May 21, 2008
A First Time for Everything
Before I tore my ACL in October, I used to always think how great it was that I had never had any knee problems. The ACL tear changed all that. I went from nothing to probably one of the worst possible knee problems.
I’ve always felt the same way about poison ivy. I’ve heard horror stories about it from my husband and many of my friends. One friend had it all over her private parts. I won’t tell you how she got it, but use your imagination and you won’t be far off. Mr. BBM had it so badly that he had to get a shot of cortisone to stop it. Unfortunately, I can now join the poison ivy club.
Before our open house this past weekend, I picked exactly three "weeds." Three. I took them right to the trash and the next day things got a little itchy on my arm. Each day this week, I have woken up wanting to rip my right forearm off my body because it is driving me insane. Every morning I wake up scratching and it seems to be getting worse.
I’ve bathed profusely. I’ve been drenching myself in prescription hydro-cortisone cream, yet it remains as annoying and rashy as ever. I’m one of those people who gets itchy in one place and then feels like I have bugs crawling all over me, so I’ve been scratching up a storm almost constantly and am terrified that it’s going to spread to, well, everywhere.
When I tore my ACL, I had tons of friendly advice and I appreciated it greatly. So, how about a little help for a girl with some serious scratch-fever? Any home remedies? Advice on something that will knock me out until this passes? Volunteers to scratch me?
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Dear BBM,
I feel for you big time. It’s been quite a while but I’ve had poisen ivy and poisen oak in every conceivable (ahem) location – many times.
It generally has to run its course. But you can help stop it from spreading by NOT scratching (here’s where the Martial Artist in you can exercise some serious self control). SERIOUSLY. Self control will become your best friend. It’s exactly counter to what your body wants to do. But remind yourself that it’s like drinking salt water when you’re thristy – scratching only makes it itch more and spreads the offending oils around.
There were times that I slept with my hands tied to the bed post, so that I wouldn’t scratch.
Fells Naptha soap was always recommended when I was growing up for gently washing the affected areas, though it was hard for me to tell if it was ever affective. Most advice discourages the use of soaps altogether.
If you do wash the affected areas, do so with cool water only. Warm and hot water are thought to help the oils spread. Soaking in a hot tub is not a good idea.
One home remedy that alleviated itching for me was dabbing a diluted solution of bleach and cold water on affected skin areas (obviously not near orifices or eyes or clothing). This may not be good for skin in general, but it tended (for me) to take the itch away for a while (replaced it with a more satisfying sting). I have also read that a water vinegar solution is something to try and it is gentler.
Change your sheets and pillow cases often and discourage anyone else who is sensitive from sharing them. The oils can be minimally spread by porous materials your infected skin comes into contact with.
The best thought? This too will pass.
robert
I looked it up on Web MD for you: calamine and/or Benadryl (you might also try Benadryl lotion) is good for the itch. It’s an allergic reaction, so try treating it like one.
I have way more experience with poison ivy than I care to remember. Use benadryl creme and take the pills. The pills will ease the allergic reaction and they’ll put you to sleep. I believe in sleeping thru poison ivy because everything makes it worse. “Don’t scratch, sweat, or wash” is the medical advice. If you are a model of mind-control, you can “recognize the itchiness, focus on it, relax it, and put it away”. My advice. Take an extra benedryl. Good night.
My recollection from Botany class in college is that once it’s reached the bumpy stage on your skin it won’t spread due to scratching.
From personal experience I can tell you that if you have it bad enough it feels really really good to run super-hot water over it in the shower. I wouldn’t suggest this for a man’s private parts (I’m not sure about a woman’s private parts) but on areas like forearms and thighs the sensation of super-hot water beating into poison ivy bumps can’t be beat.
It feels so good you’ll want to install a larger water heater.
Another of our creepy similarities…I’ve never had poison ivy either. I can roll in the stuff and still not get it. But I work with a bunch of nurses and they say that can change any minute in your life. I sure hope not! But the nurses also say to go to your doctor who can give you a steroid shot of some kind that makes it itch far less and makes it go away much sooner. I want to say Prednisone but I could be wrong. The nurses swear by that though.
Seconding the super-hot water. Contrariwise, staying in cooler surroundings also helps keep the itch down (at least a little). Sometimes by following the hot bath with a quick cold rinse, I could keep the itch down even more for a little while (say 20-30 minutes).
Distilled vinegar — provides the sensation of scratching the itch, without actually having to scratch it.