Poison Ivy (not the movie)

[IHearChains]

This video is total bunk, clearly demonstrates Tecnu is no better than dish soap at removing axel grease, which has very little to do with urushiol despite what the author of the video desperately wants to believe...

FTFY

Technu is some of the best preventative medicine out there. My company has gone back and forth between issuing Technu and 2 different types of poison ivy wipes (one preventative, one for after exposure) called Ivy-X to people who are exposed to poison plants. My evidence is anecdotal, but the two summers I had access to Technu I never had poison ivy, the summer I had to use the IvyX wipes I had it 3 times (twice after I began using the preventative treatment every morning). I'm not saying the Ivy X was bad, because I was definitely exposed more than 3 times that summer, but if you follow directions, Technu works as advertised.

The intermolecular attractions in both urushiol and axle grease (hydrocarbons) are the key to addressing these questions. Intermolecular attractions are what mainly controls the solubility properties of materials, at the molecular level. With urushiol and axle grease, its mostly van der waals interactions between long chain hydrocarbons. Therefore their solubility properties are almost the same, although urushiol may be slightly more water soluble (and more easily washed from skin) due to the phenolic hydroxyl groups and their propensity to hydrogen bond with water.

So, axle grease actually turns out to be a very good visible mimic of urushiol, and actually HARDER to remove from the skin than urushiol. Dish soap does the job. The video does a nice job illustrating this.

Thanks for the anecdotes from your company. I believe your company lacks organic chemistry expertise, and rather than really understanding the science behind it, instead is relying on marketing and guesswork, which puts you at risk. The experiments they did on you with wipes vs technu are a specific example of that.

Technu probably works OK, but soap is a LOT cheaper and just as effective if not moreso.

 

[grodney]

I would pee on her boobs, steal a banger gt, yell my life, rage quit, even hit someone with an rv(allegedly), go out of country with a warrant, or worst of all pond dive without calling before I would chance butthole poison ivy.

I have nothing to add.

 

[billtvshow]

Vaccine News
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-rele...y-product-into-clinical-trials-242427881.html

 

[demoneyeone]

When I used to get it as a kid(stopped being allergic for some reason) we used white shoe polish. Worked better than calamine.

 

[1978]

Don't scratch

I scratch until I get blood, then no more itchy.

 

[1978]

IIRC the oil in the plant is not exposed unit the plant has been cut in some way from either bugs eating the plant or your disc cutting it or something of the sort. So you could walk though untouched poison and not be exposed to the oil unless you cut the plant in the process which is likely though.

I do not believe that this is accurate. The sap/oil is present on the stems, roots, berries, leaves of the plants regardless of whether it is damaged.

 

[1978]

Folk remedy for poison oak....over a period of about a month start with a miniscule amount (maybe 1/4 of the size of a dime) and eat it. Slowly increase the size you eat over the month until you're at a 1/2 leaf. Yes, you will get a tiny spot around your popper shooter but afterwards you should be immune to it. Yeah, sounds stupid but I know 2 people who have done it and it worked for both. I dont really get PO so I've never done it. No PI in these parts so no idea about that. Good luck.

The internets are quite clear that this is not a folk remedy...it is a folk lore.

 

[BogeyNoMore]

wow... Miss Information is a very popular gal!

 

[cmcolomb]

Yea misinformation is all over. I personally use Tecnu. I am highly allergic to PI/PO or anything else urishiolly. I also must be some kind of sadist because the feeling of hot water on the rash feels sooooooo good that I don't necessarily mind having the reash...

This guy spells it out pretty well... skip to the end for the treatment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oyoDRHpQK0

 

[Puckstopper]

Folk remedy for poison oak....over a period of about a month start with a miniscule amount (maybe 1/4 of the size of a dime) and eat it. Slowly increase the size you eat over the month until you're at a 1/2 leaf. Yes, you will get a tiny spot around your popper shooter but afterwards you should be immune to it. Yeah, sounds stupid but I know 2 people who have done it and it worked for both. I dont really get PO so I've never done it. No PI in these parts so no idea about that. Good luck.

