I HATE this EVIL weed!!

[oldred]

Yesterday while spraying my apple trees I stooped over and pulled a clump of grass from around the base of one of the trees using my left hand, this morning my entire hand is swollen and my fingers are swollen so badly I can't bend them. I suspected the problem was the grass clump so I went out to look around the tree and sure enough I spotted small sprouts of the evilest weed on Earth -POISON IVY!!!! I HATE this stuff and it obviously hates me! I am so susceptible to the stuff I am almost afraid to type the words poison ivy and this puffy swollen and extremely itchy hand is the reason why. Anyone else have this much problem with this diabolical scourge of the plant world?

[mattw]

My father did, he always said that all he had to do was to look at it funny and it attacked him. I do not know of a place he had not had poison ivy, when he got it... it just went wild. Mouth, eye lids, ears and places one does not want to itch all the time. Would not go away without a trip to the doc. Me, on the other hand... I have never had it, can pull it, burn it, climb through it and I have never been affected.

[FISH4BUGS]

".....leaves of three....leave them be".........as my grandma always said.

[buckwheatpaul]

Go to your doctor and get a steroid shot and the swelling will go down....our brother in law was a K-9 officer for years and when he ran a trail he always came down with it.....the shot was his salvation....good luck brother.....Paul

[Winger Ed.]

I feel your pain.

I can look at a picture of the stuff and start to itch.

[Bookworm]

I've never been afflicted, but I'm still cautious around the stuff.

I spray killer on whatever I find around the property here, and never intentionally walk in it or touch it.

[farmerjim]

When I was young(60 years ago) I was highly allergic to it. I would get it so bad that my eyes would swell shut. I took a series of desensitization shots and then another series of pills. I can now walk through it mow and bush hog it without any problem. If I get the juice from the plant on me I will get a small spot of it. My dermatologist told me they have taken this off the market because it does not work for most people. If you know you have touched it wash the area with Clorox water. The part of the juice that gets you is a protein and the Clorox will break it down. It will break down your skin too, so wash it off after you rub down with it. If you get it, do what buckwheatpaul says and get a steroid shot, they work overnight.

Triclopyr (Remidy) will kill it to the roots.

[MrWolf]

I used to be able to lay in it with no issues. Moved to South Jersey and got it. I used a rougher wash cloth and scrubbed the areas. Seemed to help me along with creams, etc. Good luck

[truckjohn]

There are a couple poison ivy skin products on the market - but you have to get them on QUICK for them to be any use... The names I remember are Tecnu and Zanfel. Both are wash products designed to get the stuff off your skin.

For me - I wear rubber nitrile gloves when working around the stuff....

[cwlongshot]

Tree guys know this stuff

Search a product called tecnu

Its awesome stuff!!

Sorry to read. I dont think that this stuff does a whole lot after the fact. But as preventative after handling the stuff. Its very good!

CW

[nagantguy]

I hate it as well; get near it and I’ve got it, can’t stand the stuff.

[Froogal]

If it even LOOKS like poison ivy, it takes a bath in glyphosate.

[snuffy]

I had terrible problems with it back in the 60's. I'd get it even though I had tried diligently to stay out of patches of it. My dog would run through it, the oil would get on his coat, I'd get it from there.

What worked for me was sold without a prescription, OTC,.IF you'd follow the instructions EXACTLY, it did work. Now maybe the instructions have changed. Then, you'd take a rough washcloth and use whatever soap you'd use when taking a bath, scrub the affected area and around that site vigorously with that washcloth. It was wonderful to do that because we were always told NOT to scratch it.

The idea was to break open the blisters while using the soap to wash away the oil that's inside the blisters. That's how it spreads. The ivy dry then is slathered on those open blisters. This will sting quite a bit! Once that stinging is over, the itch is pretty much gone, and it lasts for up to 6 hours. Doing this for a couple-three days, it starts to heal up.

One time my mom took we to our old-time Dr. because those treatments made a mess of the bathroom. He gave me some sort of shot that cleared it up right away. Might have been a steroid, don't know if there was steroids back in the sixties.

[Kenstone]

I've never been afflicted, but I'm still cautious around the stuff.

I spray killer on whatever I find around the property here, and never intentionally walk in it or touch it.

… and don't put the dead stuff in your burn pile
don't ask,

[762 shooter]

I feel your pain.

I work in the woods every day and usually keep a spot or two somewhere on me the whole summer.

762

[Bazoo]

I'm only mildly allergic to it thankfully. If I get it, it don't itch bad, and only makes a few watery bumps, and don't spread rampantly. I often will have some and not realize it till the wife points out a few bumps.

Funny story, the wife was setting out in the yard with her dog. Believe she was on a blanket but can't remember for sure. I came out and seen her, said "you're setting in a patch of poison ivy". She said no, there was some fore and aft but none exactly where she was. I smirked. So her dog was laying in it and eating grass and got a leaf, then licked her. She got poison ivy on her face. I continued to smirk. Ha

[bob208]

used to be if I was down wind I got it. I was old enough to join the scouts. mon took me in and I got a series of shots. I have not had a case of it since even when I pull the vines off the house and barn.

[Winger Ed.]

I continued to smirk. Ha

Don't get caught doing that...………..

[CastingFool]

As much as I know about plants, and as often as I'm in the woods, I wouldn't recognize it if I see it. Never been affected by it, even after rubbing my hands on what I was told was poison ivy. I know the saying about leaves of three leave it, but I still wouldn't recognize it

[MaryB]

I am immune, same for stinging nettle. I can pull the stuff bare handed and no issues... although I generally wear gloves because of the bumper crop of thistles... dang thistle spines drive me nuts when I get one under the skin.