Yes, there's probably a difference btw SCRATCH and ITCH, but hey... I was an English major and still can get it right, LOL! Thanks for all your support and I'm glad that this video is able to help so many people. Be careful out there and have fun!
I had a conversation with an old country boy, about venomous snakes, he was saying poisonous snake. So I explained the venomous snake and he said, your kidding? I have never heard that. I told him I was 40 when I learn it. And it’s not bc we are stupid, it’s bc we live in an area that says poisonous not venomous. He didn’t get to arrant high school and he typically thinks ppl are making fun of his stupidity, but he didn’t that time!!! Itch, scratch, we know what it means.
Thank you so much for this video. For decades I had no reaction to the oils in these plants, but I accidentally ripped some poison ivy out of my yard two weeks ago, and my arms and hands broke out, and the zenfel worked WONDERS.
I've never used the Zanfel. This year I had a bad rash so I finally tried the old method of making a mud paste using dirt from my yard. Mixed with a little water to make a paste and put it on every bit of rash. Face neck legs arms stomach. WORKED BETTER than anything I tried over the years. No itching. No money wasted. Stand in front of a fan to make it dry quickly. Easy to wash off anything.
This video was a lifesaver for me! I went to the American Academy of Dermatology, (AAD) website and the whole page on poison Oak, Ivy and sumac exposure was not helpful at all. So much for the "official" channels! Thank you!
One of the most miserable times of my life was the last time I had Poison Ivy. I had it everywhere I had skin... and I mean everywhere! Eyelids, armpits, groin, the palms of my hands, the soles of my feet, in between fingers and toes... EVERYWHERE! I would not wish this on anyone!
I grew up near woods/fields/creeks etc so Sumac and Ivy were all over. None of us were really allergic to it so it never affected us. Our problems were with what we called razor grass which grew as tall as us. That stuff caused numerous cuts and that really itched.
Yes, I know the plant you're talking about and it's the worse. It cuts on the way into the plant and smoother on the way out. We had some near our baseball field growing up and anytime someone hit a ball into the grasses we got pissed!
I studied archaeology in college in the Eastern US. We encountered A LOT of poison ivy. One year, our summer dig was on an island that had become a wildlife refuge 10 years previously. Before then, it had been farm land. Poison ivy had completely taken over, and we had to clear it, dig through it, and camp in it. Of course, we all got it, and compared remedies. And of course, the prescriptions worked best, but a close second was ordinary rubbing alcohol. Whenever you want to scratch, do it with a washcloth soaked in alcohol. It will feel good and it will be cured in 3 days.
Thx for telling all of us this, because I have a lot of sumac and oak ALL over my face and body and I tried what you said, and the stuff on my face is almost GONE.
I can't thank you enough!!! I don't have access to Zanfel right now due to it being late at night, but I just tried rubbing alcohol and it completely suppressed my itch within minutes! My whole arm is covered in the rash and I've been fighting the urge to itch 24/7 for the past week, despite using anti itch cream. It feels great to have relief.
I was prescribed betamethasone ointment to treat hives caused by fire ant bites. I applied it to my poison ivy rash on my arms, legs, and belly. It worked wonders and stopped the rash in its tracks BEFORE it developed blisters.
Hydrocortisone cream also works well in suppressing your allergic reaction and helps reduce the itching immensely. Be sure to do the cleansing portion of the treatment first. There was no such thing as Zanfel when I had a nasty dose of poison ivy.
You are a live saver. Our doctor sucked. It's crazy that you on RU-vid gave us the answer when pharmacist and doctors prescriptions failed. Indebted man.
Thanks for sharing. I’ve had similar experience with doctors trying to write me a prescription instead of informing me how to take care of it by other means, or even how to prevent it in the future. Take care and be safe out there
Thank you for a very informative and well-presented video about the "leaves of three, let it be." I am an English buff, but folks who take umbrage with "don't itch it," rather than appreciate and absorb the important content of your PSA, are missing the point. Let them itch. Great job!
