Does calamine lotion help with poison ivy?
Poison ivy rash can cause extreme discomfort in sufferers, mainly caused by the itching that accompanies the rash. Itching from poison ivy can be severe, and many people find it close to unbearable. Unfortunately, there's no surefire way of getting rid of it straightaway, and poison ivy symptoms can take several weeks to completely disappear. There's not much that can be done other than finding some way of easing the discomfort caused by the rash and blisters.
Thee are, however, plenty of available remedies to assist you with this. Calamine lotion is one of the better known ones, as it has a welcome cooling effect on the skin and helps to make the itching less of an ordeal. It should also help you to resist the urge to scratch. While scratching a poison ivy rash does not spread it (as many people mistakenly believe), it is still not recommended to do so, as repeated or deep scratching is likely to break or irritate the skin, leading to infections. Resisting the urge to scratch is advised, and calamine lotion can really help with this.
To treat a poison ivy rash with calamine lotion, simply apply it liberally to the affected areas of the skin. Your poison ivy rash is caused by blood vessels near to the surface of the skin leaking fluids – calamine works to shrink these blood vessels back down. This should have a cooling effect, and bring you considerable relief from burning and itching. Leave the calamine lotion on, and reapply two or three times per day. Don't wash it off, but allow it instead to dry and form a crust. It might look rather unpleasant, but not only will the crust provide a protective barrier to prevent the sensitive skin from becoming further iritated by brushing against anything, but the lotion will continue to act as it dries, absorbing fluids from the blisters and the rash. If you leave it to do its work, it should do more than just relieve itching – hopefully, you'll notice the blisters starting to dry out, and the rash starting to fade, with any swelling going down.
Keep applying the calamine lotion for as long as your symptoms persist, but be sure to stop once your rash is healed. Continuing to apply calamine lotion when you no longer have poison ivy symptoms would most likely cause excessive dryness of the skin, which would probably lead to the reappearance of a rash and itching.
There are, of course, plenty of other topical medicines and natural remedies to choose from if you find that calamine has no noticeable effect on your poison ivy rash. There are many remedies designed specifically for poison ivy rash, which claim to help combat the symtoms instead of merely soothing them. A lot of poison ivy sufferers also swear by jewelweed, which usually grows in the same area as poison ivy. Others insist that standing under a very hot shower brings lasting relief from the itching. The number of different tips and remedies is an indication of the lack of one outright solution to the problem of poison ivy – it's always worth trying out a few different remedies until you find the one that works best for you.
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