Poison Ivy

[Delaney]

What are your treatments for poison ivy? DS has it on his legs, and it seems to be spreading. I am using Tecnu to wash twice a day and Tecnu gel to relieve the itching. I'm going to do a search here too, but I thought I would post to get some answers too.

[mamacat]

Hydrated bentonite clay can help

[sweetpeasmommy]

I use tecnu but it works best if you know you touched PI and haven't broken out yet. I also use jewel weed soap and frequent doses of rhus tox homeopathic. I get it really bad and once it starts not much helps.

I once went swimming in an extra chlorinated pool and that dried it up. Along with the rest of my skin. an accidental cure and not natural at all.

[Delaney]

If nothing else the Tecnu gel at least relives the itching. My nutritionist said to use peppermint essential oil as well, so I started that. I also used some TTO on one part that started to look infected. I didn't come up with much in the search, but I'm getting some ideas off facebook.

[camperjen]

FYI, it doesn't actually spread, it's the oil pushing out of the pores that got clogged/covered on the day of exposure. The body expels the poison ivy oil by pushing it out of the skin (making the sores/blisters) and eventually all of it is out. On a really bad case you can see new lesions for a couple of weeks. This happened to my son a few years ago and he had new blisters even two weeks after exposure - by that point we finally took him in and he was put on a steroid to lessen the itchiness. He had been SO good about it (he was 7yo at the time). We put on Neosporin+Pain a number of times a day - it's an antibacterial so we never got an infection. The ped actually said she didn't remember seeing a case that bad that had gone on so long and not gotten infected. I credit the Neosporin. (The +Pain variation is a topical analgesic so it numbs the area and doesn't burn but will take away the itchiness).

I hope your DS is feeling better soon!