Why do you assume that those that prefer that English be used correctly cannot also appreciate and absorb the important content of your PSA, assuming it is important. I found that a number of things he said were misleading and some were flat out wrong. So go itch that.
Used to get it all the time. Finally went through my property, and did everything I could to remove it. Especially, during the winter. I used to get this all the time, and it would last a long time despite using all these things apart from Zanfel, which I’d be more than happy to try. The only thing that would finally knock it out for me was going to the shore, and spending time in the ocean. Evidently, seawater has something that rids it for me
Play Disc Golf. Knew I walked through a bunchnin shorts looking for a disc. Panic, but remembered I had a bottle of hand sanitizer and paper towels in my vehicle. Liberal application of hand sanitizer to paper towel. Got everything off, but a small patch behind my ankle at my sock line. 🤷🏽 Luckily, my reaction to the oil is not usually horrible. Great video and info. Cheers.
Thanks,I never scrubbed had no idea to treat poison ivy like grease no idea but I get it now and I truly appreciate the advice your on mark with an incredible bullseye 🎯.Ivy-Dry spray is a really really really good product for iching.And I want to be of some good help and know that stuff works all due respect your well grounded and open minded to take in another product that really works.Thanks 💡
A friend swore to me that when he had it his grandmother boiled the roots of Poke Salad plants and rubbed it on him. He swears it cured him quickly and he has never broken out with it since.
You are right about getting the oil off you asap. Back in the day, we used "yellow soap". It was lye soap that was really good at getting oil out of anything. Dawn and a scrubby are good now. Dawn comes in a sprayer now, very convenient. Getting the oil off when you have no access to soap or towels, you can use Silverleaf, or Jewelweed. Look this plant up BEFORE you go out. It usually grows in shady places right next to the poison ivy. The stem is hollow and juicy similar to aloe, but it is not a succulent. Cut or rip the stems, mash them a bit and rub downward like you would when washing. It's pretty stinky and sticky, but it works. ALSO the same mash of the stem and leaves applied to the rash, and wrapped to stay on the skin where there is rash, will dry the rash up very similar to that Zanfel stuff. The Jewelweed/Silverleaf mash is the best natural cure that you can get without leaving the wilderness to go to a store that might not have Zanfel or Tecnu. I'll warn you now, the Jewelweed/Silverleaf mash stinks kinda like cat piss. I keep a mash, I make it in my food processor, then freeze it into ice cube trays. The cold feels good on the itch, and it's really the only way to preserve it without too much loss of effectiveness. I can also recommend using the 97% rubbing alcohol when cleaning the oil off you and treating the rash. It keeps the skin sanitary, and dries the rash. Another treatment is to mix Witch Hazel and baking soda into a paste, applying directly to the rash, and covering it to keep the paste on. Baking soda is a sodium It will dry the rash out.