This is horrendously unsound advice. No-one should follow it. Ever!

http://wyeastblog.org/2012/05/28/10-common-poison-oak-myths/

http://www.backpacker.com/community/ask_buck/96

Imagine giving urushiol the opportunity to do to your internal organs what it does to your skin!

 

[BogeyNoMore]

Just for the record:

I personally think placing urushiol in plants is god's way of letting us know he's pissed off with us. Not hellfire and brimstone mad, or we've been so horrible he summons a flood of biblical proportions to start over mad... just "you miserable little pricks better learn to get along, 'cause you're annoying the crap out of me" pissed off with us.

If all of us learn to live in harmony with the others, we won't need all the stuff people mentioned in this thread.
Mind you, I have no empirical evidence whatsoever to support this claim - it's just a theory I have.

 

[hempies]

Anyone have a good folk remedy for Poison Oak and Poison Ivy?

This is horrendously unsound advice. No-one should follow it. Ever!

http://wyeastblog.org/2012/05/28/10-common-poison-oak-myths/

http://www.backpacker.com/community/ask_buck/96

Imagine giving urushiol the opportunity to do to your internal organs what it does to your skin!

OP asked for folk remedies and everyone responds with technu or calamine lotion. Those are not folk remedies.

Anyhow, I personally know 2 people who have done this. I watched them eat PO, not have any adverse reaction, and now they don't get PO. I've known both these people for many years and they were both severly allergic beforehand, now no problems with PO.

I've never done this, as stated before....and I wouldn't. I don't really get PO so not a big concern for me.

Funny when I google search 'eating poison oak' I get both of the links you posted puckstopper, but I also see some about Native American uses of PO and their apparent immunity to it. There seems to be a correlation there.

I guess that, like most everything else in life, what works for some doesn't for others.

BTW, mugwort and other plants have been used for many years to treat PO.

 

[1978]

OP asked for folk remedies and everyone responds with technu or calamine lotion. Those are not folk remedies.

Anyhow, I personally know 2 people who have done this. I watched them eat PO, not have any adverse reaction, and now they don't get PO. I've known both these people for many years and they were both severly allergic beforehand, now no problems with PO.

I've never done this, as stated before....and I wouldn't. I don't really get PO so not a big concern for me.

Funny when I google search 'eating poison oak' I get both of the links you posted puckstopper, but I also see some about Native American uses of PO and their apparent immunity to it. There seems to be a correlation there.

I guess that, like most everything else in life, what works for some doesn't for others.

BTW, mugwort and other plants have been used for many years to treat PO.

According to science it works for no one. I have a friend that swears SWEARS that he prayed with a group of people over someone who had 1 leg longer than the other. The shorter leg grew but it grew too long...so they prayed it back down to size. I know he would die and swear that it happened. Yawn...but I do not believe him, not do I believe people that swear they saw bigfoot, aliens, lockness... Nor do I believe that your friends were miracously healed by eating "whatever you thought was poison ivy" and that experiment contradicts what actual scientists say about the toxin.

 

[hempies]

According to science it works for no one. I have a friend that swears SWEARS that he prayed with a group of people over someone who had 1 leg longer than the other. The shorter leg grew but it grew too long...so they prayed it back down to size. I know he would die and swear that it happened. Yawn...but I do not believe him, not do I believe people that swear they saw bigfoot, aliens, lockness... Nor do I believe that your friends were miracously healed by eating "whatever you thought was poison ivy" and that experiment contradicts what actual scientists say about the toxin.

And electro-shock therapy used to be an acceptable, scientific, approach to treating mental health issues.

There is plenty of evidence that Native Americans had many uses for poison oak, now I'm guessing you don't believe that as well because some 'scientist' didn't witness it or write a paper about it. That's cool....wonder how you feel about the conflicting scientific evidence about climate change? Rhetorical question there, please, no answer needed.

 

[Puckstopper]

OP asked for folk remedies and everyone responds with technu or calamine lotion. Those are not folk remedies.

Anyhow, I personally know 2 people who have done this. I watched them eat PO, not have any adverse reaction, and now they don't get PO. I've known both these people for many years and they were both severly allergic beforehand, now no problems with PO.

