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Misconceptions about poison ivy have led desperate sufferers to adopt some pretty bizarre cures. Here are some tried-and-true home remedies that can be helpful in treating poison ivy rash. But the best way to foil the itch is by minding the old saying, “Leaves of three, let it be.”
Poison ivy has a nasty habit of rewarding those who touch it with 2 or 3 weeks of blistering misery. It is nature’s nasty revenge, but with a little education, you can learn to identify it, prevent it, or treat it with a bit less aggravation.
Identifying a Poison Ivy Plant
Poison ivy’s “leaves of three” are glossy and green but are tinged with pink in the spring and take on a brilliant orange in the autumn.
These leaves sometimes vary in appearance, however. They can be either shiny or dull, and some are lobed or toothed while others are not. Usually, they are shiny when young and turn dull green as a mature plant.
Poison ivy can grow as an erect shrub, a winding vine, or simply along the ground.
It has small, pearl-colored berries. Many birds love these berries, which they use to spread poison ivy seeds around the countryside.
Seedlings of the boxelder tree look similar to poison ivy with three leaves, but they do not have berries and are yellow in the autumn. The leaves of the Virginia creeper also look similar to those of poison ivy, but the Virginia creeper has five leaflets rather than three.
Poison ivy is especially common around fences or along roadways.
What Causes a Poison Ivy Rash?
The “poison” in poison ivy is an oily resin called urushiol (yoo-ROO-she-ol), found in virtually all parts of these poisonous plants. According to the American Academy of Dermatology, approximately 85 percent of the population is sensitive to urushiol, making it one of the most potent allergens on Earth.
The leaves, especially young ones, contain the most toxin.
The oil can remain on tool handles and clothing for as long as a year. Dogs and cats can carry its potency on their fur. This is why you can come down with a rash without seeing poison ivy for months.
Multiple exposures may make people more sensitive to the oily resin urushiol. If you’ve had poison ivy before, be sure to avoid it in the future.
Different people have different sensitivities to poison ivy. The older you get before coming into contact with it, the better: You will have a lower chance of developing an allergy. Only about 15 percent of people are resistant to poison ivy.
Signs of a Poison Ivy Rash
A poison ivy rash will usually occur within 12 to 48 hours of contact with the plant. The area will severely swell, itch, and turn red. Later, blisters will form. The blisters eventually become crusted and take about 10 days to heal.
Red bumps also might form where the blisters will soon appear.
Often, a poison ivy rash appears in a streaked pattern. This mimics the way in which a person has rubbed up against the plant.
Be careful not to confuse poison ivy with “swimmer’s itch.” They might seem similar at the beginning, especially because poison ivy might be in a lakeside or pondside area where you’re swimming. Learn more about swimmer’s itch.
What to Do If You Come Into Contact With Poison Ivy
Fortunately, the oils don’t always go to work immediately, especially on dirty or work-hardened hands. If you come in contact with poison ivy, here’s what to do:
Get to a source of water immediately. If you can clean yourself and your clothes with cold water within 10 minutes of touching the plant, the oil might not be absorbed into your skin.
Washing with soap is helpful within the first 30 minutes after exposure. Do not use soaps containing oils, as they may spread the urushiol further. Scrub under your fingernails!
Wiping affected areas with rubbing alcohol can be effective, too.
Be sure to wash any clothing or gear that comes in contact with poison ivy, as the oil can persist for years. Launder your clothes using old yellow laundry soap or borax to cut the oil (soaps made with fat are ineffective.).
Don’t forget about your pet! They can also touch poison ivy and get the oils on their fur. Put on long rubber gloves and give your pet a bath.
Can a Poison Ivy Rash Spread?
It is a common misconception that touching a body part with a poison ivy rash and then touching another body part causes the rash to spread. The rash might appear on some body parts later than others, but this is only due to a difference in the time it takes for the oil to absorb into the skin.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “poison ivy rash is NOT contagious; blister fluid doesn’t contain urushiol and won’t spread the rash. And you can’t get poison ivy from another person unless you’ve touched urushiol that’s still on that person or their clothing.”
How to Treat Poison Ivy Rash: Home Remedies
The road is littered with herbal and home remedies, many of which reduce swelling and itching. These include the teas and poultices that Native Americans and pioneers traditionally prepared from jewelweed, chamomile, gumweed, goldenseal, and Solomon’s seal.
Today, we consider these the best ways to relieve a poison ivy rash:
Treat mild cases of poison ivy itch with soothing lotions such as calamine, over-the-counter cortisone creams, and saltwater soaks, but severe cases may require prescription cortisone.
Soaking in a cool bath helps relieve poison ivy rash, especially when combined with a baking soda solution.
Another home remedy for poison ivy rashes—as well as most other itches—is a tepid oatmeal bath. Put a cup or two of rolled oats into a piece of cheesecloth or the cut-off leg of an old pair of pantyhose, tie it loosely, and set it under the faucet as you draw a tepid bath. Let the oats soak for a while in the water, periodically squeezing the stocking-bag to release the liquid, As you soak in the tub, rub the bag of oats over your skin like a bar of soap to increase the soothing effect.
