Poison Ivy?

How do I fix it?

I am very susceptible to poison ivy, especially in the warm months when I am fishing and clambering around riverbanks.

Two products - a cleanser called Tecnu and a laundry bar soap called Fels-Naptha - are crucial to me for an ivy-free summer.

The Tecnu stuff (get at any chain drugstore) should be applied as soon as possible after you suspect you've been exposed. It lifts the oils out instead of just covering them up like that nasty pink stuff. Scrub vigorously and rinse, then repeat.

I use the Fels-Naptha soap in the shower later. Keep it out of your eyes, whatever else you do. You might feel somewhat abraded afterwards, but it beats the alternative.

Finally, wash anything you were wearing separately from anything else and do it promptly.

And if you don't know what poison ivy and its even nastier cousin poison sumac look like, get a field guide and find out. It's always better not to get in it in the first place.

I hope these tips from a fellow sufferer are useful.

Not sure I'd want to use soap with Naptha in it on my skin. Though, as you said, poison ivy sucks.

Yeah, I am extremely vulnerable to it. I somehow managed to get it on my upper fore arm. I'm very familiar with it, and this time is different than the half million other times I've ever had it. It looks like poison ivy, itches ike poison ivy, but it doesnt spread like poison ivy. Either way I picked up some Tencu at walgreens, and am fixing to apply it. I'll let you know how it turns out, and how long it takes to clear up just in case anyone is curious.

Any luck?

Yes, the poison ivy is finally clearing up after a week. I've been wearing long sleeve shirts all week, it's the only way to keep my from scratching it. I apply the tencu like 4 times every day.

I'm deathly allergic to poison ivy. The little bumps quickly combine to form huge blisters that hang off my skin my Ziploc bags full of water.

One home remedy where I'm from is to soak the affected area in bleach.* Probably one of those cases where the cure is worse than the disease -- like how my grandmother was given kerosene to drink when she had the flu as a little girl.

*PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. I'M SURE IT'S TERRIBLE FOR YOU.

Well, mouthwash takes the sting out of sun burn. I wouldn't attept bleach on my skin though.