Entry bubble I Have Poison Ivy!

By: Joanne | July 01, 2008 | Category: Health

poison ivy My garden was, ahem, a wee bit overgrown, so I spent the whole weekend on my hands and knees weeding. Apparently while I was ripping out weeds with wild abandon, I came in contact with some poison ivy and now I’ve got an itchy, itchy poison ivy rash on my wrists, just at my glove line.

There’s a funny thing about poison ivy and me. Poison ivy and ragweed are the only things in this world to which I’m allergic. I have a pretty good idea about what ragweed looks like, but it doesn’t really matter – you don’t have to be in direct contact with it for it to get to you. But for some reason I’ve got a mental block about poison ivy. I can identify any number of cute little wild flowers that grow around here, but I never see the one thing out there that will surely give me a miserable rash. Go figure.

Poison ivy rashes are caused by oil that the plant produces, called urushiol. Typically you have a reaction after direct contact with the plant, but sometimes the oil can get on your pet and you can pick it up when you touch your pet (this happened to me once) or it can even be carried on the wind if someone is burning the plant. If you like to be outdoors in the summer, do your best to protect yourself. Your best defense is to recognize the plant and try to avoid it. If you do come in contact with the plant, try to wash the oil off your skin with soap and water. And remember, for any particularly nasty rash, you should consult your doctor. I had to do that for my first case of poison ivy, which covered my legs in red bumps and made me insanely itchy!

I hope that writing this post helps me (and you) remember what poison ivy looks like so we can avoid it next time we’re around it. Leaves of three, let them be. Leaves of three, let them be. Leaves of three, let them be. This will be my summertime mantra.

Image credit: Jennifer Anderson @ USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database

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