@@OutdoorGoyo My maternal grandmother was immune to poison ivy, oak and sumac. But she knew how to treat it! My maternal grandfather showed my many plants, silver-leaf was one of them. We also ate dandelion greens right from the front yard. The Rolling Stones made a song about Poison Ivy. I'm thinking they must have gotten it really bad... "She comes on like a rose And everybody knows She'll get you in dutch You can look but you'd better not touch Poison ivy, poison ivy Well, late at night when you're sleeping Poison ivy comes a creeping all around, yeah She's pretty as a daisy But look out man she's crazy She'll really do you in But if you let her get under your skin Poison ivy, poison ivy Well, late at night when you're sleeping Poison ivy comes a creeping all around, yeah Measles make you bumpy and mumps'll make you lumpy And chicken pox'll make you jump and twitch A common cold'll cool you and whooping cough'll fool you But poison ivy, lord'll make you itch You're gonna need an ocean Of calamine lotion You'll be scratching like a hound The minute you start to mess around Poison ivy, poison ivy Well late at night while you're sleeping Poison ivy comes a creeping all around, yeah"
Realized the full grown weed tree behind my shed is sumac when I noticed the saplings underneath, one brushed my side when I was digging it up with a shovel. Sumac is no joke!!! Thought it was shingles till I remembered. Thank God I knew to hydrate some clay and keep it covered. Hardly noticed it when as long as I kept clay on it. Started covering it with iodine as well Also use naicin to flush the skin and speed healing
Zanfel unfortunately did not seem to do a whole lot for me, despite following the application directions meticulously. Seemed to help right at first, though by no means did it remove all the itch. Then I washed the spots again to use up the rest of the tube. Several hours later the itch was back just as bad. That night it was just as bad as it ever was if not having reached a new high. Calamine does nothing to help relieve the itch for me personally. Even seems to make it itch more. Though I'd still recommend keeping the spots covered in it to keep them dry. Some say a really hot shower (hot as you can stand without burning yourself) makes it itch like the pits of hell until after the shower, and then the itching takes a good break. Though you DON'T wanna do this until after the 3rd or 4rth day or so after you already have the rashes I hear, because if you try to wash the evil oil off with hot water it actually can drive it into the skin more. This seemed fairly true! I went ahead and took a hot shower on day 4 and I felt about 90% itch free after. Who knows when it will return. Baking soda/water paste temporarily helps the itching and is good for keeping the spots dry/clean. Ivarest helps a bit but not enough in my opinion. Wash cloth with 70% alcohol on it, lightly massaging the spots as a scratching method seems to help itching the most, though I don't know if it something you wanna do a lot of because I would think it could start to irritate the skin and dry it out more than you want it after awhile. Cold packs on itchy spots definitely helps a lot but it's not much help if you have many spots in different places. Took one ibuprofen and that seemed to help, though it's hard to say because I was using it in combination with other things. That's my discovery thus far. Fuck poison ivy.
I had it get into my blood stream when I was 7. The rashes were so deep that I still have scars 20+ years later. It was on my groin so bad that it was permanently erect from blisters. Just miserable.
Zanfel is amazing! Costco Pharmacy sells it at a slightly lower price. I stock up at the beginning of summer because I spend a lot of time ridding my yard of poison ivy.
I live in FL and had a bad experience from helping to cut a tree off of a neighbors roof. Hurricane Ian knocked it down and it appears to have been a variety of a tree known as Poisonwood. It is miserable. It got on my arms from handling the branches and sawdust got it onto the back of my neck which thankfully wasn't as strong. It is similar to Poison Ivy which I have had but this is more intense. I used rubbing alcohol which helped but what seemed even better was diluted bleach water.(1 to 2 Tbsp per gal). I had my arms in my little landscape pond doing work on it which I added bleach to for warding off mosquitoes and it felt good to the red rashes on my arms and was longer lasting relief. This recovery is also slow. Washing with an auto mechanic style degreaser right after makes sense because most of these irritants are oil based. Great video!
Every time I get a rash after I wash it really good I put heat on it. Either hot water or or a hair dryer. It feels soooo good. And it stops the itching. It’s worked for me every time
Anthony Bush You are correct sir, I am a week into having a pretty bad reaction. The shower head has a setting for a stream of water, that stream and hot water are fantastic for about 5 seconds, then move onto another location. I have never felt something so itchy it stings over such a big area.
I've gotten some kind of rash from clearing brush a few times, only on my forearms. Sometimes the briars will get me, sometimes I think it's something else. Either way, we have a big wash sink at work that jets hot water. That does indeed feel sooooo good. So much so that I don't mind the minor rash being there.
I used to get horrible reaction to PI until I poured HOT WATER over the infected area (hot but just shy of scalding.) Repeat if the itch returns, I never had to repeat more than once. I do get the rough skin at the site of the infection but NO ITCH and IT DOESN'T SPREAD. The rough, sand like skin goes away in about a week.
