ItÕs green, itÕs lush, itÕs everywhere and if you mess with it, youÕll itch forever, or so it will seem. High in chemical allergen and easily bruised, poison ivy is blanketing the forest floor and covering the trees in the woods.
A climbing vine, shrub or spreading ground cover with leaves in threes, poison ivy is at its nasty worst in spring. Not just found in East Texas, it has been known for years throughout most of the U.S. Captain John Smith in 1609 wrote to England that Òthe poisonous weed...little different from our English Yvie...causeth reddness, itchinge and lastly blisters.Ó
Strangely, poison ivy has been cultivated by British gardeners in flower beds for its deep green leaves, white berries and bright fall colors! My impression is that there are less challenging ways to spruce up your yard!
Most People Are Allergic to Poison Ivy
Experts estimate that nearly eighty percent of us are allergic to poison ivyÕs juice and that immunity comes and goes, so donÕt depend on prior resistance to keep you safe. The good news is that as we age, our sensitivity grows less.
Related to poison oak and poison sumac, the plant contains an oily chemical called urushiol so active that only 1/1000 of a milligram will start a rash on a sensitive person. ThatÕs such a tiny amount, you canÕt see it without magnification! Virtually every part of the plant is poisonous, including roots, seeds, flowers and berries and all it takes to release urushiol on its surface is for an insect to feed on it, a person or other animal to brush against it or cut it in some way.
You can also get poison ivy from smoke carrying vaporized urushiol from burning plants, handling pets that have run through it or ivy resin left on clothes, boots, and garden tools. Under dry conditions, plant resin on these items can form a crust beneath which the urushiol may remain active for years. Within about three minutes of contact, the urushiol penetrates the skin and starts an allergic reaction that within 12-48 hours produces reddening, bumps, serum filled blisters and a maddening itch.
Poison Ivy Is Not Contagious or Spread by Scratching
Many people believe that scratching open the fluid-filled blisters spreads the rash and getting the serum on another person gives them poison ivy too. ThatÕs not true. The only way to Òbreak outÓ is from contact with the plant juice. Beginning on thinner skin and more heavily contaminated areas first and later on thicker more lightly coated spots and areas that were contaminated later, it appears to magically spread. HereÕs how it really happens. Imagine that you walk through poison ivy and get the juice on your boots or pants and transfer some to your hand. Then you scratch your cheek or wipe your brow, swat a mosquito on your arm, rub your neck or touch an unspeakable part of your anatomy going to the bathroom. (Oh boy! The latter is all you need!) Returning home, you remove your clothes and footgear, take a shower and later, throw your clothing in the laundry and put your boots away, recontaminating your hands and starting new patches. A few days later you get around to doing the laundry and touch your ÒjuicyÓ clothes again. The rash, of course, starts appearing and itching within a couple of days after that first contact and keeps developing sequentially on all those spots you touched later, giving the illusion of spreading from scratching.
What To Do About It
There are protective, pre-contact barrier creams that can be applied before going outdoors making it harder for the ivy toxin to get to the skin. Wearing long pants and sleeves will also help protect you. Although there are pills that can immunize you, the process takes about 4 months, often has unpleasant side effects and must be continued over a long period of time.
As soon as possible after contact, wash contaminated skin areas with water. It wonÕt remove the urushiol that already penetrated your skin, but it willget rid of accumulations on the skin surface and water tends to chemically deactivate urushiol. Some authorities feel soap is not necessary and may even help spread the oily resin. Remember to put your clothes and boots away In any case, and to paraphrase what Capt. Smith might say, may your woods wanderings be fruitful and uplifting and may you find success in avoiding Òye itchye weed and its lastly blisters.Ó