re-learning a painful lesson

And itchy too...

There is a lot of Poison Oak along our coast, and if you can't idetify it, you should probably learn how. It is actually the Urushiol oil that is secreted by poison oak that creates a reaction in many people. Since it is an oil, it can adhere to many surfaces (including a dog's coat), and later transfer to something else (like your skin).

If you read the report on the rockfish opener by MCAG, you will remember a couple of references to Poison Oak. What happened to me in particular, was that it had been dragged across some, and while I was reaching across the yak to tie it to my rack, my forearms brushed up against it.

I know better. I should have used more care, and wiped down the yak before putting it up there. I should have used the Tecnu which is in my kit in the back of my truck.

Shoulda, woulda coulda...

Here is what it looks like now:

Yeah, it seems like I get Poison Oak just by looking at it!  It's no bueno, BTDT.

Heal fast my friend and stock up on the calamine.

Yeah, it seems like I get Poison Oak just by looking at it!

Ditto. I'm gonna have an outbreak from just seeing the photo!
I don't recommend this but for me the hottest water I can tolerate on the area feels so damned good.
Best of luck.

Last time I had it I used this stuff called Zanfel. It worked pretty good. Or you can scratch the hell out of it and put rubbing alcohol on. Its a good hurt.

Yeah, it seems like I get Poison Oak just by looking at it!  It's no bueno, BTDT.

It is apparently cumulative in effect too. Once you start getting it you become increasingly more susceptible.

Yeah, it seems like I get Poison Oak just by looking at it!  It's no bueno, BTDT.

It is apparently cumulative in effect too. Once you start getting it you become increasingly more susceptible.

Yeah, that's what I've heard although it didn't come from medical experts so I take it with a grain of salt.  I still shudder whenever I'm in its presence.   

That sucks bro....

BTDT...

My last encounter with that crap was about 7 years ago...I was doing sidework on the weekends landscaping...after work one day in thick Oak I came back to my girlfriends (at the time) house and stripped my clothes off and left them on the floor. Next morning I woke up early to go back to work and left my dirty (oak oil covered) clothes on the floor....my GF scooped my dirty clothes up to put them in the wash...poor girl only had one hand so she cradled the clothes against her chest when she picked them up (I guess she was naked from the night before...) and got the oil all over her breasts!! 

Next day we were flying down to Nicaragua for the summer....she started itching and breaking out on her boobs on the plane!!

After a few days of hellish oak swelling/itching/oozing in tropical humid heat we were forced to take her to the local centro de salud to get a coritzone shot...

Our relationship fell apart quickly after that trip...may have been the Poison Oak....or the used condom she found in my suitcase when I came home a few weeks after she did...she and I didn't use them so it was kinda hard to explain away!!   

Morale of the story....watch out for the Poison Oak!!!
 
Sincerely,

Jim

Morale of the story....watch out for the Poison Oak!!!

And for pete's sake... throw away your used condoms!!! 


 

obkook, I feel your pain my brother as I had a crazy outbreak with poison oak last year during one of my rockfishing trip off the rocks of Big Sur. LingKing and I had one of our best days, a 34" ling, 9 lb cabzilla, 18" greenlings, and bunch of boat quality rockfish; the stinger had to been over 40 lbs!!

Now this is where sh*t got off-the-hook. LingKing and I were fishing on a rock that we originally had to wade through a channel. By the time we were ready to call it a day, the tide had come in and created a wider/deeper channel which we had to swim across. Before taking the plunge, I took my pants off and was in my shorts. Once we got on the base of the rocks, we still had a very tough climb up to the top, not to mention now that we had a heavy stringer with us. Once we got to the top, the sh*t still wasn't over! We had to find the trail that would lead us to our car off Highway 1. Unfortunately we weren't able to find that trail and finally decided to say F*it! and just cut through the damn poison oak to get to our car.

I knew I was gonna be jacked up, but didn't realize I would have to deal with it for the next 2 weeks lol! I hope yours doesn't get as bad my brother

Morale of the story....watch out for the Poison Oak!!!

And for pete's sake... throw away your used condoms!!! 


 

Yeah no doubt!!!!

In my defense (?) my last few days of that trip was spent at my buddy's bachelor party and wedding...crazy, madness, debauchery going on all weekend...imagine the Hangover movie in a third world country with me being the tour guide for a bunch of guys from Chicago with pockets full of cash and appetites for various illicit things and good times....

There was like 4 of us in one hotel room and it was kinda communal partying space...there were probably various used condoms on the floor mixed in with empty beer cans, cigar butts, bottles of rum, and assorted other nastiness....

The morning I had to leave I just scooped up all my clothes and threw them in the suitcase and flew home...the dirty evidence must've been under some clothes and gotten stuffed in the suitcase by accident! 

Not saying I wasn't guilty or nothing, but it wasn't like I brought that crap home on purpose!!!!!
 
 

Sorry for the nasty threadjack....
 

Sincerely,
Jim

Morale of the story....watch out for the Poison Oak!!!

And for pete's sake... throw away your used condoms!!! 


 

Yeah no doubt!!!!

In my defense (?) my last few days of that trip was spent at my buddy's bachelor party and wedding...crazy, madness, debauchery going on all weekend...imagine the Hangover movie in a third world country with me being the tour guide for a bunch of guys from Chicago with pockets full of cash and appetites for various illicit things and good times....

There was like 4 of us in one hotel room and it was kinda communal partying space...there were probably various used condoms on the floor mixed in with empty beer cans, cigar butts, bottles of rum, and assorted other nastiness....

The morning I had to leave I just scooped up all my clothes and threw them in the suitcase and flew home...the dirty evidence must've been under some clothes and gotten stuffed in the suitcase by accident! 

Not saying I wasn't guilty or nothing, but it wasn't like I brought that crap home on purpose!!!!!
 
 

Sorry for the nasty threadjack....
 

Sincerely,
Jim

Thats interesting OB. I always thought that through repeated contact you could buiild you immunity. When I lived in Oakland, up by Montclair, the canyon below the house was covered in the stuff. I of course got it at the junction point after scrambling around with the guys in the neighborhood. One of the guys was totally immune form being aorund it all the time. He could take fresh green leaves, rub it all over and never get it. Another misconception is that you can get it rubbing someone elses skin that has blisters. No you cant. Another wierd one is you can have contact and the oil will go into the bloddstream and blister at some other point on the body.   Good Luck. Time heals. Your gonna need an ocean............. dun da dunta dun....... of calamine lotion........................... youll be scratchin' like a hound...................... the minute you start to mess around   

Last I remember it usually takes about 4 hours, give or take, after exposure before a reaction will take place; if you wash it off in the meantime, you're good.  That has to do with the body's time lag before its counteragents can concentrate on the affected area.  Allergies can sometimes be alleviated through repeated exposure but not necessarily; they can get worse too.  Subcutaneous transmission can spread the PO reaction.  I believe from first hand experience and a discussion with a vet that surficial contamination also occurs, hence the "change the sheets" every night response.  I'm now fairly careful but it used to be that if I had even minor direct contact, the reaction was systemic: blisters over 100% of my exterior and going a little ways inside (don't ask), eyes swollen shut for 8 weeks, the works.  I found the experience overrated.

I used to get around poison oak all the time when I was younger. I found a product called Tecnu
it counter acts the oil in poison oak even if you have the rash it helps stop the itching check it out.
It works for me. Now I have learned to be very cautious around poison oak.

I found a product called Tecnu

Yup, good stuff and it's best if used right after contact as suggested by Notme.