Poison Oak

Hasn't worked for me yet! I have been peeing all over everything! The good news, I don't think the cat is going to shit in my flower bed for a while! I know for certain, there is no poison oak there....

I've had it three times, each time being worse than the last.  One spring we went fishing at Lake Don Pedro and in a calm cove I decided to jump in to cool off.  The water was still too cold for my friends so they stayed on the boat.  A few days later I started getting these blisters appearing on various parts of my body but there really wasn't a pattern or a concentration.  Yes, I got it on my pecker too.  My buddies started calling me itchy dicky.  The dr. didn't know what it was due to lack of pattern etc.  I finally went to an dermatologist who asked me where I'd been and what I'd done there in detail.  Told him about swimming in a cove and he deduced that with the recent heavy heavy rains, poison oak plants were  washed into the water where tiny blotches of oils were scattered in the calm cove.  I just happen to swim through some which is why the lack of pattern or concentration.  Some of those blisters looked like amber colored half golf balls protruding from my skin.  And oh so itchy.

I make effort to avoid those shiny leaves of three now. 

I've had it three times, each time being worse than the last.  One spring we went fishing at Lake Don Pedro and in a calm cove I decided to jump in to cool off.  The water was still too cold for my friends so they stayed on the boat.  A few days later I started getting these blisters appearing on various parts of my body but there really wasn't a pattern or a concentration.  Yes, I got it on my pecker too.  My buddies started calling me itchy dicky.  The dr. didn't know what it was due to lack of pattern etc.  I finally went to an dermatologist who asked me where I'd been and what I'd done there in detail.  Told him about swimming in a cove and he deduced that with the recent heavy heavy rains, poison oak plants were  washed into the water where tiny blotches of oils were scattered in the calm cove.  I just happen to swim through some which is why the lack of pattern or concentration.  Some of those blisters looked like amber colored half golf balls protruding from my skin.  And oh so itchy.

I make effort to avoid those shiny leaves of three now. 

I got itchy just reading that

Damn, that's a good one!  Never heard of anyone picking it up via water exposure.  Best defense that I've found is to wash everything (including yourself) in COLD water and Dawn dishwashing liquid after any potential exposure.  Backpacks, tents, helmets, harnesses, webbing...all that crap goes into a large tub for the scrub down after some of the nastier search/rescue operations I go out on.

Always been allergic to it, likely always will be!  Just remember, from now on be very careful when taking a leak, practice and perfect the art of the zero-touch peeing method.

+1000000x on this one......
From experience.

Repeated exposure can also lead to systemic outbreaks. I had it terribly each season during the first few years I lived in Bonny Doon. Got it from brush clearing, from the dog (who gave it to 6 people during a party), from handling contaminated clothing....just wicked. I started getting it from being out in the sun...no plants anywhere. Turns out the human skin can actually hang on to the oil if the exposures have been constant enough. Then heat triggers the reaction.

for two years I avoided all potential contact and it finally stopped. haven't had it bad for about 10 years now. Last time I got it was 2013 on the tops of my feet from wearing slaps on the SMC that low-bush poison oak is terribly sneaky stuff.

cold showers, dish soap, and tech Nu help tremendously.

My dad would use Comet (powder) to bathe with after exposure to P.O.  Seemed to work.  If he wanted to go really "gritty", he would mix in a little Ajax for the texture.  That would take a good layer or two of skin right off ya!

Crash brings up a good point--scrubbing with poison oak removing soap in a hurry..like after a hike on tops of hands and eye lids and ankles...and on the other important parts that may have seen daylight 

can stop it in it's tracks sometimes--if i feel that little tingle on a finger or my face and scrub it real good with technu then shower and scrub everything real good...it will only break out in that spot and subside...if i leave the oil on that spot very long after feeling the tingle..it's over! time for a shot..having technu in the med cabinet is a must

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4058406&emssrcid=PPC%3AgooPLAs%3ABrandsEastern_Mountain_Sports&adpos=1o3&creative=51273115845&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CKaixfjv-MMCFQaTfgodZHAAxQ

Tecnu is the ticket for dealing with poison oak.  When I was still working in the woods, seems like years ago, oh wait, it was years ago, I used to keep a quart bottle in the shower and a quart next to the sink in the garage.

Anyone ever hear of using mud to get it off of you in the field? It's what I do if I come in contact with it and there's a handy puddle nearby. Otherwise wash up soon.
I haven't gotten it since I was younger. I know what it looks like and stay away from it.
It's coming out strong right now.

Whether folklore or not I got it bad in my late teens on Mt Umnuhm (sp?). Have never had it since and I take no care to avoid and am always outdoors. Feel like I am immune now? Can rub it directly on my arm to no effect.

Crash brings up a good point--scrubbing with poison oak removing soap in a hurry..like after a hike on tops of hands and eye lids and ankles...and on the other important parts that may have seen daylight 

can stop it in it's tracks sometimes--if i feel that little tingle on a finger or my face and scrub it real good with technu then shower and scrub everything real good...it will only break out in that spot and subside...if i leave the oil on that spot very long after feeling the tingle..it's over! time for a shot..having technu in the med cabinet is a must

http://www.ems.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4058406&emssrcid=PPC%3AgooPLAs%3ABrandsEastern_Mountain_Sports&adpos=1o3&creative=51273115845&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=CKaixfjv-MMCFQaTfgodZHAAxQ

Tecnu is the ticket for dealing with poison oak.  When I was still working in the woods, seems like years ago, oh wait, it was years ago, I used to keep a quart bottle in the shower and a quart next to the sink in the garage.

When I worked in vineyard management, we had boxes of Technu single use pouches in the office. Used it a few times when I was worried about whether I'd been exposed and it always worked.

I have had it many times. Used to get it pretty bad as a kid. Until I was about 13, then I stopped getting it altogether. I thought I had "built up an immunity." But then got it again on a backpacking trip in Los Padres around age 18 and it was pretty severe. This lead me to hypothesize that there are different 'strains' of poison oak...and I had simply developed an immunity to the strain that grew in the hills behind my parents house. Not sure if there's any rationale to that. But it's possible?
I have a small bottle of Tecnu in my glove compartment (along with other random essentials). The best is to mix some Tecnu with a tiny bit of dish soap (like Palmolive or Dawn...the kind that breaks down oils). Rinse off the exposed area, apply the Tecnu/soap, then rinse again. And don't fricken scratch it!!!

Anyone ever hear of using mud to get it off of you in the field? It's what I do if I come in contact with it and there's a handy puddle nearby. Otherwise wash up soon.
I haven't gotten it since I was younger. I know what it looks like and stay away from it.
It's coming out strong right now.

Not sure if it works but it's worth a try! I did this when I got attacked by a swarm of yellow jackets. Supposedly dries up the venom or raises it to the surface. But I couldn't tell ya if it "worked" or not because I haven't been stung by a yellow jacket since and hope I never do.

I have used mud on other stuff in the jungles of South America, and also for bee stings. Mud is the in-field ticket for sure. This all come about while I had not been in the woods for about two weeks, and at the onset of the flu bug going around. Kinda weird. Like I said, EVERYTHING I own could possibly be contaminated, seriously.

That definitely sucks. And not the norm, so I hope it passes or you can figure it out.

Until then...if you ever encounter this in the jungle...avoid at all costs!