As soon as urushiol touches the skin, it begins to penetrate and is completely bound within eight hours. Woe to the poor gentleman who walks through poison ivy, gets urushiol all over his shoelaces and stops to tie his shoes-and then decides to go to the bathroom. Picking up somebody else’s gardening gloves who has been working in poison ivy can get you a rash. For example, urushiol is oftentimes transferred from pets: Your dog walks through poison ivy, gets urushiol on its fur, you pet the dog, you get poison ivy. Urushiol can transfer from the plant to something that a person then touches.
Most of the time when people come into contact with poison ivy, oak or sumac, they simply brush up against the plant, the urushiol gets on their skin, and a few days later they notice themselves scratching a rash unfortunately, this isn’t the only way urushiol spreads from person to person. Poison sumac tends to be more concentrated in the southeastern United States but can be found in the northeast part of the country as well as around the Great Lakes areas. In the Midwest, it’s fairly unlikely you’ll run into the oak or sumac poison oak’s growing distribution is in the western United States, and it really isn’t found east of the Rocky Mountains. If you are curious about the offending ivy, oak or sumac, pay attention to where in North America you are.
#POISON IVY VINE HOW TO#
Each of these three plants all make urushiol, and it’s the urushiol that makes you miserable. In the interest of keeping you not miserable, here are some common things to know about poison ivy and how to treat it if you’re unlucky enough to come across some.
But here’s the thing-it doesn’t really matter. Poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans and toxicodendron rydbergii), poison oak ( Toxicodendron diversilobum and toxicodendron pubescens), and poison sumac ( toxicodendron vernix) plants all produce urushiol you won’t be able to differentiate the specific plant you brushed up against by the rash it produces. Urushiol is present in the toxicodendron family of plants and is found on the leaves, in the stems, the roots and even the berries of the plants. This is the oil that elicits the scratchy rash that those of us who’ve come to know and hate the Devil Plant remember so well.
That being said, it’s important to know the misconceptions about the plant and how to keep yourself safe from it this summer and year round.įirst and foremost, you need to know that the “stuff” that makes a poison ivy plant so miserable is called urushiol. But as far as summertime problems go, a bad case of poison ivy tops my list-behind a horrible sunburn and chigger bites. I don’t want to overstate this, but poison ivy is the worst thing growing on Planet Earth. College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgeryĭon’t let poison ivy ruin your summer-learn how to identify, treat and avoid it all year round.Ask your doctor before using on children under the age of 6. Apply it 15 minutes before possible exposure to the plant, and then every 4 hours afterward.
#POISON IVY VINE SKIN#
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