Safety: It’s Time To Prevent Poison Ivy

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It’s Time To Prevent Poison Ivy

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Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.
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While you are out for a hike in the woods, your skin suddenly becomes itchy and a red, raised rash complete with blisters erupts on your skin.
Guess what? You’ve got a case of poison ivy (or poison oak or poison sumac.) No matter what the plant, the symptoms are the same. Poison ivy, oak and sumac are poisonous plants that are found throughout the South and other parts of the United States.

Poison ivy allergic reaction is a common affliction during the summer months, said Mel Lee, M.D., medical director of Baptist Minor Medical Centers. The clinics see at least one or two cases each day during the summer.

About 60-80 percent of people are sensitive to the resin present in the roots, stems, leaves and fruit of these plants, according to the National Park Service. You don’t have to touch the plant directly to be exposed. People can come in contact with the resin by touching resin-exposed clothing, pets or from the smoke of burning plants. The rash itself is not contagious, and the fluid in the blisters does not spread the rash.

Not everyone will have a reaction to these plants, but if the person is susceptible typically symptoms will appear within minutes of exposure or at least within 72 hours.

Treatment
If you suspect you have been come in contact with one of these plants, wash your skin with soap and water, preferably within minutes. Shed clothing and launder clothes immediately, because the resin can linger. Take an antihistamine to treat itching and spread topical steroid cream on your skin.

Often this treatment will be enough, but if the rash and discomfort don’t go away, you should seek medical attention. The rash can last as long as two to three weeks.

Do not cover the rash with a bandage. That can actually make things worse by preventing the rash from degrading and clearing on its own.

Prevention
The best way to deal with poison ivy is to prevent exposure altogether. Learn to recognize the plants and avoid them.

The National Park Service provides these descriptions of poisonous plants:

Poison ivy
It grows as a small shrub or vine trailing along the ground or climbing on low plants, trees and poles. The leaves are alternate with three pointed and glossy leaflets. The edges of the leaflets may be smooth or toothed, but they are rarely lobed. They are reddish when they first emerge in the spring, are green during the summer and are various shades of yellow, orange, red or bronze in the autumn. They can produce greenish-white flowers and whitish-yellow fruit in hanging clusters. It is most common in edges of woods, flood plains, lake shores, stream banks, along fences and around buildings.

Poison oak
It is similar to poison ivy, except its three leaflets are lobed or deeply toothed with rounded tips. In the east, it is mostly restricted to sandy soil, dry barrens, sand hills and oak-pine or pine woods.

Poison sumac
It is a tall shrub or small tree with alternate leaves with 7-11 leaflets arranged in pairs, and an additional single leaflet at the end of the midrib. It can produce yellowish green flowers and whitish green fruits that hang in loose clusters. Poison sumac grows in standing water in bogs, swamps and river bottoms.

If you are going to be in areas that commonly have one of these plants, wear long sleeves, long pants and gloves.

“You really need to be covered head to foot and remember not to touch your face. All you have to do is to touch one part of your skin,” Dr. Lee said.

Published: June 16, 2005
Source: Sources: Mel Lee, M.D., medical director of Baptist Minor Medical Centers; National Park Service; American Academy of Dermatology
Writer: Elizabeth Todd Bartholomew, MA, APR

Baptist Minor Medical Centers provide a combination of urgent care, workers' compensation and a broad range of occupational health and preventive services, as well as fast, convenient care for minor illnesses and non-critical injuries such as sprains, cuts, insect bites, burns and rashes.

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