I have this growing in my backyard. Does anyone know if this is poison ivy or oak? I kind of think it is poison oak. A couple of months ago my wife had some little blisters come up on her wrist and she didn't know where they came from. Could this be the culprit?
Here's a picture of poison ivy from a university website: Looks pretty close to me. Both poison ivy and poison oak have those distincive three-leaf clusters. I'd wear some heavy protection and rip those little buggers out of the ground.
Okay, serious post. What is it like to have poison ivy/oak? I know it's itchy and all. And how long does it last?
It depends on your level of immunity to it. I have waded through poison oak and never got it. I am almost 100% immune to it, I only had it once... it itches for a while, but eventually it goes away.
OK had not really considered posting this but I guess since this thread is here I will. I have this really odd rash on my legs. It starts right below my ankle and goes to about mid-shin. It does not itch and it is not bumps. It is just splotchy looking kinda like really really red freckles but they arenot real thick. I just noticed it this morning but because it doesn't itch and I usually put socks and shoes on in the semi-darkness I did not notice it and it could have been there for 2-3 days. Anybody have a clue as to what it could be. I am pretty sure it isn't poison ivy because I have never had a reaction to that in the past. I can roll around in it and show no effects(not that I would do that) . I am also reasonably sure it isn't poison oak because it does not itch or feel like anything. Anybody got any clues or know of anywhere I can look it up? CK
I forgot to answer the original question. THe leaves look like oak leaves but I am not positive that it is poison oak. I am reasonably sure that it isn't ive because it doesn't really look like that and I have to get rid of a ton of that every spring in the treeline behind my house.
Thats poison oak...you will be able to tell for sure if it turns red and yellow during the next few months as thats what it does in the fall, but that looks just like poison oak. This is in the fall:
It lasted a couple of weeks on me. When i was in 4th grade or so, I wandered through a whole area of Poison Ivy. And damn did it get me. I had to take Oat Meal Baths. I got this box from the pharmacy that was meant for it. It contained a bunch of litle packets of Some kind of mixture with oat meal. It smelled good. That much i can remember....
Supposedly there is some new stuff you can get at like Eckerds or Walgreen's that is supposed to get rid of poison ivy really fast. I can't remember what it is called though.
Poison Ivy (Rhus toxicodendron), Poison Oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum), and Poison Sumac (Toxicodendron vernix) are all basically the same plant functionally. They all contain an oil called urushiol that is an incredibly sticky and potent irritant. It will still be active in plants that have been dead for 5 years, and when the first thing you should do when you come into contact with it is wash the site thouroughly with soapy water. Otherwise, the oils will basically adhere to your skin and cause rashes. In fact, the oil is so good at sticking around that by the time you get blisters (several days later) and begin to scratch them, the oil which started the whole mess will most likely still be there, and the scratching will cause the oil to spread to other parts of your skin, causing blisters there. SO, again the only way to end the allergic reaction is to remove the urishol from your skin. In the past I've used a topical cortisone cream to treat the symptoms (blisters), though once I had blisters so bad on both of my feet that I couldn't streighten out my feet, at which time I was given a 2 week course of oral corticosteroids. The most notorious reactions come from people who, in the process of clearing brush from a field, have placed poison ivy plants on a bonfire. The oils remain active in the smoke, and these people inhale the smoke, getting blisters in their esophagus and lungs! This can cause your breathing to be cut off. I've also heard of people having their eyes swolen shut. (I'd also it's somewhat difficult to get to get the urishol off of the inside of your lungs or the surface of your eyeballs.)
I look at that stuff and my whole fricken body breaks out. I get it all over. Had my eyes swollen shut once, it sucked. I always end up getting a shot and it goes away in a few days.
