Poision Oak - Help!!!

[D. Key]

I was out last week trimming a few shooting lanes and apparently I got into some Poision Oak.  It is all on the inside of my right arm at the bend of the elbow and itches like crazy.  I have put some OTC cream on but it doesn't seem to be drying it up. Does anyone have an OTC recommendation?  This stuff is wicked...

Thanks.

[Fishnhunt]

I hunt the trinity riverbottom alot and got into some p. oak 2 years ago very bad.  The only thing OTC that I have found is rubbing alcohol and mineral spirits, applied to the site, and then washed off, seems to have a mitigating effect.  (first alcohol then the spirits). That has worked for me if I could catch it w/in a few hours of getting into it.

If you are a few days out, then there is some white or clear cream you can get by prescription that helped me somewhat (fluocinide or something like that).  But as you already know, after it sets in....its really just a hellish
experience.  Good luck.

I have also used Technu, which is mineral spirits + other stuff.  It can be helpful if you catch the oak in time.  But, again, once you are already infected I think you need to get the prescription stuff and ready yourself for 2 weeks of treachery.

[Bowmania]

There's some otc soap you can use, but it has to be shortly after you got into it.  I keep some in my shaving kit.

Bowmania

[Ric O'Shay]

Doug -
Don't mess with OTC stuff. Go to your doctor and get a prescription for steroidal creme. Fluocinonide 0.05% works well for me. Use it two to four times a day. It will stop the itching and dry up the affected area. You will still be looking at three or four days to heal.

The best thing is to prevent it in the first place. Try to find a pharmacy that will/can mix a compound for you (most chains CVS, Walgreen's, etc. can't). Rhus Tox Tr 16.7% will prevent poison ivy. 15 drops in 6 oz. of water once a week for at least four weeks will build a tolerance/resistance for the nasty weed. Hope this helps.

Danny

[broketooth]

i had to take prednizone to get rid of the crap. by prescription only. its a mild steroid, it will get rid of the stuff in five days or less, ruddy

[Eugene Slagle]

I agree with the Fluocinonide 0.05% cream, that stuff works really well for me.

In my younger days I would catch it & scrub it with 91% rubbing alcohol & a scratch pad then flash it with alcohol again, pat dry & cover with O/C cortizone liquid or something of the like but as I'm getting older I seem to need to stronger stuff so I just see the doc when I get an outbreak of it.

[Northwoods]

for an OTC recommendation, try zanfel.

[Doc Nock]

There used to be a product on the market called IVY DRY. It was what we locally called "sugar of lead". I don't know what it really was...

It came with a popsicle stick.  Wash in hot soap and water...then keep turning up the heat on the hot water..till you can't stand it...the hotter it got, the more it itched...then the instructions told you to take the popsicle stick and scratch it all open!

 :eek:      (loved that part the best!)

Then you'd wash with soap and water again,..pat dry and then use the Ivy Dry material. It made your skin tight and sugary looking...but it dried it up pretty quick...and that scalding and then scratchin with a stick...that was the best!  

[Terry Green]

I don't play....I go to the doc and get a shot ASAP.  No sense in suffering at all with that stuff when a shot will knock it out.

[rnharris]

yep the shot and daily steroids taken orally are the only way i have found to get rid of it but it takes several days  

[shawnee]

On the same lines as the Ivy Dri, plain old laundry bleach will do the same thing, if you can stand the burn for a few seconds.  Scratch the blisters til they are open, then use a rag or paper towel to rub bleach on the affected area.  Burns like the dickens, but will dry it up, usually in less than a day.

[Kenneth]

http://www.technuextreme.com/     this stuff is kinda expensive but works great!  A Dr. in CA recommended it to me after I went to see him 4 times to get a shot.  If I get it bad like on my face or a lot of it on my body then I get the shot and the oral steroids.

[D. Key]

Kenneth:
Technuextreme is the OTC I have been using.  Just doesn't seem to be taking care of it.

Terry:
I think I will go your route.  I've had the shot before and it really is effective.  Hurts like the Dickens for a bit but really works.

Thanks for all of the input.

[lodestar]

Dawn dish soap. Next time you know you got yerself into that stuff or poison ivy... Works like a charm! Allso works after the fact to dry the stuff up.

[Archer Fanatic]

I use lye soap and it will dry it right up for me.

[LeverActionman]

I am really lucky I guess I got poison so bad when I was young that I am immune now.I have not had poison for 25 years now(knock on wood) but when I had it so bad I remember my grandmother putting me in a bath of oatmeal.Really seemed to dry it up real fast.

[Bill Turner]

Hay guys/gals pay attention to what Ric O'Shay had to say regarding Rhus Tox TR. This was mentioned in TBM last year. I've used it with great success.  One small bottle used in the fall, and I had enough left over to use it again in the spring. It worked like a charm. I'll be buying another bottle soon. "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure." Good luck.

[Burnsie]

Can a person be immune or more tolerant of poison ivy/oak than others.  I know I have been in the stuff big time and have never had an issue,  while guys in the same stuff got it bad.  I know certain people can be super sensitive to it. They can get it their throat and nose if they just happen to be down wind from it at the right time of year.  I guess it makes sense that if people can be hyper sensative, others could be immune.

[ch1ch2]

I have had it a few times.  I now spray WD 40 on any area that turns red or itches.
It is the oil base in the plant that causes the reaction.  WD 40 breaks down the oil.

[Hoyt]

I guess I must be immune to it too..never had poison oak or ivy and I'm in it all the time. I still take precautions and try not to get the juice on me when cutting the vines..etc.