Try not to scratch! Excessive scratching of blisters can cause infections. Try to ease the itch or simply find a distraction so as not to make your rash even worse. Wash broken blisters lightly and cover them with a bandage to prevent further itching and infection.
Home Remedies That Do NOT Work
Many past home remedies include futile treatments concocted by desperate souls that may have caused more harm than help: bathing in horse urine, scrubbing with kerosene or gunpowder, and soaking in strychnine, bleach, or ammonia. Contemporary sufferers have been known to apply hair spray, deodorant, and fingernail polish to poison ivy and poison oak rashes in hopes of suffocating the itch. Needless to say, do NOT try any of these “solutions.”
Poison Ivy Rash Prevention
Avoiding a rash is easiest when one or more preventative techniques are used!
Wear long sleeves and gloves when in poison ivy–infested areas.
If you know that you’ll be around poison ivy, consider applying a barrier cream that will act as a layer of protection between your skin and the oils that cause the rash. One barrier cream called IvyBlock, which contains a substance called quaternion-18 bentonite that bonds with the urushiol, claims to be effective 68 percent of the time if applied before any contact with poison ivy.
Try to stay on cleared paths; don’t tromp off the path. If you are camping, camp in a cleared area, not in the middle of brush.
Wash any clothes or equipment if you have been walking in a wooded area with low shrubs.
Eradicating poison ivy is probably the best way to remain itch-free. The plants can be pulled, but broken-off rootlets may sprout again the next year. The plants can be destroyed by covering them with black plastic. Even the environmentally conscious usually resort to chemicals; plant and garden stores carry a number of commercial products. But beware—even dead plants are infectious. Read more about getting rid of poison ivy (and a few other noxious weeds).
Do NOT burn the plants! Because urushiol molecules are carried in smoke, it is never safe to burn poison ivy (or poison oak).
Perhaps someday, plant scientists will develop a non-poisonous variety. Rumor has it that they have already crossed poison ivy with four-leaf clovers, hoping to get a rash of good luck (sorry, we couldn’t resist!).
What is your favorite way to treat poison ivy rashes?
George and Becky Lohmiller shared their gardening knowledge and enthusiasm with Almanac readers for more than 15 years, writing Farmer’s Calendar essays and gardening articles in previous editions of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Read More from George and Becky Lohmiller
This might blow some away, but it WORKS!! My son who is now 45 would get poison ivy every year as a child and I mean every year. It would spread so quickly on him. Between lotions, DR, visits. etc. I was totally exhausted. One evening I had stopped with a friend at a farmer's house to pick up a tool he needed. As I sat in the kitchen with the farmer's wife, chatting about different things, poison ivy being one. She mentioned to me that all I needed to do was get some dandelion leaves and put them in water, bring them to a boil for about 5-10 minutes, let simmer and put in a jar. the water would be a pale green in color after boiling. Needless to say, I was desperate. I did exactly what she had said, and when the poison came back, I got a mason jar out, (with this MIRACLE remedy) dabbed a cotton ball in the solution and it worked not only did it stop the rash from itching, but it also cleared it up in a few days if I recall right. I have shared this with so many through the years and have never once heard it didn't work. I continued to have it on hand, and it was a blessing to have around the house, especially in the summer.
After eliminating the poisonous oil, massage caster oil with a few drops of lavender oil into afflicted areas. This helps calm it down. And take an oral anti-inflammatory like ibuprofen or Alieve (naproxen) for inflammation.
It does not take away the rash but it calms it down better than calamin
I am extremely allergic to Poison ivy and have tried just about all remedies. I have had blisters the size of quarters all over my legs and other parts of my body, groin being the worst. I have found that using talcum (baby) powder to dry the oils developed by the rash. As most remedies use water as a base and has tendency to spread further. I have slept with socks over my hands when sleeping to reduce unconsciously scratching. I have been able to cut down the length of rash. I always carry talcum powder when I travel and is my remedy.
I can tell you FIRSR HAND! That clear nail polish works as good if not better than anything and I mean ANYTHING out there on the market for itch, spread and wiping out the effected area (s) as silly as it sounds the best I can figure is it starves it for oxygen smothering the virus. It’s usually gone in about a couple days.
1 apply to rash, I’ll
2 add more polish if it starts to itch later
3 don’t scratch just add more polish
4 watch it go away in a few days
You will see a change in about a day or two
5 min, in so far this works better than OTC. Relief to 60ish percent of treated area. One still needs to focus on not scratching, so part of my relief is likely due to my positive belief. Still, I need to try the Indigenous remedies. Thank you.
For all of these English majors who like to edit, please do so on another blog/article!!! Some of us know the reality of poison ivy itch and like the ideas to relieve the scratchy itch or itchy scratch! Go to other sites to show how much you know! I'm a little edgy because I am itching a poison ivy itch and trying not to take a steroid to ditch the itch. Please be kind. I won't respond to your comments 😊
What will work is hand sanitizer applied to the itch as soon as it starts and as often as needed. This also works on redbug bites (Chiggers) and it will kill the bugs and help with the itch. You need to re-apply but it will work and does not look bad on your skin when you go out in public. It will also help prevent infection if you do forget and scratch it.