>> You're changing your mind about whether there was a solid basis for recommending a treatment in this case? Earlier in the thread when I pointed out that it was unclear where the "skin fungus" diagnosis came from, you said: "Ok - that makes sense.". No, I agree that asking if someone has been diagnosed makes sense. But we didn't get an answer - so we can assume nothing about that person ... yet you follow up on an indeterminate situation by assuming that people are making guesses as to what it is. We don't know if it was self diagnosis or a definite diagnosis. >> Your other link is on effects of herbal oils on bacterial cultures No, on the effects of essential oils on fungal cultures, as we were discussing tinea, a group of fungal diseases. Also, I suggest we keep in mind 3 other things here: location, location, and location. Trying to treat an internal infection with a substance only shown to be effective in test tube studies does require extrapolation that may be unwarranted ... some organ in the body may absorb or metabolize the treatment and keep it from reaching adequate concentrations where the infection is. On the other hand, when we are dealing with skin infections, essential oils can be applied rather directly. There are other studies that have shown that essentials oils applied to the skin of humans are effective in treating dermatophyte fungal infections - I know you've said that you can't be expected to look up any information beyond what is presented (which doesn't stop you from giving an 'expert' opinion on something that you are unfamiliar with) - so I'll leave one such link here, though it certainly isn't the only one. My bottom line - plants (and bees) have evolved to produce plenty of antifungal substances, and applying such substances to non-life-threatening skin infections appears to be a reasonably effective manner of treating such infections. Here is a link that might be useful: Broad spectrum herbal therapy against superficial fungal infections.

I too am EXTREMELY SENSITIVE to poison ivy and recently broke out in a similar rash after being careless while propagating my all time favorite plant, the philodendron micans. I also suspected that had to be it so I took a fresh cutting and dabbed the sap several times in my arm and didn't wash off for a few hours. Somewhere between 12 & 24 hours later, I started feeling that familiar itch and watched as my test patch gradually spread out the size of a dime and rose up with the little tiny bubble pattern I'm used to seeing with poison ivy rash. THIS SUCKS! I'm in the middle of battling it right now and in my research found this helpful article. I also read another helpful tip that said the sap from these plants can somehow penetrate through standard medical gloves so thicker gardening type gloves should be used when propagating and caution should also be taken when refreshing propagation water. I plant to purchase some thick, SOLID rubber gloves that can easily be thoroughly washed. NOT those gardening gloves that have a breathable section at the back of the hand and wrists! You should also clean the tools you use and the work area. Rubbing alcohol AT LEAST 70% grade is known to be effective for cleaning tools that have come in contact with poison ivy so I plan on implementing that. As well as never shortcutting again by taking rushed cuttings and not doing the basics like laying out a protective mat and immediately washing my hands afterwards. I lazily let my NUMEROUS cuttings drop to the floor (CARPET!) and I know I didn't wash my hands right away like I normally do. A couple hours later I laid on this floor in a tank top and got a mild rash a day later across my upper back and shoulder area as well as my ear lobes which I believe is from handling my earbuds right after propagating my favorite plant. PLEASE MAKE MY PAIN WORTH IT AND LET THIS BE A LESSON TO YOU... PUH-LEAZE!

March, 2013, I am not a botanist or an allergist. In winter 2011 my nine Ficus nitida trees froze just deep enough to kill the leaves and smaller branches. The larger branches lived and new growth occurred after several months. During the months that the dead leaves and thin dead branches began to break down, I came down with a terrible respiratory problem. The respiratory problem hit everyone in my household and recovery took months. Friends and neighbors in the Phoenix area described similar respiratory problems. None of us or anyone we knew thought about the F. nitida decaying in the air. We all recovered and in the winter of 2012-2013 the F. nitidas froze again. One morning a few months after the freeze, while sitting on the patio I saw what I thought was mist swirling and blowing through the yard. I discovered that the breeze was taking some sort of dust out of the dead parts of the trees. Large amounts of dust I should add. It hadn’t been too long since the last rain and we hadn’t had any dust storms to fill the trees with dirt. The trees should have been relatively clean compared with summer dust conditions. I thought little of it until later that day when I was working on one of the trees and became aware that I was breathing a lot of their dust and shortly became very sick. It reminded me of being sick 2 years before because the symptoms were the same. I believe it’s possible that as the plant material breaks down to small particles the particles become airborne and wreak havoc on our lungs. Here is an article about F. nitida and how dangerous toxins are trapped by their leaves then released when they die and break down. http://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FB%3AWATE.0000026521.99552.fd?LI=true# Unfortunately, it’ time for my trees to go. Bob Here is a link that might be useful: Capture of Particulate Pollution by Trees:

Japanese Silver Grass can cause serious skin rashes and welts if you have a compromised immune system. I was pulling out some of this grass and got scratched on my neck. (I was wearing gloves and long sleeves / pants.) Within 8 hours, the rash intensified and now covers my entire body. It looked like I had raspberries stuck to my skin. A trip to the urgi-med clinic freaked out the doctors and they did an entire review of my current meds and everything I did prior to this episode. There was talk of putting me in quaritine! I was then sent to a dermatologist because the urgi-med staff didn't know the cause of the acute reaction. It wasn't until I read the prior message entries did I connect the dots. Ask your doctor to prescribe "Triamcinolone Acetonide Ointment USP, 0.1% It is an oily cream in a tube and it takes about 2 weeks to see results. I will be eradicating this grass come fall.