Do not touch the poison ivy
December 13, 2011 at 2:48 pm by sa
Poison ivy, oak, and sumac are the most common plants that cause a skin rash. Oatmeal baths and cool compresses have also been recommended to help relieve symptoms, being an easy poison ivy treatment. Unfortunately, if you wait more than 10 minutes, the urushiol will likely stay on your skin and trigger the poison ivy rash. You may not be able to stop it on your skin, but you might still scrub your nails and wipe off your shoes, etc., so that you don’t spread the urushiol to new areas.
Urushiol can bond to your skin within minutes. If you think that you’ve come in contact with poison ivy, you need to wash the area with plain cool water as soon as possible. This may help to get some of the oil off your skin.
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