# Poison ivy spotting



## Edd (Jun 10, 2018)

Article I just read with some basic info and some small hope for future treatments.

https://www.npr.org/sections/health...-spotting-poison-ivy-before-it-ruins-your-sum

I’ve had it twice, once from hiking in Sequoia National Park in CA and another time after my vehicle broke down off of 495 in Mass. Both were awful for me so I’m keenly interested in not catching again. Since the CA incident, I’ve never hiked in shorts again, nor will I. 

The article states that the “leaves of 3” thing still holds true but I see shit like that all the time so I’m not confident in spotting it. It amazes me that we don’t have a stronger handle on treating cases after catching it.


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## deadheadskier (Jun 10, 2018)

I got it so many times as a kid, I'm beginning to think I've become immune to it.  It's been probably 20 years since I last got it.  My childhood experiences with it were pretty awful.  A few times resulted in having to go on a steroid treatment as my eyes became swollen shut.

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## Not Sure (Jun 10, 2018)

Edd said:


> Article I just read with some basic info and some small hope for future treatments.
> 
> https://www.npr.org/sections/health...-spotting-poison-ivy-before-it-ruins-your-sum
> 
> ...



We eat the stuff in Pa. ....Its everywhere . Seriously people have different sensitivities. As a kid in a new house with parents that were clueless they pulled it off the trees and burned it . I had it everywhere, on one eye , it was a horrible week for me but one thing that helps is swim  a heavily  chlorinated pool . 

I have tons of it on my property and rarely get it any more . My neighbor gets it from a distance . A couple years ago I cut a few trees down and the wind happened to be blowing toward her house 200' away . She had a moderate outbreak without even touching it. 

We also have poison Sumac ..looks like a small walnut tree.


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## machski (Jun 17, 2018)

Yeah, both my wife and brother are hyper allergic to it but I never get it.  So bad fory wife, she'll get it from our pets after they contact it.

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## bdfreetuna (Jun 18, 2018)

Interesting article, I'm glad they showed some varieties. Poison Ivy is really an interesting plant in all it's phenotypes and adaptations.

Never have caught it even after inadvertently rolling around in it as a kid. Not trying to test that theory but so far so good.

Really interesting plant though, to be honest I think the classification system is incorrect and there are at least a 2-3 sub-species. Poison Oak should also be a sub-species, it's hardly distinct from the shrubbier phenotypes of Poison Ivy itself. Poison Sumac isn't a true Sumac and basically another shrubby kind of Poison Ivy except with more leaves.

I've also seen *plenty* of 5 leaf poison ivy. While the 3 leaf thing is a good starting point, this plant is really closer to something like Marijuana where the number of leaves and shape of the leaves can greatly vary (within limits).

edit: should have specified the 5 leaf variety come in 2 types... one is regular poison Ivy with an extra pair of leaves down the stem. The second is 5 leaves coming out of the same axis, which is known as Virginia Creeper at least in our part of the country, but can have similar itchy/rash effects as Poison Ivy. 

IMO all adaptive/phenotypical varieties of the same thing and take caution with certain 5 leaf look-alikes.


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## Not Sure (Jun 21, 2018)

http://www.rethinkingcancer.org/resources/magazine-articles/5_1-2/poison-ivy-research.php

With a lot of focus on biological treatments these days to stimulate a patients own immune system to deal with cancer I was wondering if there were some research in this area ....Promising ?


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## SkiFanE (Jun 26, 2018)

My son has some now on his legs. He has had it probably 5 times. Took him to doctors twice for it. Once I swear he had some deadly herpes or something - it was awful looking.  I had it tons as a kid too - so you'd think I'd recognize it. I worked with my dad construction since I was young and in middle school he sent time to yard of house he was building to clear near a stone wall. I'm doing as told - he looks out window and screams at me to stop. I was ripping out poison ivy bare handed. Still remember puss covered arms for track and field day - my fave day of year lol. 

I get pissed by my neighbors and others that don't take it seriously. Twice my sons friends mother took him on same hike and both times he got it. I told her after first time to stay away from that path - but no....  like she can keep 8yo boys on a path lol.  

Mt biking trails I use a lot have some spots of it. I just hope I don't fall in it. 

Also - for ID besides 3 leaves it has a shinier and thicker look than most leaves. That's what usually catches my eye.


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## Glenn (Jun 27, 2018)

Stuff is nasty. I got it a lot as a kid. I got it on my face a few times and they'd give me oral steroids to hep with the swelling. Had a different variety last summer when I was cutting down a tree. I was covered up head to toe with my cutting gear...but stupidly wore a t-shirt. 

