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Remedy for poison ivy -

ellenr22 - NJ - Zone 6b/7a

15 years ago

Due to Global Warming, poison ivy has gotten much more severe in recent years because, as the part per million of carbon in the air, rose from 200 to 300, the ingredient which causes the rash, urushiol, has become more potent.

I used to get PI for a couple of days, put some caladryl on it and it would be gone. Now I get it *severely*, blisters, insane itching. Last time I had it, it lasted 4 weeks (!) and left scars.

Now that I have the remedy I want to share it. [I have no financial interest in this product.]. I started using "Oral Ivy". It is a homeopathic remedy. You put a few drops in water and sip it.

Do this every 2 hours until symptoms decrease.

After only a few times I could actually see the blisters start to dry up, and the itching stopped immediately.

This product is also supposed to prevent PI. I have to take it for 7-14 days and then I will put it to the test, and let you know.

Another 2 remedies for immediate relief while you wait for the Oral Ivy are- baking soda or tumeric. Make a paste and apply it to the infected area. Just be careful, tumeric stains.

--ellen

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Comments (4)

rusty_blackhaw
15 years ago
The best known herbal remedy for poison ivy is jewelweed (fresh leaves or extract) rubbed on the exposed area (not considered very effective unless used immediately, and its overall value is disputed by some).

The developer of 'Oral Ivy' seems to be one of those people who believe in the ineffective and potentially dangerous practice of eating poison ivy leaves to develop immunity. If the current product really is homeopathic, there probably isn't enough toxic principle (urushiol) to do either harm or good. Some "homeopathic" poison ivy remedies may have enough urushiol to cause problems (see link):

"Warning: Some homeopathic treatments for Poison Ivy utilize extracts from these plants which are taken by mouth. The ingestion of Toxicodendron from this family of plants, or herbal remedies that contain it, can produce a life threatening gastroenteritis and, in my opinion, should be avoided."
ellenr22 - NJ - Zone 6b/7a
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes I have heard good things about jewelweed. Homeopathic substances do not contain any molecules of the treatment or the poison. They are energetic medicine. If they contain particles of the plant they are not truly homeopathic.

ellen
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herbalistic
14 years ago
I recently got a bit of poison ivy on my right forearm from digging out a clogged mower vacuum which evidently had picked up some PI. I was putting the Caladryl lotion on it + a few drops of plantain tincture and then a friend of mine says she swears by Tea Tree Oil so I started putting some of that on as well and it seemed to dry things up pretty quickly. It is now almost completely gone. The main part of it was shaped almost like a question mark or ear outline - due to the mower no doubt - and now looks like a scar. I didn't know poison ivy could cause scarring -- I haven't really itched it that much -- do I need to find something else now to clear up the scarring?

I am thankful tho' that even tho we have a lot of PI around our property I know what it looks like and avoid it and even when I have gotten a touch of it - it has been nothing like the terrible outbreak I had at age 17 after a visit to a forest preserve. It was all over both arms, legs and on my face. My arms and legs had huge welts and I wished I could just die - it was such agony. I've gotten a few minor spots on my right wrist [just below the garden glove line] here before [with this latest being the worst] still nothing like age 17 so I am thankful.

Incidently - urishiol can remain active on surfaces for 5 years and still cause an outbreak. Last time I got a touch of it was in March pulling out briar roots and there happened to be some ivy roots in the area as well - no leaves just the root therefore it snuck up on me. Wash clothes etc that may have come in contact with PI or you can get it from that again.
brendan_of_bonsai
14 years ago
Thanks for the real advice Herbalistic. Just to touch on Homeopathics, can anyone show that the energy actually exists? No Homeopath can detect the difference between a bottle of pure water and a bottle of homeopathic remedy, and the randomized water placebo controlled trials all show no efficacy or a lot of flaws in study design.

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