Poison Ivy Rash - Causes and Symptoms

Upon coming into contact with your skin, the effects of poison ivy occur as quickly as 4 hours, or as slowly as a few days. The most well-known and prominent effect of poison ivy is the intense rash that it causes to areas that have come into contact with the plant. 

Poison Ivy Rash Causes:

• Redness 

• Itching 

• Blisters

And lasts for weeks at a time. In more severe cases, you can develop a fever, which can cause other associated health complications. These symptoms primarily affect primates like humans, but your other pets can still carry the toxic oils from the plant on their bodies, and there is no guarantee that the poison will not affect them.

Poison Ivy - Dangerous to all Pets and Humans

Poison Ivy is a flowering vine that is found throughout most of North America, all the way from Mexico to some Canadian provinces. There are other similar species of plant in other parts of the world, but the details of the Tox-icodendron radicans plant are similar enough that they should be of help with foreign varieties as well. Poison Ivy is somewhat difficult to identify at a glance for the average person, given that it primarily appears as innocuous green leaves that could be mistaken for many other plants; however, the easy way to decide whether or not you ought to stay away from a plant you believe to be Poison Ivy is to count the number of leaves growing from the stem. If there are three leaves growing out in one group, it could very well be Poison Ivy, so it's best to stay away from it. From the leaves to the stem to the roots, pretty much every part of the Poison Ivy plant is toxic.

Natural Treatment for Poison Ivy Rash 

Poison Ivy rash is a form of dermatitis, which simply means an irritation of the skin, but believe me, there is nothing simple about it, life is simply miserable if you ever get it.

Up to 85% of Americans are allergic to poison ivy and if you are allergic to poison ivy, then you are allergic to poison oak and poison sumac because they all contain Urush-iol. Urushiol (pronounced Yoo-Roo-shee-all) is a plant oil. Since you are allergic to this plant oil, you may also be allergic to other plant oils as well. Urushiol quickly penetrates the skin and will show up within 24 to 72 hours.

People that are sensitive to these three plants may have different degrees of reaction to them from mild to severe, or they may not have a reaction at all the first time they are exposed, some find they are less sensitive as they become adults and some may find they lose their sensitivity to it altogether.

There are several ways you can make contact with this oil and not even realize you did. You can touch the planet by walking by it or you can touch other objects that have come in contact with it. You may have brushed up against it and it got on your jeans, shoes, shirt or your pet got into it. There are many ways it could have gotten onto the surface of something else and then you touched it. This can also go airborne from burning the plants when they are attached or intertwined with logs, this releases particles of the Urushiol into the air and that can penetrate the skin, your nose, eye, throat and even go into your respiratory system. If you do get it in your nose, eyes, throat or respiratory system,do go to the doctor for those.

It really doesn't matter which plant you are exposed to, they all fall into the plant species Toxicodendron Dermati-tis. There are actually four poisonous plants in this group. They are poison ivy, poison eastern oak, poison western oak and poison sumac and the skin reaction and the treatments are essentially the same.

You will know when you have gotten into one of these when the symptoms start up. You will notice red streaks and patches, and the itch will drive you crazy. You will have a rash and swelling and the blisters will leak fluid, it will crust over due to the fluid and have a burning sensa-tion.

If you are an outdoors person, you need to learn about the Jewelweed plant, it has been used for centuries by the American Natives and herbalists, as a natural treatment for poison ivy, oak and sumac along with other plants that cause rashes or burning sensations like stinging nettle.

You can't mistake Jewelweed, it is a smooth annual that gets about 3 to 5 feet tall and its leaves are oval and toothed with the leaves growing alternately. The orange flower is trumpet shaped and the orange flower hangs like a jewel off of a necklace, hence the name Jewelweed. There are two colors, the other is a pale yellow flower that is not potent like the orange. Jewelweed also goes by the name touch - me - not, due to the fact that if you touch the flower the seeds will pop out.

Jewelweed blooms April through October, depending on the region you live in. You can usually find it growing near poison ivy or stinging nettle and it often grows on the edge of creek beds. It likes moist woods. Jewel-weed grows abundantly in the wild and is easy to identify.

Jewelweed is known for its skin healing properties.

