Poison Ivy Cures

[WillBrink]

It's that time of year again, or will be soon for most places, that poison ivy will be all over the place. As a kid, poison ivy destroyed many of my summers as I was very sensitive to it, and would end up with it on my face, or in my ears, or between my legs... etc. Good times....as happens for many, I became much less sensitive to poison ivy as I got older and now only occasionally get a patch here and there if I'm not careful around it.

Back in the day, we had essentially not effective treatments for it, other than cortisone injections, and that was only if it was so bad it became medically necessary to use. There's now far better treatments you can get OTC. One is Zanfel. First time in years I got a patch of poison ivy on my ankle recently (how I have no idea, but never mind that!), and per usual, Zanfal had it gone by the next day with itching stopped within minutes.

Zanfel works to both prevent poison ivy from even showing up if you know you have been exposed, and or will "cure" it even once established rash shows up as it did on me.

For what's in it, it's way over priced, but they know people will pay just about anything to get rid of poison ivy. If you have had bad case of poison ivy, you know what I mean. If you have issues with poison ivy and you didn't know about Zanfel, don't say I never did you ant favors.

PS, I tried the cheaper CVS generic once and didn't find it worked as well as the brand name.

http://www.zanfel.com/help/

[Bruce in WV]

Boy, are you right about Zanfel! I was TDY in the hinterlands down south when I got poison ivy so bad I scratched myself bloody. Found an all night pharmacy 30 miles away one morning at 3am when I was going crazy, paid a small fortune for a tube of the cream, and found quick relief.
Their soap is really good for washing off the oil after exposure as a preventative, too.

[Pilot1]

I use a lotion product called Tecnu, which may be similar to Zanfel, but I am not familiar with that product. The Tecnu gets rid of the oils, and helps clear it up even after you get the rash. I had Poison Ivy so badly on my legs many years ago I had to be put on Prednisone for a week or so. That cleared it right up. Now if I get exposed, I wash the area with Tecnu over a few days, and it never spreads, nor does it itch.

http://www.teclabsinc.com/products/poison-oak-ivy/tecnu

[Averageman]

We used to have soap called Phels-anptha that looked like a brick and smelled like tar.
It would dry out the rash pretty quickly. I haven't seen any of that stuff in years though.

I bought 5 yards of topsoil one year and brought poison oak in with the soil and didn't realise it until I had given the grass the first cutting that year. The mower atomized the plant material and I breathed the vapor I mulched. Not a good time for the home team.

[steyrman13]

One thing I have found when you have access is to wash your skin off with Lye soap for soon after exposure and over the next day or so. Dawn soap seems to help too for the first washing.

[WillBrink]

One thing I have found when you have access is to wash your skin off with Lye soap for soon after exposure and over the next day or so. Dawn soap seems to help too for the first washing.

Washing with COLD water and lots of soap in areas you know were exposed can help for sure, but it does not always get it all and you don't always know you were exposed until the rash shows up. Have Zanfel on hand if sensitive to poison ivy.

[steyrman13]

Washing with COLD water and lots of soap in areas you know were exposed can help for sure, but it does not always get it all and you don't always know you were exposed until the rash shows up. Have Zanfel on hand if sensitive to poison ivy.

I will have to grab some for just in case....Calimine sucks for it lol. I almost always when camping or working around the woods/trees try to wash with dawn/and or lye immediately (within a few hours) afterwards to minimize the effects, but you don't always have time to wash or don't know you were exposed sometimes. Sounds like a good product to keep on hand if you are in the woods alot.