What Should I Do When I Come In Contact With Poison Ivy?
What Should I Do When I Come In Contact With Poison Ivy?
If you suspect that you have come in contact with poison ivy, immediately wash your hands and other parts of your body contaminated with the urishol oil. You may use plain soap and water at first and follow with a citrus Skin Exfoliator or Scrub to remove the urushiol from your pores. Urushiol binds to the skin anytime between five minutes up to two hours so if this is done quickly, you may be spared from the rash.
It is advisable to use cold water, if possible very cold water if you can tolerate it since cold can cause vasoconstriction while hot or warm water can cause vasodilation, meaning your pores open and that is very dangerous for urushiol would be absorbed. Scrubing with a Citrus Skin Exfoliator
If you came in contact with poison ivy, do the following:
After contact with poison ivy, showering is recommended than using the tub so that the washed off urushiols would just go down the drain, than in the tub which could spread the oil and contaminate the other unaffected areas of the body. You may have an oatmeal bath since it provides relief from itching. After showering, be sure to clean the bathroom thoroughly to prevent contaminating others and as well as putting yourself to harm again. When cleaning you should use gloves and avoid splashing water.
Avoid scratching the area that came in contact with poison ivy. If there’s a break in your skin, urushiol may enter there and that would be very dangerous since it would be absorbed in your bloodstream and systemic reactions or anaphylactic reaction will occur. And, due to scratching, infection may occur too since the dirt in your hands contains a lot of bacteria and it will enter your skin.
Wash everything that you used when you went out to the field in order to remove urushiol. These include your clothes, shoes, the equipments used and of course your pet if ever you brought one. Never forget to use gloves when washing them and avoid splashing of water.
Apply cold compress to areas that feels itchy. Cold compress can relax and provides temporary relief from itchiness.
Apply Allstop Poison Ivy Gel to prevent any bacterial infection, heal the blisters and relieve the itch quickly.
If you do not have Allstop Poison Ivy Gel at home, you may use ice cold whole milk as a compress. Not skim milk. The reason is that the fat in the milk is the one which helps dry the rashes and soothes the itch.
Take antihistamines to be relieved from itching but put into mind some antihistamines make you drowsy. If you need to be alert, there are no drowse antihistamines available such as Claritin.
Another option is to apply milk of magnesia to areas that came in contact with poison ivy.
Are There Any Natural Remedies For Hives?
Are there Any Natural Remedies for Hives?
All that exists has its origin. Same is true with sickness. Sickness has its origin. Everything falls in history. If hives develop in the past, there must be an alternate cure for it other than the modern day medicines available in the drugstore and there should be natural remedies for hives.
Why should you prefer natural remedies for hives?
Taking the alternative route in preventing or curing any ailment is far way too expensive. Natural remedies for hives are in abundance. A pill always brings a bill. Opting for these remedies may lessen the visits to the doctor’s clinic.
For those who are willing to try something different or a touch of the natural, here are a few alternatives.
Take tea and see. If you suspect emotional times cause your hives and if you want to stay away from synthetic internal medication like antihistamines, you may want to try a nerve-calming herb tea, says SFC Thomas Squier, an instructor in survival training for the U.S. Army Special Forces at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and an herbologist. He recommends peppermint or passion flower teas. Chamomile, valerian, and catnip are other common sedative herb teas.
Make a poultice or paste. Herbal manuals often list a poultice of the crushed leaves of chickweed as a remedy for itchy skin. Some people make a paste of water and cream of tartar and apply it to the hives, replacing it when the paste dries and gets crumbly.
Put on pressure. Finally, Michael Blate, founder and executive director of G-Jo Institute in Hollywood, Florida, says he’s had quick success in getting rid of hives with acupressure. Deeply massage the point on your trapezius muscle (running between your neck and shoulder) located midway on the muscle and just an inch or so over the backside of the ridge. “If it doesn’t hurt somewhat, you haven’t found exactly the right point,” he says.
However, some may prefer for another home treatment like antihistamine medication.
Antihistamine medication: The best drug for widespread hives is an antihistamine. It may not cure the hives, but it will reduce their number and relieve itching.
• Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) is available without a prescription. It comes in both liquid and tablet form. Diphenhydramine may cause drowsiness, so do not drive while taking it. Continue taking your antihistamine for a day or two after the hives disappear to be sure they are completely gone. Your medical provider can prescribe a non-sedating antihistamine if necessary.
• Allstop ProEcza or Poison Ivy Gel are two products specifically formulated to heal Eczema and Poison Ivy, however have proved great for eliminating hives. The ProEcza has 1% hydro-cortisone it in to relieve the itch, but it also contains healing properties to relive the swelling and inflammation of the skin. The Poison Ivy Gel stops the itch immediately using an small portion of the ingredient called benzalkonium chloride and it also heals the skin.
Do yourself a favor and seek natural remedies for hives.
When Should I Seek Medical Care If I Come In Contact With Poison Ivy?
When Should I Seek Medical Care If I Come In Contact With Poison IVy?
Poison ivy is a very dangerous plant that causes harm to human beings by an allergic reaction. This
plant contains the oil called urushiol which is very irritating to the skin and can cause a severe
reaction that could require medical attention.
The extent of the Poison ivy reaction depends on how good or bad your immune system is and it is
different with every person. Some may not have the rash right away; it will take them a number of
exposures first before having it. But some people react to it right away. And each individual’s body
reaction varies. Others may just have a slight rash; a valid reason for this is that it could be the
amount of urushiol that touched the skin is only small. The severity of the reaction depends on your
immune system; the better or stronger your immune system, the stronger the reaction. This is almost
unbelievable. If you have a strong immune system, you will have a severe reaction in most cases.
But others may have the poison ivy rash scattered throughout the body is primarily because a large
amount of urushiol touched it and also, possibly the person got the urushiol from clothing or from pets
which came in contact with it. This means the urishol oil touched several areas of your body from your
fingernails, from clothing or even from your pets fur. It is important to wash all your clothes and
your tools or camping gear as soon as possible so that you do not recontaminate yourself. The reaction on your skin most often does NOT require medical attention.
The times when the urishol oil DOES require medical attention is when a person goes into an anaphylactic shock. It is a severe and sometimes fatal systemic hypersensitivity reaction. This condition may occur within seconds from the time of exposure to urushiol and is commonly marked by respiratory distress and vascular collapse. The more quickly any systemic atopic reaction occurs in the individual after exposure, the more severe the associated shock is likely to be.
Another time when a person would require medical attention is when urushiol is inhaled (resulting from the burning of poison ivy) enters the systemic circulation and triggers an incomplete humoral response that allows the allergen to combine with IgE and cause the release of histamine. Also entering into the reaction are IgG and IgM, which cause the release of complement fractions, further stimulating histamine action.
Be watchful for signs that indicate a person needs medical care. The first symptoms for anaphylactic
shock are intense anxiety, weakness, sweating, and shortness of breath. Other symptoms may include hypotension, arrhythmia, respiratory congestion, laryngeal edema, nausea and diarrhea.
Additional signs that you should look out for and may signal you that it’s time to head to the hospital are when the rash reached the eyes already, including the mouth and genitals; when the blisters are oozing with pus which may be a sign that there is infection, and when you try to palpate it it’s tender to touch and feels warm and the wound appears red ; the person has a fever greater than 37.8 degrees Celsius possibly due to the infection and, when the rash is not getting any better within a few weeks.