Herbalist uses the leaves and the juice from the stems as treatment for these rashes that have been made into salves and poultices for many generations and it has also been used on cuts, burns, bruises, sores, insect bites, ringworm's and even wort.

You should always use the orange. Jewelweed, the pale yellow is not as potent and you won't get the same results. If you are out and you get into any of these, including stinging nettle, you can cut a stem and get the juice and put it where the skin has been infected with the oil. This will usually prevent a breakout for most people.

When you get ready to make your remedy out of the jewel-weed, you can just cut a good bunch and take it home with you. There are a few different ways of making your remedy.

Jewelweed Tea; (Not to drink)

Get a nice handful of Jewelweed and chop it up where it will fit in your pot, fill the pot with water (distilled water is best) and boil until you get a dark orange liquid. Strain the liquid off and let it cool, fill ice trays with the liquid and freeze, remove from trays and put the cubes in a freezer bag, mark it with Jewelweed. This will last you all year until the next season. When you have a skin rash, burn or cut you can take out a cube and run over it with the Jewelweed cube, you will be amazed how it helps to heal.

Jewelweed Soap

You can make the Jewelweed soap by taking one cup of the strong Jewelweed tea, heat it up in a double boiler, make sure the Jewelweed tea is boiling hot, and (you need to reduce the liquid by half before you do the next step).

Remove it from the stove and add two cups of glycerin soap base to it and mix both of these together until well blended. The rule of thumb for making this Jewelweed soap is to have one part Jewelweed tea to three part soap base. Pour this mixture into a soap mold, let it cool and store it.

You can always take a piece of this soap on your adventure in the woods and if you do get into it you can rinse off with it, or when you get home from being in the world you can bath with it.

Jewelweed Salve

Jewelweed salve is great for insect bits as well as the list above. This one takes a little longer to prepare but is great to have on hand.

Gather your Jewelweed stems and chop them up and bruise them (hit them with something to break the outer skin). You will need enough for a quart jar (This will make a lot, so if you want less, use less. Fill the jar with the ​​stems, pour olive oil over the stems to cover them, place lid on jar and put in a window sill if you have one that gets light and out of the little hands away, if not just place it on your counter top out of your way. This will sit for four weeks, shake it once a day so the oil will move around.

After the four weeks, strain the oil off and discard the stems. (You will need to use an old pot for this because it is a pain trying to get the wax out). Pour the oil into the pan and put it on a low simmer, the lowest you can get, when the oil is warm start adding beeswax, depending on how much oil vou have will determine the wax that is needed.

You can start adding and test it as you go by placing a small amount in the fridge and let it cool. When it gets to the salve consistency you have enough. I usually make one quart, by the time I drain it off I will add ¼ cup of bees wax. Place in the container you like and it will be ready to use when it cools. (You can also add essential oils if you like)

If you already have one of these poisons and have developed a bad rash, you can get the stem of the Jewelweed and slice it down the center to get to the juice and rub the area with the stem until it lightly bleeds, it will dry out and scab over and start to heal, then you can use your cubes or other concoctions of your choosing.

This was a natural treatment for Poison Ivy, Poison Oak and Poison Sumac.

Poison Oak 

When you are looking for poison oak stay with the saying, leaves of three-leave it be. With poison oak there are three leaves attached to each node on the stem, the leaves have lobes on the edge of the leaf (indents) and they can curve in at different degrees.

The top of the leaf has a glossy sheen to it and the bottom has a velvety look and are usually around six inches long.

These leaves change color, they will be bright green in the spring, yellowish green in the summer and yellow in the autumn and then turn dark brown. You can also identify these oaks by the yellowish green flowers they produce all spring and will also have greenish white berries in late spring. Poison oak is a shrub and usually won't get over three feet tall.

Poison Sumac

Poison sumac grows in very wet or flooded soil, usually in swampy type soil. Its leaves usually consist of 7-13 leaflets and the stem they grow from is red and it grows as a shrub, or a tree and can get up to twenty feet tall. When the tree is large the branches usually sag downward but, when they are small the branches will stand upward and grow the height of the trunk.

Always look for double rows of leaves on each stem that taper to a fine point at the end and are oblong in shape.

The leaves change colors during the year with the new spring color being orange and turns a light green in the spring and summer and turn red in the autumn. Never burn wood that has been collected near poison sumac, inhaling the smoke can be deadly.

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