If a poison ivy rash is just an allergic response, why do we need a special poison ivy treatment, anyway? Because urushiol, the stuff that makes us itch, is not like other allergens. Urushiol doesn’t go away.
Other allergens can be eliminated, and usually the body will recover fairly quickly from its allergic response. All you need is a little common sense. For example, if you’re allergic to dust, your doctor will tell you to get all of the dust out of your house (including dust you don’t see, like the stuff in your mattress). When the allergen is gone, your allergic response fades away.
Unfortunately, you can’t just get rid of urushiol. Once the poison ivy sap touches your skin, the real trouble starts. Urushiol actually penetrates the top layer of skin and binds to branched white blood cells, called Langerhan's cells, in the inner layer of skin. These bloods cells, with the urushiol attached, migrate to the lymph nodes. There the intruder is recognized, and our bodies attack it.
No wonder we get an awful rash! The stuff is actually in our bodies!
That’s also why the rash doesn’t always appear immediately. It can take between a few hours and a few days for the body to recognize the intruder and start an attack. That delay is a window of opportunity for treatment. If we can get the urushiol out of our bodies before the attack starts, we’ll be spared that horrible itching misery.
Tecnu
Because of urushiol’s special character, special poison ivy treatment is a real necessity for people who touch the plant!
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