Why Urushiol Requires a Special Poison Ivy Treatment

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 and Tecnu Extreme are products that can remove urushiol. I think it’s funny that the first Tecnu product was created to remove radioactive fallout dust from skin, but I guess it makes sense. A product that can remove fallout dust should be easy to adapt for urushiol! Zanfel is a product that can sometimes remove urushiol even after it has penetrated the skin and bound to white cells in the epidermis.

Because of urushiol’s special character, special poison ivy treatment is a real necessity for people who touch the plant!

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Avoidance Is the Best Poison Ivy Treatment

If you just avoid poison ivy, you won’t need a poison ivy treatment, right?

That one falls under the ‘easier said than done’ heading. In the first place, poison ivy, or Toxicodendron radicans as it is formally named, can turn up just about anywhere. In the second place, poison ivy can look many different ways, depending on what variety it is and what the growing conditions are.

You’ve probably heard the adage: “Leaves of three, let it be.” That’s a good place to start, because poison ivy usually has three leaflets. Two of them are opposite each other, and the third one is connected by a little stalk. That called “pinnately trifoliate leaves” if you want to get technical about it.

The leaves in this photo have a slightly jagged edge. That’s a common form, but they can also be smooth-edged. Other times, each leaflet can be deeply lobed, almost like an oak leaf. (Toxicodendron diversilobum, or poison oak, is a closely related species.)

This photo shows bright green leaflets. The leaves can also be a dark green. Often they are shiny, but they can look dull and flat. In the spring and fall, the leaves are often a nice bright red. It would be a beautiful plant if it didn’t have such a miserable affect on people!

Poison ivy likes to grow as a vine. It produces aerial rootlets that cling to any available support. It’s also happy growing as a ground cover, and sometimes it grows as a shrub.

Learn to recognize poison ivy and avoid it if you can. That way, you won't even need poison ivy treatment!

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Why Do We Need Poison Ivy Treatment?

We need poison ivy treatment because of . . . poison ivy. Well, duh, as my kids would say. We need treatment because a poison ivy rash is a miserable, itchy experience. Well, yes. We need treatment because we’re allergic to poison ivy? Close, but still not the whole story.

We really need poison ivy treatment because of urushiol (pronounced oo-roo-she-ol). That’s what really causes the trouble. It’s found in every part of the plant -- leaves, stems, vines, and roots -- and it’s what we’re allergic to. Urushiol causes our allergic reaction.

Animals are so lucky. They aren’t allergic to urushiol. In fact, the birds that eat poison ivy berries scatter the seeds everywhere. That’s why I have new poison ivy plants in my yard each spring.

People are not so lucky. About half the population has an allergic reaction to urushiol the first time they come in contact with it. About 90 per cent develop an allergic reaction with repeated exposure.

Not everybody responds exactly the same way to urushiol. Some people have a mild reaction, while others are highly allergic. Most people will get a rash if they are exposed to as little as 50 micrograms of purified urushiol. That’s really a tiny amount. A single grain of salt only weighs about 60 micrograms. About 20% of the population is highly sensitive. These unfortunate folks get a rash if they’re exposed to as little 2 micrograms of urushiol.

Urushiol is nasty stuff! No wonder we need poison ivy treatment!

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Do You Need Poison Ivy Treatment?

Do you need poison ivy treatment? Actually, you should have a treatment available any time you get near poison ivy. That's why I hate the stuff so much!

Most of the population is allergic to poison ivy --around 90%, most authorities say. Even worse, individual sensitivity changes over time -- so if you aren't allergic to it now, you probably will be allergic to it later!

A person's reaction can change over time, too. Often, the allergic reaction increases. If you have a small rash the first time you're exposed to poison ivy, don't assume you'll always react that way. The reaction tends to get stronger with each exposure.

That's why you should keep a poison ivy treatment handy if you're likely to be near poison ivy.

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