The Ultimate Survival Medicine Guide by Joseph Alton

Author:Joseph Alton
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Publisher: Skyhorse Publishing
Published: 2014-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

POISON IVY, OAK, AND SUMAC

Poison ivy

Unless you live in Alaska, Hawaii, or the middle of the desert, the outdoors will have a population of poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, or all three. Once exposed to one or the other, 85 percent of the population will develop an immune response against it that will generate an itchy rash of varying degrees of severity. Winter does not eliminate the possibility of a reaction, as you can have a reaction against the urushiol (the toxic oil that causes a reaction after the first sensitizing exposure) even when vines or shrubs are dormant.

As the saying goes, “leaves of three, let it be.” Although it is true that poison ivy comes in “leaves of three,” so do many other plants. Familiarize yourself with what it looks like.

Poison ivy and poison oak are very similar in that they both have urushiol. Poison ivy leaves may be pointier, with poison oak often looking more like, well, oak leaves. One or both is present just about everywhere in the continental United States.

Poison sumac is a shrub or small tree, growing up to nearly 30 feet in height in parts of the eastern United States. Each leaf has 7–13 pointy leaflets. Although poison sumac has the same irritant present in poison ivy and poison oak, it is far more powerful. Simply inhaling smoke from burning poison sumac has been reported to cause death by suffocation.

All of these plants contain urushiol. The oil is in the vines, leaves, and roots. The best prevention is not allowing your skin to come in contact with the oil. If you can’t avoid being close to these plants, take the following precautions:

• Wear long pants, long-sleeved shirts, work gloves, and boots in areas known to have the plants.

• Consider an over-the-counter lotion, IvyBlockTM, as a preventative. Apply it as you would a sunblock to likely areas of exposure. Theoretically, it will prevent the oil from being absorbed by your skin.

The rash takes from several hours to several days to become apparent, and will appear as red, itchy, patchy bumps. Sometimes the rash appears almost linear.

Urushiol can remain active for years, even on your clothes, so thorough laundering is necessary. Routine body washing with soap will not be useful after 30 minutes of exposure, as your system will already be producing antibodies. Hot water seems to help the oil absorb into the skin, so use only cold water early on. After all the irritant has been absorbed, however, hot water baths are recommended by some to relieve itching.

Cleansers that remove resin or oil, such as Fels-Naptha soap or TecnuTM poison oak and ivy cleansers, are more effective than regular detergent and can be used even several hours after exposure. Rubbing alcohol is another reasonable option and easily carried as hand sanitizers or prep pads.

Even if you choose not to treat the rash, it will go away by itself in 2–3 weeks. Although it is temporary, it could be so itchy as to make you absolutely miserable.

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