Seriously, I bet if I walked downtown tomorrow, people would toss coins at me.
Anyone have advice?

Well, with a rash it might be awhile before you can shave but for the itch of poison ivy, I'd suggest a product called Ivarest! I volunteered for a couple of years at a botanical garden and it seems like lots of volunteers at some point or other got into poison ivy . I got into a patch one day before I realized what it was and ended up with an aggravating itchy rash. One of the volunteers told me about Ivarest and it worked like a charm for relieving the awful itch.

Here's a link to info about the product: http://www.ivarest.com/ I got it at either Walmart or Walgreens ...

Please, do not shave!!!
Poison Ivy on the face is no joke . You should see a doctor ASAP. It may be that you are a good candidate for steroid (either pills or injection) which should reduce the time that you suffer...and reduce the amount of time you look like a bum trend setter .
Good luck and hope you feel better soon.

I agree with Greene, Brenden -- see a doctor, and just own the look; pretend you're in witness protection or something.

Weedwhacker said:I agree with Greene, Brenden -- see a doctor, and just own the look; pretend you're in witness protection or something.

Bahahahahahahwa sandy!

Great way to start a vacation huh

bhart90 said:

Great way to start a vacation huh

Oh boy -- not so much! But, you'll be able to tell the story for years to come...

Me. Hydrocortizone and prednisolone shot, stay out of the heat! Those bumps can spread poison ivy anywhere they touch. Seriously. I have to check the links above, see what folks recommend. If you see jewelweed...or if you KNOW you came in contact, stop immediately and go flush skin with vinegar and water, and stay where its cool and you might minimize the damage. No sweating!

Poison ivy can't spread from theeruptions/ vesicles whether intact or weeping. It only can be gotten from the plant oil. Can't catch it from another person or spread it from body part to body part ...unless there is the plant oil that is being touched and recycled. It can be on gloves, shovel handle, pets, shoes, anything that came in contact with the plant and picked up the dastardly stuff.

Once..a friend could not figure why she kept getting breakouts on her legs.

Turns out she fell with her bike in a patch ( she knew that ) and the bike picked up the oils and each time she rode..she gotva dose. Took her a month to figure it out.

I've always had good results with lye soap...

The secret is to make the skin less oily.
Next time... Wash with soap immediately after exposure.... And you probably won't break out.

Re the rash you have now?
Agree with grow a beard.

The secret to healing faster... Is to stop irritating the rash.... If you can stop scratching, you don't actually need to treat the problem area(s). But... Yeah, shaving seems like just the thing to make the rash larger...

Maybe I am super allergic, but the weep on me added new blisters. Also watch for beloved cats who stroll the woods to come strop your legs and spread the oil to you!

Do you have small pair of shears? You could trim the hairs away, otherwise you should not shave with irritated skin. Calamine lotion is good to keep the itch at bay, other wise it is really a matter of letting it take its coarse.

MISSINGROSIE said:Poison ivy can't spread from theeruptions/ vesicles whether intact or weeping. It only can be gotten from the plant oil. Can't catch it from another person or spread it from body part to body part ...unless there is the plant oil that is being touched and recycled. It can be on gloves, shovel handle, pets, shoes, anything that came in contact with the plant and picked up the dastardly stuff.

Once..a friend could not figure why she kept getting breakouts on her legs.

Turns out she fell with her bike in a patch ( she knew that ) and the bike picked up the oils and each time she rode..she gotva dose. Took her a month to figure it out.

Man, I got more spots showing up too, but don't know where to start, I bet it's on my car seat

It's been a few days. I'll bet your 3-day beard growth is really stylin' right now like all the young guys!!

bhart90 said:
I bet it's on my car seat

Whatever you do, don't wear shorts in that car!!

But seriously, have you cleaned all the surfaces from the eventful day? The stuff can remain active for years.
The lye soap works good, also Fels-Naptha bar soap but there are products designed to remove the Urushiol oil from surfaces like the door handle on the car, the car seat, steering wheel, emergency brake handle, the clothes you were wearing on that day, your shoes, etc.

Also ..the spots of eruption can show up over the course of several days. It isn't an all at once thing. You may have gotten a bigger dose of the oil on certain areas...and on other spots a trace..or...it can be as you fear..the oil is on a seat or something you used.

Gloves are a biggie and tool handles..

Right now my son is covered..he was outside pulling vines ....and THEN after 10 minutes decided to get gloves on and a long sleeved shirt..etc. Instead of getting a steroid first sign that he had a good dose....he waited until the skin was weeping and one eye totally shut..the urgent care doc said this year was a horrible year for it. He has treated many more folks than usual. So the weather/ moisture must have been just right in the piedmont of NC.

MISSINGROSIE said:Also ..the spots of eruption can show up over the course of several days. It isn't an all at once thing. You may have gotten a bigger dose of the oil on certain areas...and on other spots a trace..or...it can be as you fear..the oil is on a seat or something you used.

Gloves are a biggie and tool handles..

Right now my son is covered..he was outside pulling vines ....and THEN after 10 minutes decided to get gloves on and a long sleeved shirt..etc. Instead of getting a steroid first sign that he had a good dose....he waited until the skin was weeping and one eye totally shut..the urgent care doc said this year was a horrible year for it. He has treated many more folks than usual. So the weather/ moisture must have been just right in the piedmont of NC.

Amen, sorry on behalf of him too I know the pain, o e year I decided to be a bada...and rip vines off, shirtless from a tree, man, that was some week.....

I got clorox wipes I'm taking with me, everywhere I go at home today.

feel like bubbleboy haha

Hahahaha. You will figure it out.

Brenden,

Poison is the worse thing in the summer. You poor thing. I see your using Clorox, so I'll share....

I've become terribly allergic to the poison plants as I've gotten older.

The only thing works for me is to take a bottle of bleach in the shower with me, with a white wash cloth.
put some bleach on the cloth and really rub the area I have poison at or came in contact with poison plants.
Then rinse my skin well.... other wise I get covered in no time... must scratch at night.

Be sure not to rub any bleach near your eyes though...

It will take several times, of bleaching if your good and covered, and you will feel some heat...
But it will dry it out and kill the poison...

Shy_gardner said:Brenden,

Poison is the worse thing in the summer. You poor thing. I see your using Clorox, so I'll share....

I've become terribly allergic to the poison plants as I've gotten older.

The only thing works for me is to take a bottle of bleach in the shower with me, with a white wash cloth.
put some bleach on the cloth and really rub the area I have poison at or came in contact with poison plants.
Then rinse my skin well.... other wise I get covered in no time... must scratch at night.

Be sure not to rub any bleach near your eyes though...

It will take several times, of bleaching if your good and covered, and you will feel some heat...
But it will dry it out and kill the poison...

God, haha. Sounds like some Rambo stuff, hope I'm manly enough!

It's actually going away now. Just the nasty after-skin I won't get into.

I've been using exfoliating beads every night I shower, something tells me it helped. But who knows!