[Community_garden] how to deal with poison ivy

[Mike McGrath]

Ha! Dr. Epstein was the premier source for my poison ivy articles. I met him 
back in '85, and he gave me one of the first test cans of Ivy-Block fresh 
from the factory (it was an aerosol spray back then).

I interviewed him fresh every couple of years until around '97; he's the one 
who hammered the 'water alone' into me over and over. He said alcohol worked 
as well, but that there was always a better chance of getting to water first 
and time is off the essence.

Read the poison ivy removal story I linked to earlier. He and I came up with 
a great system to get rid of the stuff without any skin exposure.

                                        Keep on Scratching!
----- Original Message ----- 
From: <yarrow at sfo.com>
To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
Sent: Saturday, January 05, 2008 1:35 AM
Subject: Re: [Community_garden] how to deal with poison ivy


> The postexposure external-alcohol-flush protocol was developed by
> poison-oak expert and dermatology professor William L. Epstein, MD.
> One of his research interests was occupational poison oak/ivy
> dermatitis (he died in 2006). Here's an excerpt from an FDA
> newsletter:
>
> <
> If you've been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac, if possible, stay
> outdoors until you complete the first two steps:
>
> * First, Epstein says, cleanse exposed skin with generous amounts of
> isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol. (Don't return to the woods or yard the
> same day. Alcohol removes your skin's protection along with the
> urushiol and any new contact will cause the urushiol to penetrate
> twice as fast.)
> * Second, wash skin with water. (Water temperature does not matter;
> if you're outside, it's likely only cold water will be available.)
> * Third, take a regular shower with soap and warm water. Do not use
> soap before this point because "soap will tend to pick up some of the
> urushiol from the surface of the skin and move it around," says
> Epstein.
> * Clothes, shoes, tools, and anything else that may have been in
> contact with the urushiol should be wiped off with alcohol and water.
> Be sure to wear gloves or otherwise cover your hands while doing this
> and then discard the hand covering.
>>
> source: http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/796_ivy.html
>
>
> Plain water may be less subject to misuse for some people, but
> whenever I've worked on projects that involved regular poison-oak
> contact, my workdays have lasted considerably longer than 20 minutes
> (minimum 4 hours). For several years, I've ended these workdays using
> Epstein's protocol, and have not contracted the rash.
>
> Whether you use water or alcohol, the important part is to use lots
> and lots, with no scrubbing or rubbing. Once you have washed your
> skin  -- even with water -- don't go back out to the Toxicodendron
> patch the same day. (Or, before you go out, apply IvyBlock lotion,
> which is the only FDA-approved lotion for prevention, then wait 15
> minutes. I haven't used it.)
>
> Severe cases of poison oak/ivy dermatitis do indeed require emergency
> care. On a field trip in the boonies where most of us traipsed
> through poison-ivy groundcovers without realizing it, only a few of
> us got the rash, but one person out of the 30 got a severe case with
> facial swelling and had to get to a hospital.
>
> Grubbing out the roots can be especially dangerous, because each time
> you break a little rootlet you're releasing urushiol onto your
> clothing, tools, or any exposed skin. I wouldn't do this unless I
> were one of the people who's (so far) immune -- though it's not
> uncommon for people to lose immunity!
>
> After exposure, Epstein said, the key is to continue to treat your skin 
> gently.
> The itching can drive people out of their minds, judging from
> anecdotes on the lay websites devoted to poison ivy/oak. Tales of
> scraping off the rash or putting household chemicals or solvents on
> the skin abound. These sites have almost no  useful information and
> are more interesting as anthropological documents.
>
> _______________________________________________
> The American Community Gardening Association listserve is only one of 
> ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and 
> to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org
>
> To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
>
> To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your subscription: 
> http://list.communitygarden.org/mailman/listinfo/community_garden_list.communitygarden.org
>
>