Bean Hollow - Poison Oak

Allen - Are you sure you are immune to its reaction? Better be safe than itchy.  Stay away ...

Of course it's not something I willingly roll around in and test.  I just know I've been in it before and didn't have any reactions.

-Allen

There are quite a few people who are immune to it. Sometimes these folks willl get a case of it if they spend the day pulling it out by the roots. After that, they are slightly sensitive to it.

You immune folks are lucky, but you need to be careful about getting the oil on your clothes and then sitting on somebody's furniture! I have seen it spread that way.

My dad is immune to it...  my grandma used to get severe cases from washing his clothes. 

You immune folks are lucky, but you need to be careful about getting the oil on your clothes and then sitting on somebody's furniture! I have seen it spread that way.

You just reminded me of a buddy of mine who is mostly immune to it as well.  One day he accidentally went frolicking in it, then later that day went frolicking with his girlfriend, if you know what I mean. 

BTW, if your are extremely sensitive to it, you may also have a reaction to mangos, or the sap on the stem of a mango.

Hmmm ... a quick Google search led to this.

The mango (Mangifera indica), a delicious, fleshy fruit with a large pit (endocarp). Native to India and Southeast Asia, this tree is grown throughout tropical regions of the world. It belongs to the sumac family (Anacardiaceae), along with poison oak, poison sumac and the cashew tree. People who are hypersensitive to poison oak can get a mouth rash from eating mangoes. In fact, there is some evidence that native born Hawaiians and Asians may be less susceptible to poison oak because of early exposure to mangoes.

I'm definitely Asian and I loved mangos as a kid and still do.

-Allen

You just reminded me of a buddy of mine who is mostly immune to it as well.  One day he accidentally went frolicking in it, then later that day went frolicking with his girlfriend, if you know what I mean. 

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I (we) know what you mean........oh, and by the way hunny, if you start to itch? DON'T!   

The mango (Mangifera indica), a delicious, fleshy fruit with a large pit (endocarp). Native to India and Southeast Asia, this tree is grown throughout tropical regions of the world. It belongs to the sumac family (Anacardiaceae), along with poison oak, poison sumac and the cashew tree. People who are hypersensitive to poison oak can get a mouth rash from eating mangoes. In fact, there is some evidence that native born Hawaiians and Asians may be less susceptible to poison oak because of early exposure to mangoes.

Very interesting Allen.....When I used to Mountain Bike with my haole buddies, I was usually the only one that didn't get the itch at the end of the day. And yes, I grew up eating A LOT of mangos in the Philippine Islands. I truly miss the wide variety of tropical fruits from the PI 

The mango (Mangifera indica), a delicious, fleshy fruit with a large pit (endocarp). Native to India and When I used to Mountain Bike with my haole buddies, I was usually the only one that didn't get the itch at the end of the day. And yes, I grew up eating A LOT of mangos in the Philippine Islands. I truly miss the wide variety of tropical fruits from the PI 

I guess I'm a true haole.. I'm getting itchy just reading this!

Z

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I guess I'm a true haole.. I'm getting itchy just reading this!

Z
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I was doing it yesterday(scratching), while typing to this post!!...

the use of the word "immune" is kind of unfortunate here.

It's actually your own immune system that causes the rash!

basically it's an allergic reaction.

when somebody swells up from dogs or cats or peanuts it's not because those things are attacking them.

it's becaues their immune system mistakenly thinks they are and takes unneeded measures.

it's not like it's a disease that you can be "immune" to, in the sense that your immune system does the
right thing and raises your temp, sends out the white blood cells, etc.

some folks immune system does not get all worked up about poison oak, but after repeated
exposure, it can, just like people can become allergic to peanuts or shellfish or seafood
sometimes later in life.

at least, that is my understanding here.

So basically, you do pretty much want to avoid it since you can pass the oil to other people
(just being polite) and also because if you keep being exposed, you could develop the allergic
reaction.

yes, just like they do with super-exposure to some allergins, super-exposure to the oil might
cause your immune system to give up reacting to it, I'm not an allergist, I don't know how that
works.

