just doesn't get a reaction from ivy, but I really should learn how to ID it for when I'm hiking with others (and so that I don't cause the missus to sic the Killer Kats on me at 4 AM from tracking the oil into the house ).

Thanks, BB58!