Bash The Rash

It's not like I don't know I'm allergic to the stuff. I've had my share of encounters with poison ivy and I guess that's why this particular incident really got me. I needed to dig this hole for a post. After careful checking, the brush looked clear of any poison ivy, so I pulled out my shovel and began digging. Once the hole was deep enough, I needed to scoop out all the loose dirt the shovel wasn't getting. So, I rolled up my sleeves, knelt down and began scooping out the dirt. Like making the perfect hole to bury treasure, I cleaned the sides and the bottom of the hole of all loose dirt, scraping the sides with my hands and arms to remove any remaining loose dirt. There were a few stray roots, so I yanked those out as well.

Posts in, task done, I headed back to my trusty RV. Kicking my feet up, it was great to relax after some hard work. That is when I started to notice the redness and felt the excruciating itch. I finally figured those roots must have been from a poison ivy plant that had been cut down. All that hand digging gave those roots plenty of time to rub against my arms. Can you believe I took this photo before it got really bad?

That's my story. What's yours?

Back in 2004, my family wanted to move out to the country. We
bought a ranch in an area hit by the Firestorm of the year before. Some
plants thrive on burned areas, and maybe poison oak does too. One week my
teenage daughter and I went hiking, and we were in shorts.

We heard about poison oak, having been warned by the realtor a few
weeks before. I'd never been around it, and didn't know if we were allergic
or not. We stomped around for an hour, and I recall that we hadn't stepped
on any plants. We just about ended the hike and looked at each other,
smiling. "Nope, I guess we aren't allergic to anything." I grabbed a
handful of what later proved to be poison oak, and like a smart aleck,
rubbed it all over my bare calf. "See, nothing happened."

That day, no reaction occurred to my daughter or myself. "Ha ha! We aren't
allergic!" I would live to eat those words. a week later. At first, there
were a few blisters, then more. Soon my right calf was on fire, and I rushed
to the local country doctor. He gave me pills and a hydrocortisone shot. He
laughed as he took a photo for his collection, saying he'd never seen anyone
have this badly of a reaction.. I didn't mention that I'd been fool enough
to rub it all over my leg.

After 6 months, the blistering and scabbing stopped. I had tried every
topical treatment available in our little mountain town. None of the
treatments worked. If I had had Ivy-Cleanse and Ivy-Soothe then, I would
have healed up sooner, and if I had had Ivy-Block before my hike, I wouldn't
have this embarrassing story to relate to you now.

Posted by Rash Basher at 03:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I was at a friends outdoor pool party in the beginning of August. Not
thinking twice about getting completely silly, I drank alot of vodka as
usual. The day after the party, after recovering from a mean hangover, I
began to itch while watching a movie. I was itching my
face and neck like crazy after a while, not knowing why.
The next morning I woke up with the puffy rash all under my neck and side
of face, and I knew what it was! (The summer before I got a bad case of
poison ivy). I called my friend only to find out that I had thrown up all
over a lilac bush covered in thick poison ivy. Impressive.
The itching was so intense!! I felt like I had fire ants doing a tap
dance under my neck. I was so miserable, and had to use all of my power and
energy to not itch. I had to get a steroid shot in the bum, as well as a
prescription for prednozone. Meanwhile, my job is a waitress, so it is not
very appetizing to have your food served by a girl covered in a rash.
I am now known as vomiting poison ivy face. And the rash cleared on my
face, but I have a patch on the palm of my hand that still has not gone away
(3 weeks later). GO ME!

Posted by Rash Basher at 12:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Continue reading "Swelling Beware!" »

Posted by Rash Basher at 05:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

It was time to spruce up a rental property, which meant weeding, landscaping and painting. I went at it one day, pulling tons of weeds and unwelcome shrubs from around the house. I didn't think anything of it. The next day, I felt like I had some sunburn on my face, which was OK by me. The morning of the second day, I woke up looking like a monster. One of my eyes was almost swollen shut, and I had an itchy rash everywhere. While weeding, I had of course rubbed my face, scratched my legs and used the restroom.

At first I laughed because I looked so weird. Then the itchiness really started, and it frankly was very painful. I researched products quickly and set out to get some, settling on IvyStat. It helped with the itching, especially on my face. Unfortunately, the rash continued to spread and a prescription was the only option left. It is now day 7. Although my face is back to normal, my body is still itching and healing.

Posted by Rash Basher at 05:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I went on a float trip with some friends over labor day weekend. they warned us that there was some poison ivy by the wood lines. late that night i was completely drunk and didn't feel like walkin all the way to the porta pottys so, forgettin about the poison ivy, i just sqatted by the wood line to go. i got up the next morning and thought i had hives. i scratched all day not thinkin anything of it til i went to get in the shower that night and found that i was covered head to toe in poison ivy. by the next morning i had to go to the E.R.

Posted by Rash Basher at 04:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I finally decided to plant a butterfly bush in our backyard. This area is new to me, but my boyfriend grew up here in Utah. There was some creeping myrtle in the spot I wanted, so I started to pull it out. Just then, he said, "that poison ivy" And I said "I don't think so" 4 days later, the doctor gave me some Zyrtec to see if it would stop climbing up my arms to my shoulders. Funny, poison oak didn't look like that when I was a kid!!!

Posted by Rash Basher at 03:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

May 1 2006, my husband and I set out on our first geocaching trip for the year. Being veterans of our sport, we did not anticipate encountering poison ivy on this day. Boy, were we wrong!!

Geocaching is a type of treasure hunting sport, to put it briefly. It usually consist of long hours in the deepest of woods and thicket.
Today's trip lasted approx. 3 hours.

While searching for our "treasure", I can't recall seeing any poison ivy. But we must have been in an area where the ivy was very dense, because we have never had a rash this widespread before.

Upon getting home, we did our normal routine. Stripped down immediately and washed our clothes and took a shower. Hours later it had become apparent we had made a serious mistake. Our rashes took nearly a week to fully heal and left a few scars. Eww!!

Posted by Rash Basher at 12:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)