Treatments for Poison Oak

One of the troublesome parts of being outdoors is getting a skin rash from plants. Living in the Pacific Northwest, I have come across Poison Oak many times in my life but I have never gotten it as bad as this last time. Luckily I have found some products that help to soothe the burning and itching.

I have never been very allergic to Poison Oak and usually only get a tiny patch of it on my wrists from handling the pets. I have gone walking through the wooded areas of our property and never had an irritation. As a kid we learned the rhyme: "Leaves of three, let it be." You can also spot the leaves by their red tips.

One night The Bean decided she did not want to come in for the night. She thought it would be fun to try and be a wild cat and spend the night outside in the woods. Too bad she doesn't realize that her bright white coloring makes her easy prey for many nocturnal critters who would like to make a meal out of her.

After searching for a couple of hours we found her up the street, stuck in a tree. It took three people and a ladder to get her down. Unfortunately when I reached out and dragged her out of the tree my arms must have brushed a Poison Oak vine. Even though I washed my arms that night, the next day I had red streaks running down my arms where the oils had touched my skin. Soon I had huge blisters on my fingers and I could not use my normal hand creams and products because they were irritating. The result was my hands and nails were a mess; No polish for me :-(

Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac are plants that cause a skin allergy called contact dermatitis. The oils from the plants create an allergic reaction in your immune system which reacts to the contact spots on your skin in a similar manner to how it would react to a burn. First the area turns red from inflammation and small bumps start to appear which are similar to tiny blisters. The blisters may get larger and start oozing and weeping. It is important not to pop these blisters because they are your skin's way of trying to heal the inflammation, like a natural medicated bandage. Popping the blisters will not make the area heal any faster and may make things worse by allowing bacteria into the newly exposed area creating an infection. The best thing to do is to try and avoid itching and touching the area as much as possible.

For more information about Poison Ivy, Poison Oak, and Poison Sumac visit webmd.com.

It took almost a month for the rash to finally disappear. During that time I used both the Benadryl cream and the Benadryl Cooling Spray. I like the spray better because you don't have to rub it onto the area which creates heat and therefore makes you itch. The spray also has a cooling sensation which is nice. Just be careful of open wounds because it will make them burn a little bit.

Ever since I was a kid my mother would give us an oatmeal bath when we had things like chicken pox, eczema, and poison oak. The bath uses colloidal oatmeal which is just very finely ground oatmeal. The Aveeno Soothing Bath Treatment has colloidal oatmeal shaped into little balls. The oatmeal is very soothing and moisturizes skin by creating a protective barrier to keep moisture on the skin. You want to make sure you take a cool bath because a hot bath will further irritate skin.

It's best not to use regular body moisturizers on the affected areas because they can be irritating. I suggest using plain aloe vera gel if your skin feels really dry because it cools and soothes irritated skin.

Normally it should take about two weeks to get over contact dermatitis. It took me a month to get over it, but I used my judgement to decide that I did not need to see a doctor about the matter because I don't normally have severe allergic reactions and the areas seemed to be getting better slowly with time. If your rash seems to be getting worse over time, and not because you are scratching at it, you should see a doctor because a severe reaction can be deadly for some people. You have to be your own best advocate.