Help!:bad case of poison oak

hunteran · 02-14-2007, 18:33

Gentlemen:

I am sorry to bother everyone but I was wondering if anybody has any advice when it comes to treating poison oak. I am covered in the stuff (literally; the only places I don't have it is on my feet, hands and parts of my face) and I am in desperate need of advice. I (stupidly) went bushwhacking on a run and ended up wallowing in it so it is pretty much everywhere. I am currently using a cortisone cream and using calamine lotion. I was wondering if there is anything else that I could be doing to stop the itch and speed recovery. Any advice/folk remedies would be much appreciated.

**Kyobanim** · 02-14-2007, 18:47

I don't know of anything outside of what you're doing but I have one statement.

Quote:

am covered in the stuff (literally; the only places I don't have it is on my feet, hands and parts of my face)

I hope you forgot to name a couple of places here.

mugwump · 02-14-2007, 19:00

Been there. For do-it-yourself, Benadryl will help w/ the itching and will help you sleep. Going to the doc, topical betamethasone creme, a synthetic steroid, often helps. If it's as extensive as you say, a steroid injection may be in order.

mugwump · 02-14-2007, 19:25

And I have to reluctantly mention, this has worked for me in the past for the itching but it's a bit intense. Try high-dose Benadryl first.

Fill your tub with hot, and I mean just shy of second-degree-burn hot, water. Japanese bath hot. If you can put your foot in the tub comfortably, it's not hot enough. Put towels/bath mats down around the tub.

Submerge yourself as quickly as possible and hold yourself under. The heat will cause the mast cells in the dermis layer (mast cells produce and release the histamine which causes the itch) to simultaneously and immediately dump all their histamine. You will experience what the medicos describe as "exquisite pruritis" for about a full minute. Hint: when medicos use the word "exquisite", it doesn't mean what you think it does.

If you have a dose of poison oak/ivy/sumac as bad as you describe, you will briefly go insane with the itching. You WILL thrash around. (You did remember to put down those bath mats?) But as quickly as it starts it fades, and then you'll have about 4-5 hours of relief before the mast cells build up the supplies of histamine.

The keys are hot water, submerge quickly (or the leg you put in will itch so badly that you'll never get the rest of your body into the water), and be willing to experience 5 hours worth of itching in one minute.

Good luck.

booker · 02-14-2007, 20:55

In the future, have a bottle of Technu in the house. If you wash any potentially "infected" areas within a few hour period it will prevent or greatly diminish those symptoms that you are currently experiencing.

lksteve · 02-14-2007, 21:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by booker

In the future, have a bottle of Technu in the house.

+1...Oak'n'Ivy Brand Technu Outdoor Skin Cleanser to be exact...i won't say i swear by it, but it seems to work...follow the directions...i don't seem to react as badly as some, but i've been in it up over my head and after washing off with Tecnu, had no reaction whatsoever...of course, it helps if you can get into some clean, dry clothes immediately after bathing...and of course, you will need to either burn the clothes or wash them thoroughly several times before you wear them again...

to help with the itch, i got some anti-itch gel that is 2% diphenhydramine Hydrochloride...

hunteran · 02-14-2007, 19:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kyobanim

I don't know of anything outside of what you're doing but I have one statement.

I hope you forgot to name a couple of places here.

I didn't

Gypsy · 02-14-2007, 19:04

Yikes. My aunt used to have us kids bathe in a lukewarm oatmeal bath, IIRC it was Aveeno, and lots o' calamine lotion. Worked pretty well.

Good luck!