I tried EVERYTHING. It spread for 3 weeks without stopping. I drove out to the ocean and jumped in. Within 2 days it was scabbing up and healing. I don’t think it ever woulda stopped
Great video. Thank you. Questions: Is it possible to have one of these "poisons" with the itchiness but very little or no visible rash? Also, will taking benedryl help relieve the itchiness?
Thanks! An area can be itchy before a rash comes in but within a day or so you should see something. Otherwise it could be stinging nettles or something else. Benedryl may help you sleep better but the rash won’t go away.
⚠️ My family and I, along with my family doctor at the time, was told about water and ammonia to dry up the rash in three days. And it works like a charm and doesn't burn. Great for kids as I was 12. Needless to say the doctor was shocked as he'd been using calamine; he immediately switched to the ammonia. Even straight ammonia won't hurt you. I used it on my legs. This really works and doesn't hurt a bit and tames the itch and dries it right up quickly.
The only thing that worked on mine (bad on arms and chest) was rubbing alcohol and aloe vera leaf. After the alcohol wipe and aloe vera juice rub down, I wrapped the infected areas with muslin cloth.
@@henryvalero9235 multiple kinds, but my favorite is fast orange. Really strips the oil off your skin, wash 2 times after exposure or 2 times a day if the rash is already set.
I have poison ivy now. I get it so bad and it spreads like crazy. I have extreme allergic reaction at age twelve. I've gotten it in 15 in of snow before, but luckily my grandmother makes a green salve that heals it fine. I got it on my face, swelling up my lips to the point where I could only drink a smoothie and all over my hands. It's healed up plenty by this poison ivy/oak soap bar. It's popping up more on my legs. Like if you relate to extreme reactions at a young age.
That was going to be my recommendatio id the go jo with pumice, I have all three of these all over my yard. after i get through with working in yard around it i go to my my shop and spread a little used motor oil on my arms and legs and get out the go jo and start scrubbing until the oil is gone. It help me know the amount of product and scrubbing i need to do to make sure the oils are off of me.......
As an actual guy who works in mechanics, lava soap works great. Use a bar of lava pumice soap and Dawn dish soap. You'll get grease off, including Poison ivy.
I was hiking with my friends when I got really paranoid of what plants we where walking through so I did a google image search of the pant and it was poison oak the disappointment in myself was immeasurable. I wake up a few days later with a rash on my leg my neck and my crouch area 😤.
Nearly walked through some this last summer as I am new to a region with poison ivy. Thankfully I'm kind of into botany so I was just getting stoned and staring at plants in the first place. Sure enough poison ivy was right where I was walking around in my bare feet near the river bank lmao.
OMG 😂! The moment you say, talking to you Mark in the video is hilarious!! Especially when it exactly describes my situation, had to make my wife listen to the video
This is the best video to show your six year old who just found out she is experiencing an alergic reaction to poison ivy! I love the don't scratch it at the end ! hahahaha
The best removal method is friction. Poison ivy is an oil, and so wetting down throwaway - paper or cloth - towels and rubbing one direction, folding, rubbing the same direction - repeat until you don't have a clean fold - throw away and repeat a few more times in areas you suspect the oil might be and follow with the cold water (because warm water opens your pores) and anything that can dilute the oil. There's really no full proof method - maybe if the urushiol turned blue or had some pigment that was easy to see on skin - but it's the best method I know of. Other than that long pants and shirts and a change of clothes in the car can reduce the likelihood of contaminating yourself and your vehicle.
I had sumac and ivy this year and I didn’t give a darn I soaked in super hot bath and that intense itch felt so damn good . I also put my arms underneath the sink one night and hot and the itch was so bad it made me drop to one knee. Man that sucks but the itch felt amazing
Calamine lotion works besides taking an over the counter anti histamine such as Benadryl, Zyrtec, Claritin or Allegra. If it's really bad than getting a Prednisone Rx or shot is crucial. Taking baking soda/ oatmeal baths helps relieve itchiness too.
