Poison Ivy Rash Pictures

 

When I was a kid, I remember my parents telling me to stay out of the woods to avoid getting poison ivy. They even tried teaching me the rhymes. Remember the sayings?

Leaves of three, let it be.

One, two, three. Don't touch me.

Hairy vine, no friend of mine.

Longer middle stem, stay away from them.

Side leaflets like mittens, will itch like the dickens.

Of course I didn't pay attention. I never knew what poison ivy looked like, and as an adult I know how that I have been right in the middle of it. Fortunately enough I am not allergic to it. Otherwise, I would have been in some trouble back then.

Although I've never had it, I always felt incredibly sympathetic for my friends who did get it. They would come to school with oatmeal crusted on them or white creams their parents applied. Hopefully you know what poison ivy looks like, and won't have to find out the hard way whether or not you are allergic to it.

The poison ivy plant is not actually an ivy at all. it grows bush like and can be about 4 ft tall. It can also grow as a vine. It produces urushiol, which is what irritates our skin and causes an allergic reaction, mostly a rash. It is an oil toxin that is also produced by poison oak and poison sumac. It is usually found along the edge of the woods and is pretty common in the Southeastern United States. In case you cannot remember these sayings, or your parents were not creative enough to teach them to you, the poison ivy plant has three leaves clustered together on a stem. The top of the leaf will be shiny and this is the oil the plant produces. The plant also produces tiny white flowers.

People's reactions to poison ivy can vary. Reactions will usually appear between 12 and 48 hours after being exposed to the poison ivy and it can last several weeks. As I mentioned earlier, some people have no allergy to it. In order to have a reaction to the poison ivy, you must have touched it. The oil is what causes skin reactions so there must have been skin contact with the oil from the poison ivy plant. Some rashes can start out as small red bumps and they itch very badly! If you get poison ivy bad enough, your rash may begin to swell and blisters will start to appear.

Some people claim that they are so allergic to the plant that all they have to do is be around it and they will have reactions. This is actually untrue. They may have unknowingly touched a part of the plant and gotten the oil on their skin. It is common to have walked through the poison ivy, and get the oil on your shoes. When you take off your shoes, the oil gets on your hands. If you touch your face at all or any part of your skin, you have spread the oil. The only way the effects of poison ivy can become airborne is if they are burned. If you inhale the smoke, you could develop poison ivy reaction in your eyes and nasal passage.

Also, to the contrary, poison ivy rashes are not contagious. They do not spread once you have gotten the reaction. It may appear this way, but this is because different parts of your body may take longer to react to the irritants in the oil. If you develop blisters and one bursts, the fluid will not spread the poison ivy rash. The only danger you have once a blister bursts is that the wound may then become infected. You cannot catch poison ivy from someone else who has a rash. The fluid inside the blisters should be a clear color. If they appear to be pus, you should see a doctor. Also, if you develop a fever, the rash doesn't clear up, or the rash is in your eyes, mouth or genitals, you should see a doctor.

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