🚀 go-pugleaf

I live in a big batch of poison oak and I can't even avoid the stuff if I 
stay inside because my dog goes out.  Every episode of brush cutting or
hiking will lead to poison oak, and during the summer I always have a few
low-level spots some where on my body.  I *can* get very bad reactions and
I have talked with more than one doctor about it.  Things I have learned:

*shower with *cold* or *cool* water if you think you have been exposed, and
use detergent instead of soap (dish washing liquid).  This is better at
getting off the oil.

*You can try the new "Tecnu" Oak and Ivy wash or Oak and Ivy armor which is
recommended by some dermatologists.  It is expensive and not widely available.
I just got some, but I haven't tried it yet.

*There exists a shot you can take that will lessen your reaction (even prevent
it if you are lucky), but you have to take it at the very beginning of the 
season before you have any exposure to it (kind of a mythical time for me).
This shot is much more discussed back east than here, but the shot for poison
ivy and poison oak are the same.

*Once the skin lesions start oozing, you don't want them covered if
you can help it.  Unless you have a very bad case or you are healing
from surgery or something it is more annoying than permanently
damaging.  As far as I can tell, doctors will give you prednisone at
the drop of a hat, but, for me, taking prednisone is almost always
worse than the skin lesions (because it seems to rip the hell out of
my stomache).  The lesions last a long time, and they are ugly, but
except in cases like that that started this discussion they aren't
dangerous.  It is possible to just stick it out and apply topical
treatment. I found cool compresses made from some powder a doctor gave
me to help me a lot--especially before bed. I suspect the baking soda
suggestion would work too.

*You can't get poison oak from someone with the lesions, but if they still
have the oil on their possessions you can get it too.  Ocassionally I get
the oil on something and manage to reinfect myself several times before I
figure out that I need to wash the item in question.  I once got it on
a favorite pen and made myself miserable for about a month.

--
Tracy Larrabee		larrabee@cse.ucsc.edu