Nights are the worst. When I had it last year, it would wake me up at about 2-3AM with that itchiness. 

I'll still get small bits of it when running the string trimmer now and again. It doesn't take much. I swear, I just have to be near it.


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## Not Sure (Jun 28, 2018)

Poison ivy isn’t as shiny as posion oak , poision oak leaves are also a bit more rounded. Immature posion ivy is very dull and hard to distinguish from other weeds.


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## Edd (Jun 28, 2018)

My concern is that both times I’ve gotten hit, I didn’t know it until a couple of days later.  For all I know it wasn’t poison ivy, but something else. I’ve proven to be inept at spotting it. 


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## Not Sure (Jun 28, 2018)

Edd said:


> My concern is that both times I’ve gotten hit, I didn’t know it until a couple of days later.  For all I know it wasn’t poison ivy, but something else. I’ve proven to be inept at spotting it.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone



I went on a field trip when I was in the 6th grade ,I can  remember my science teacher telling the kids to rub Jewel weed on themselves to prevent poison ivy . I always thought he was pranking us , It was funny watching 40 kids rip Jewel weed apart and rub it on their legs and arms . Apparently there is a folk remedy but it doesn't work .

https://www.wemjournal.org/article/S0953-9859(91)70066-1/pdf

Maybe some type of lotion before you go hiking might work?


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## Harvey (Jun 28, 2018)

deadheadskier said:


> I got it so many times as a kid, I'm beginning to think I've become immune to it.



This is definitely true for me. If I get into it, I barely get it and even washing with regular soap prevents it all together.


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## Not Sure (Jun 30, 2018)

Forgot about these guys , a friend was trimming some shrubs in his back yard a brushed his cheek by accident


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## Glenn (Jul 3, 2018)

Siliconebobsquarepants said:


> View attachment 23933
> 
> Forgot about these guys , a friend was trimming some shrubs in his back yard a brushed his cheek by accident



I bumped into a Saddle Back once. It was way more of a burning sensation vs poison ivy.


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## Not Sure (Jul 11, 2018)

Trying to figure out how my neighbor got it when I cut some trees down . If this video is accurate it doesn't become airborne.  Thinking their dogs got into some and brought it home ?


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## Edd (Jul 13, 2018)

Siliconebobsquarepants said:


> Trying to figure out how my neighbor got it when I cut some trees down . If this video is accurate it doesn't become airborne.  Thinking their dogs got into some and brought it home ?



That was very interesting assuming he’s correct.


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## Edd (Jul 14, 2018)

Here’s another toxic plant I know nothing about but it’s found here in New England.

https://www.bustle.com/p/giant-hogw...nvasive-species-heres-how-to-avoid-it-9764667


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## jimk (Jul 16, 2018)

Beware of Giant Hogweed:  http://www.news9.com/story/38647348/giant-hogweed-sends-virginia-teen-to-hospital-burn-unit
Don't I've ever encountered it, but form, if not size, it looks like a lot of other stuff.


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## gladerider (Jul 20, 2018)

Edd said:


> That was very interesting assuming he’s correct.



i got it a few years ago after a bike ride. i tried everything. the best method for the itchness was baking powder and vinegar. 

i watched this video a couple of years ago.  i clean myself after my bike rides. i haven't gotten it ever since.


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## Not Sure (Aug 19, 2018)

Sumac vs Poison Sumac 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMM1Yq7y-po


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## Abominable (Aug 21, 2018)

I usually get it around Memorial Day and have it until Columbus Day, despite being very careful.  I got it BAD as a kid, but as an adult it's just kind of there, always lingering in the melee with the bug bites, bike bruises and other scrapes.

Anyway, as a kid we had all these "survival" type books (Foxfire, Stalking the Wild Asparagus... 70s hippie stuff) and I remember one where the guy ate poison ivy, starting with the little shoots first thing in spring, to basiacally develop an immunity.  This thread jogged my memory on that...  a little googling, and it is the Stalking (Ha!) the Wild Asparagus guy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euell_Gibbons

Anyway, rambling post while I sit on hold (45 minutes and counting!) arguing with Wells Fargo over a measly 100 bucks.

Days are getting shorter, September on its way, poison ivy, along with the sugar maple and everything else, soon to start turning.... looking forward to ski season!


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## Matt Miller (Nov 14, 2018)

Seems awful mate. Been there but my rash wasn't that bad. Calamine lotion helped though.


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