Poison Ivy

[3ofusnow]

I stumbled upon some poison ivy last weekend when we were camping and fortunately I had calamine lotion with us. Is there anything you can use that you might find in the woods if you forget the calamine?

 

[BigBackyard]

There is a plant called jewelweed but unfortunately it's not the juice of the plant that helps. You need a kind of concentrated extract, and its hard to distil. Most people just buy it.

 

[woodzman]

There is a plant called jewelweed but unfortunately it's not the juice of the plant that helps. You need a kind of concentrated extract, and its hard to distil. Most people just buy it.

I have to respectfully disagree with you on this. I've used both orange and yellow jewelweed for thirty years with good results on poison ivy, poison oak, bee stings, insect bites and other skin irritations. Of the two, the orange variety seems to work the best for me. I don't doubt that a distilled version might work better and if you've tried it in It's natural state with no results, maybe it doesn't work for you personally. I'd still recommend giving it a try, especially if I was outdoors somewhere with no other options. I suppose somebody somewhere might be allergic to it, so you might want to try it on a small area before going crazy with it. Once again, no disrespect intended BigBackyard, just my opinion.

 

[Flowerchild]

I have never had poison ivy (knock on wood). I am wondering what this jewelweed plant looks like. Could you give me a description? I would like to look for it the next time I am in the woods.

 

[carolyn]

I have actually never had poison ivy either *knock on wood*. My Dad has gotten it so bad before that he had to get steroid shots for it.

 

[LakeLady]

I think that two of the most important items to always make sure you have with you while camping is the Calamine lotion and some Benadryl capsules. It also helps to know what any type of poisonous plant looks like before going camping. My husband is so allergic to poison ivy, oak, and sumac that he once had to get two rounds of steroids and use Caladryl gel on it. I am not familiar with any natural treatments that you might find in the woods, so I would definitely make sure you have those medications on hand while camping.

 

[calanta]

I have had enough in my lifetime that I should never get it again. I was always the kid that went into the local woods area and got PI or something similar. I heard if you eat it (which I never would) you can become immune?

 

[Adventurelover]

Thankfully I always remember to bring the Calamine lotion and Benedryl. Allergies run quite rampant in my family so these are a must bring when we go camping. They have saved our camping trip more than once.