Again, your advice is scientifically and medically unsound, not to mention totally foolish. If someone followed this ignorance and died you would have a serious problem, morally if not legally. Try thinking before you speak.

Think about the fact that we have NO proof that Native Americans ate poison ivy/oak/sumac. We have conflicting and anecdotal stories, and almost every piece of information I read that discussed how they MAY have eaten it also mentioned that there was no medical evidence to suggest that doing so is effective. Those same articles also usually discussed the possibility that Native Americans did not have any special immunity, and simply handled those plants with care.

Think about the fact that the established medical science states that what you are advocating is dangerous. I realize that you seem to be a skeptic of modern medicine, but they get it right more than they get it wrong. Unlike the Native American folk lore you cited there are established and proven cases of ingesting poison oak causing harm.

Try thinking about the fact that someone with a severe allergy might follow your ignorant advice and cause themselves significant injury or death.

Sometimes people are WAY to eager to embrace "holistic" solutions, and overlook simply doing what works.

 

[Puckstopper]

Edit: Never mind, I don't need to highlight how foolish your second post is...

 

[knettles]

Do people not use Wikipedia anymore? Also, follow the link for expanded treatment directions including baking soda (one I've always liked).

"Immediate washing with soap and water or rubbing alcohol may help prevent a reaction. During a reaction, Calamine lotion or diphenhydramine may help mitigate symptoms. Corticosteroids, either applied to the skin or taken by mouth, may be appropriate in extreme cases. An astringent containing aluminum acetate (such as Burow's Solution) is also found to provide relief and soothe the uncomfortable symptoms of the rash."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urushiol-induced_contact_dermatitis#Treatments

 

[hempies]

Puckstopper ... Just passing along what I've seen for folk lore PO remedies and answering the OP's actual question. I though I was pretty clear I'd never done it and that I wouldn't do it.

Not skeptical of modern science and/or medicine. I've been saved by it. Ruptured appendix with sepsis and mass internal hemorrhaging.

I can't honestly say that Native Americans who reportedly used PO, especially in the West, to weave baskets out of, create dyes for clothing, and wrap some of their foods in didn't have a 'remedy' or way to 'immunize' themselves. I do accept the anecdotal evidence, as reported by many scholars on the subject, that this did occur and was reported in numerous tribes especially in California.

Perhaps this is better discussed in another thread, but I think there are countless remedies, ingredients (plants), and methods to cure ailments and/or avoid them that modern science either refuses to address and investigate or can't because of lost species and knowledge. Traditional methods are disappearing and with it goes a wealth of information that helped grow and sustain civilizations long before modern medicine was on the scene.

/end thread drift

jewelweed

 

[FarFromPar]

Bleach! Dilute it in water a bit and apply. It burns but it works! I'd rather have a burn than an itch any day. I've tried all kinds of expensive remedies and bleach works better than all of em

Sounds crazy but a bunch of country boys told me the same thing. Pop the blisters and pour a diluted solution of bleach on it. I know typically thats not something you wanna do, but it works. It left temporary discolorment but my skin went back to normal soon. Yes it hurts like hell, but it only lasts a day or two instead of a week or two. Best solution ive ever tried

 

[Jukeshoe]

OP asked for folk remedies and everyone responds with technu or calamine lotion. Those are not folk remedies.

Anyhow, I personally know 2 people who have done this. I watched them eat PO, not have any adverse reaction, and now they don't get PO. I've known both these people for many years and they were both severly allergic beforehand, now no problems with PO.

I've never done this, as stated before....and I wouldn't. I don't really get PO so not a big concern for me.

Funny when I google search 'eating poison oak' I get both of the links you posted puckstopper, but I also see some about Native American uses of PO and their apparent immunity to it. There seems to be a correlation there.

I guess that, like most everything else in life, what works for some doesn't for others.

BTW, mugwort and other plants have been used for many years to treat PO.

Maybe Native American populations evolved to have greater immunity to poison ivy, much like Europeans evolved to have greater immunity to smallpox.

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