Home Remedies For Poison Ivy

If you got a serious case, you will probably need steroids (prednisone or medrol) from a provider with prescriptive authority. I know that's not an answer to your question, sorry.

Although I am careful, I get poison ivy rashes every few years. ~85% of the population is at least somewhat allergic.

Make a thick paste out of baking soda, spread it over the skin and leave it there for 10-15 minutes. Gently rinse. Try to do this a few times a day if possible.

If it gets unbearable or is all over your body, call your physician. They can give you a steroid. That helped me immensely. Good luck.

Like the others stated, if it is a serious case you may need to see a physician.

I swear Mr. Gamma has a chronic case of poison ivy, he seems to always have it.
Some home remedies we have used...
A warm bath with a cup of baking soda, as well as the baking soda paste that was mentioned in another reply,
An oatmeal bath (I used that remedy when I had the chicken pox and it helped with the itch)
If you have an aloe vera plant, break off a piece and rub the gel over affected area.

I don't know when you were exposed, but if you seem to be getting worse, see the physician.

About an ounce of bleach in bath water.

Not a home remedy but Technu (I found it in pharmacy) helped me out. Read about it on this forum. Its a scrub - ideally you should use it ASAP after being exposed and it washes away the PI oil. I found out about it after I had a case of PI and used it - gave relief to the itching and seemed to help move along the healing process. I have since used as it when first exposed and it really does help.

Didn't pay enough attention to a PI vine attached to the side of a tree I was dropping this Summer - thought I was immune. Well, I'm not immune :sick:. Nasty case on one foot - it looked horrible, and I couldn't wear a shoe for around a week. I went with the hot water soak, which hurts like hell when it first goes in, but then offers lots of relief for an hour or so. I decided to hold off on getting meds, as long as every day brought some improvement. Some of the blisters got bigger over time, but others were drying out, so I took that as a good sign. After a week or so, everything was dried out enough to be able to function again. If it seems like there is no progress for a couple of days, it might be time to have it checked out. It's misery, but hopefully will be just history for you by next week.

When we were kids, white gas for lanterns was the sure fire way to dissolve poison ivy. We thought it worked, but I haven't tried it for decades.

you can get 1% hydrocortisone over the counter- it's not a very potent steroid but it will help. If you need something stronger you'll have to see your doc

Not that it helps if you already have it but if I think I've come in contact with Poison Ivy I wash up using Dawn dish soap or whatever my wife has next to the kitchen sink. I haven't had poison ivy since I started to do this after working with suspect firewood.

Try the water from a blacksmith's quenching bucket. I mean, how hard can that be to find?

I just saw this tip yesterday in a book at my local TSC on blacksmithing. I guess its supposed to have something with the high iron content of the water. I have NO experience with this and in no way can I back this up.

Good luck!

we used to heat 'er up with a hair dryer, hot as you can stand it, then immediately wipe with rubbing alcohol.

Got Wood said:

Not a home remedy but Technu (I found it in pharmacy) helped me out. Read about it on this forum. Its a scrub - ideally you should use it ASAP after being exposed and it washes away the PI oil. I found out about it after I had a case of PI and used it - gave relief to the itching and seemed to help move along the healing process. I have since used as it when first exposed and it really does help.

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We've had a bar of that around for years....just in case. I've had PI only once and will never forget it, especially because that day I also had to go potty in the woods..... Talk about misery.

I always wash down with fels naphtha soap after dealing with pi. Some people say it helps after you have it too. Benadryl helps with the itching as well as hydrocortisone.

i use calamine lotion, works good.

Not a home remedy but Technu (I found it in pharmacy) helped me out. Read about it on this forum. Its a scrub - ideally you should use it ASAP after being exposed and it washes away the PI oil. I found out about it after I had a case of PI and used it - gave relief to the itching and seemed to help move along the healing process. I have since used as it when first exposed and it really does help.

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I was going to recommend this too, I always have a bottle of the soap incase I come in contact with any I wash with the soap, then theres another bottle that you put on after washing that helps dry it out, its the best stuff Ive ever used that wasnt prescription and Ive gotten poison ivy dozens of times in my life.

I use to always get PI when i lived on the east coast, seemed like id get it bad enough to have to get a steroid shot every year, got it once from a brush pile burn-in my lungs throat and nose and a few other times during hurricane season when the power was out (no water to wash it off)- i can feel it burn immediately when i come in contact with it so i would usually wash it off but when you have limited supply of water, and its for drinking, you can run into a problem. I know it seems obvious but not scratching is really important too! I use to use a little bleach in water, plenty of alcohol wipes- you want to let it dry out so if you get it on your foot or something that's always in a shoe that can be bad, I'd go get the shot but i have insurance too

i found some stuff after Irene helping neighbors around the block cleaning up trees and i got the worst cast of PI i have had in a while. Eyes swollen shut a big belt around my waist. The stuff is called Zanfel. Its costly about $50 for an ounce. Follow the directions on the package. THIS STUFF WORKS.
I have only used it once and it dried up the PI awesome.

Thick hard bar of brown soap, Lava? anyhow, as soon as you leave the woods, wash up with the hard brown laundrey soap, usualy prevents an attack

If it does get you, mega doses of vitimin C will help dry it up sooner, with topical applications of calimime.

If it goes to far or is in your eyes see a Doc.

Yuell Givens used to eat baby leaves in the spring to develop imunity, I've never had the nerve to try that.

Dune said:

Thick hard bar of brown soap, Lava? anyhow, as soon as you leave the woods, wash up with the hard brown laundrey soap, usualy prevents an attack

If it does get you, mega doses of vitimin C will help dry it up sooner, with topical applications of calimime.

If it goes to far or is in your eyes see a Doc.

Yuell Givens used to eat baby leaves in the spring to develop imunity, I've never had the nerve to try that.

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Euell Gibbons ate everything, maybe poison ivy tasted like wild hickory nuts.

weatherguy said:

Dune said:

Thick hard bar of brown soap, Lava? anyhow, as soon as you leave the woods, wash up with the hard brown laundrey soap, usualy prevents an attack

If it does get you, mega doses of vitimin C will help dry it up sooner, with topical applications of calimime.

If it goes to far or is in your eyes see a Doc.

Yuell Givens used to eat baby leaves in the spring to develop imunity, I've never had the nerve to try that.

Click to expand...

Euell Gibbons ate everything, maybe poison ivy tasted like wild hickory nuts.

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Thanks for edit.

Apparently the young leaves are mild.

Jewel weed...and it was probably growing next to the poison ivy. Yellow or orange flowers. Break it up and spread the juice on the infected area. Works on stinging nettles as well.

krex1010 said:

I always wash down with fels naphtha soap after dealing with pi. Some people say it helps after you have it too. Benadryl helps with the itching as well as hydrocortisone.

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Fels Naptha Soap works for me, even after the itching starts. It dries my skin, which is good in this case.

Reasons to live in Alaska:
no snakes,
no possums,
no woodticks,
no poison ivy,
and Sarah Palin has moved to Arizona or somewhere.

I used to get that bad when I was a kid--ended up hospitalized sometimes. And yes, I remember the fels naptha cure--I think the trick was to really scrub with it--get to the bottom of the problem--not just rinse the surface. You're bringing back memories with this thread . . .

+1 on Zanfel, wicked pricey but it does work.