Best,
J

hey jmairey when are you coming up north of the gate for a little salmon "action"?

poison oak, just one more of the many brutal hazards of kayak fishing

Just goes to show it's not a sport for the faint of heart 



My brother and I used to get it head to toe, inside the nostrils, roof of the mouth, other crevices etc Use your imagination   Just like with the red-brown jellies you don't touch any sensitive body parts after contact

One of the docs I work with seemed to think it's not actually an allergic reaction



fishing must be pretty slow right now Nothing but a daydream for me at the moment

the use of the word "immune" is kind of unfortunate here.

It's actually your own immune system that causes the rash!

basically it's an allergic reaction.

when somebody swells up from dogs or cats or peanuts it's not because those things are attacking them.

it's becaues their immune system mistakenly thinks they are and takes unneeded measures.

it's not like it's a disease that you can be "immune" to, in the sense that your immune system does the
right thing and raises your temp, sends out the white blood cells, etc.

some folks immune system does not get all worked up about poison oak, but after repeated
exposure, it can, just like people can become allergic to peanuts or shellfish or seafood
sometimes later in life.

at least, that is my understanding here.

So basically, you do pretty much want to avoid it since you can pass the oil to other people
(just being polite) and also because if you keep being exposed, you could develop the allergic
reaction.

yes, just like they do with super-exposure to some allergins, super-exposure to the oil might
cause your immune system to give up reacting to it, I'm not an allergist, I don't know how that
works.

Best,
J

That's correct. It's an allergic reaction, so a non-reactive person isn't immune; they're just not allergic to urushiol, the oil in poison oak.

In my experience, "super-exposure" to the oil will make someone more allergic, not less. I have seen it happen in people who were previously "immune" for their entire lives.

Oh, and the mango allergy is to the latex in the skin, so an allergic person can usually avoid that by removing the skin before eating the mango.

Picture this;  A couple of kids, 5th or 6th grade, friends.  Out riding their bikes around the neighborhood.  They come upon a bunch of bare sticks in a bush and stop to pick a few sword's   They then commence to “sword fight” with these newly acquired swords.  Well the gentle sword play erupts into full on slap battle.  No part of the body was exempt. 
  Well after the boys were full of welts (everywhere) they gave up the battle and each went home.  Next day, one of the boys heads over to his friends house to go play.  His mom answers the door, and says Denis can’t come out today he’s sick”  Well, the kid was able to sneak a look at his friend in the house and he looked like Frankenstein!  Scared  at what he had just seen he rushed home, ( a few blocks over) on the way, his cheek and nose started to itch a little at one of the larger welts left by his friend.
  Was not to much longer this boy looked just as bad or worse than his friend Denis.  His face swelled up, eyes almost shut, like a boxers after many bad rounds, there was was not a non itching patch anywhere on his body!  Don’t scratch it his mom kept telling the boy.
Yeah that worked.
   Yes it was me! That was my first ever experience with that devil weed known as poison oak!  I don’t know how many pounds of Epsom salts my mom used in the bath for me, it had to be a lot!

  I still get the blisters, but they don’t affect me as bad now.  Perhaps I’ve built an immunity of sorts.  When I do get a large rash of it, it’s all about the hottest shower I can stand! OMG it feels so good to burn it away! (Followed by shock of cold water) usually the itch is gone in a day after that! 
  Anyhow that’s what works for me.

Troy
P.S. I'm on a mission to erraticate it from my land!

I've had it in my UPPER BODY and after that GOOD FEELING in the HOT SHOWER, it spead the oils down to my LOWER BODY, first in the tender/soft areas like behind the knees and ankles and.....DOH!   

I used to SNEAK at nite into our local fishin spot and could figure how i was getting it all the time, then I walked the path in the daytime and to my surprize.....i was walking through it!  had it for 9mos. straight!

hey jmairey when are you coming up north of the gate for a little salmon "action"?

 Just like with the red-brown jellies you don't touch any sensitive body parts after contact

fishing must be pretty slow right now Nothing but a daydream for me at the moment

I think I'm gonna rockfish on saturday and surf on sunday. or that is my plan!

Are salmon extinct now or will there be good years again?

John

Coupla my camping buddies were on a trip without me, (thank you baby Jesus), and arriving after dark they rustled up whatever scrub they could to get a fire going fast.  You can guess the rest... 

I saw one of them a few weeks later, once he figured the swelling went down enough to venture out, and he still looked like Brando in the Godfather.

Poison oak, ivy or sumac, never got it, my Grampa said its the Injun blood from way back.
Narragansett blood.