I agree with hot shower, and tecnu at the same time, only if you have it. After the shower and dried off (cheap, disposable towel) hydrocortisone. Benadryl Anti-histamene aides GREATLY in drying it up and alleviating the itch!!
Most excellent! "Likely" -that's what gets a lot of us. Weed trimming, young plants hidden in grass or places your don't expect, you don't see. The weed trimmer sprays all sorts of unfriendly stuff all over you. DRESS and PREPARE FOR BATTLE. Long cuff gloves! You should see my collection. : ) Most of all, remember: You see one Poison Ivy plant, you're going to find more. They connect with vines running beneath the surface. In the southern US they climb too. On ground they always send out multiple vines. Starts as an infant but hat baby will get you just as bad, before you ever see it. You see ONE, you'll find MORE.
Why should we not itch? does that make it worse? I think I got it clearing weeds in my backyard in Detroit. On my arms only. Is 2 weeks too late to use Zanfel? Thanks
I am Native American (Choctaw)..... Nature has the Poisons and Nature has the Cures .... For Sumac - the Cure grown next to the Sumac (Has small yellow flowers ... cant remember the name, sorry).... Poison Oak and Ivy (I get this every year, U'd think I'd learn) - the Cure is the hull of the Black Walnut or Hickory nut or Pecan (Not the hard shell, but the green hull around the shell) Hint - wear gloves. ....... Nature's Cures usually just as fast or faster than "Man's cure".
From Lil Giant Moving out east next year, where all 3 are, including Sumac, which I have never seen before. I will look for TINY little yellow flowers? (although may not be spring) LOL. Do you just rub over the area before you get the rash? Rub on after you get rash, when it itches?
usually when landscaping … if i touch poison ivy ill grab mud or dirt and vigorously rub the contact location and wash off the debris and repeat the process again. so vigorously my arm turns red with such irritation from the vigorous scrubbing. then if on hand ill even use detergent and scrub it one last time with the soap mixed with dirt and mulch.
I wouldn't advise a hot shower...that will open your pores and let the oil in deeper. Wash with soap and cold water within an hour of touching the plant.
@@cindymckenna9910 He said after you got the rash. Before the rash, you can wash it with cold water but not soap. The soap actually takes off the layer that protects your skin and makes the Urushiol penetrate deeper into your skin.
I deal with this crap cleaning up my acreage constantly, sometimes when I stubbornly don't stop to put on my long sleeves when working around it my arms get covered and welt up and start stinging and itching like crazy. What I do that works every time is I go put white vinegar on some paper towels, wash down my arms with the white vinegar which stings like putting alcohol on a scratch, then after that I let it air dry, once dried I wash with dish soap and water, wallah, all good! This works well and never had to buy the lotion for it.
I have a severe case right now up and down my arms inside and outside of my arms. Worst part is I sweat alot and I sweat EASILY. But I have to work to make ends meet as a single father so I can’t just call out for 2 weeks. I just ordered Zanfel from Amazon for 34.50$ and today’s date is the 12th of August of 2024. Hopefully it works as good as you say it does brother. I’m running out of options.
damn, I didn't get what I wanted out of this video. Saw the dermatologist yesterday because I didn't know what rash I was developing - was trying to find out if I accidentally brushed some ivy or sumac xD
In Michigan, I got into some poison ivy. Starting to itch, so my wife gave me Tecnu and advised to use it daily as a topical after cleaning and drying the affected area to minimize the itching. BUT THAT'S WRONG. It's only to clean the affected area when you first come into contact, not as an itch suppressor. So, I'm into day five, using Tecnu, and still itching. This is not what Technu is for, and I'm learning this five days later after reading the bottle directions. What do I need to minimize the itching? Calamine lotion?
This is very counter-intuitive. Hot water as hot as you can stand it, 3 times a day will dry the lesions. It is quite painful when applying the hot water but it actually will relieve the pain for 3 or 4 hours.
From Lil Giant You did not explain how/when to use alcoholic wipes. Just to wipe off the contact places to try to get rid of the oil? After you have washed the oil off with soap? To cool your skin from the rash?
Dead Sea Mud soap cuts the oily poison, it's the best... Calamine mixed with white shoe polish sticks on your skin the best... Keeping body parts covered till it heals will help keep it from spreading...
Has anyone ever had poison ivy so bad that it came back (usually on the first hot, humid Summer day) in small bubble form on a small, random, usually exposed, part of you? I have. My Grandmother and my Aunt, who has much upstate NY experience with this malady, always said that it will come back that way for "seven" years. And it did! But, being a small patch, was easily treated with hydrocortisone cream. Salt water sea bathing does work!! Upstate NY freshwater lake does not! I had a terrible case when I was 13. It was all over me, had to wear gloves with medication in them it was so bad. Back then, new treatment from Doctor was named Zotox. It worked for a little while. Aunt gave me a white porcelain on metal pan, a scrub sponge, and a bottle of clorox bleach. 10% water, remainder bleach in the pan. Place hand in pan and scrub off the poison. Stung a bit, but removed it down to smooth skin. Gone! Use only in emergency...but really works! No scars, either! When it's Summertime, hot humid, and no a/c, you would do this to be rid of that torture just to get some sleep. When I see bad cases of it (50 years later) I tell the person. Works every time. A
When I was hiking the Appalachian trail I would rub my legs down with technu every morning and then again at night and rinse my legs and it worked great.
Yes there are prevention creams as you both mention that seem to work well. If you already know you’re going to an area with it, then I would wear long pants. Clothing tech these days let’s us wear pants on a hot summer day and they dry quickly. Otherwise, long socks can help too.
HELP Please, Okay Soooo I am watching this video because I have a pretty good reaction going. Before I knew I had it I walked around the house and sat on the couch in the same clothes that came in contact with the poison ivy. My family has been all around the same area I was after getting home. We are three days in after I brought it home on my clothes and no one is showing signs. Are They maybe in the clear? Any advice for cleaning? Would it matter at this point?
Danny Mitchell ya it can technically spread that way but may not have since it was the back of the clothes. If it’s been a few days you’re probably in the clear. As for cleaning couch materials, be careful with certain products and just start with light soap and water if you need to.
Outdoor Goyo thank you! It does look like we are in the clear now. There was a bit of panic and pandemonium around the Mitchell household a few hours that night 😂😅. Do you know if sun light helps to “dry it out” my forearm is starting to “calm down” but my left leg that’s been covered with long pants is still really itchy. A few times a day I have been using a steroid cream but it seems less effective for my legs. They could when been hit worse.
Outdoor Goyo I am going back to the scene of the crime the first of the week to see for myself just what the monster looks like in real life. To bad we can’t load pictures to RU-vid.
Danny Mitchell Ya, not fun. Sorry man. The more humidity and covering you do, the longer it’ll take to recover. The puss is your body getting the toxin out so you could’ve also gotten it worse on your leg too. Steroid cream should do a good job but I stay away from steroids 💪🏼. See if you can find Zanfel- it cures it immediately.
Outdoor Goyo fortunately no puss, I will try the Zanfel and where shorts :). Thank You Sir!! I appreciate your help and replies. It might have entered my blood stream, I am getting a few little places that are popping up out of no where like on my stomach where before there wasn’t anything at all. EDIT: Yeah it’s for sure in my blood stream it’s popping up all over the place 🙄🤪. Not as itch but random spots.
I'm recently recovering from poison oak or sumac. Not sure which because I'm not sure were I got it. It was the worst reaction I ever had. I had quarter size open sores on both legs that got infected and I had to get a steroid cream and pills. It's been 6 weeks now.
can you wash your body with shampoo in the shower, if you have the rashes everywhere, obviously not trying to clean it but clean my body, idk if it will make it worse
