What are the symptoms of poison ivy?
Exposure to poison ivy can often go unnoticed, because the symptoms of being exposed take about 36 to 48 hours to appear. When you understand how poison ivy takes effect, you can see how this delayed reaction can actually make things worse for sufferers.
The poison ivy plant contains an oil called urushiol, which is toxic to the skin. Being “exposed” to poison ivy actually refers to touching the plant so that some of this oil is transferred on to your skin. Exposure can also occur without having any contact with the plant itself, as the oil can be carried and passed on in other ways – on the fur of an animal, for example, or on clothing, shoes, or gardening tools. If the oil makes it to your skin, regardless of the method, you've been exposed to poison ivy.
Unless you're in the smaller percentage of people who have much faster reactions to urushiol, you probably won't show any symptoms for a day or two after exposure. This is because the urushiol doesn't do anything until it is absorbed by your skin. You may not even notice that you've been exposed, unless you're fortunate enough to see the plant and realize what's happened. If this is the case, don't wait for symptoms! Don't touch your skin. Immediately apply rubbing alcohol to the affected area, and rinse with cold water. Then you should wash thoroughly with soap and water, and take the extra precaution of washing clothes and footwear too. If you manage to get rid of the urushiol, you should prevent any symptoms at all from appearing.
Unfortunately, if you don't notice that you've been exposed to poison ivy, the first you'll know about it is when you break out in a rash. When this happens, it's too late to prevent it – the rash is a symptom of the urushiol-induced contact dermatitis that your body is experiencing as a result of your skin having absorbed the toxic oil. Small, raised bumps will appear on the skin, and the affected areas will be red and inflamed. There will be a lot of itching! You can buy over-the-counter remedies to ease discomfort from this. Sometimes, there will also be fluid-filled blisters on the skin, which will eventually crust over and heal – but they may first pop and ooze the liquid, especially if you've been scratching. Don't panic – the blister fluid will not spread the rash over your skin. If you notice any spreading, its not because of anything you're doing, as the rash can't be spread externally without actually coming into contact with more urushiol. Some parts just take longer to appear than others, and the poison can also be transferred around your body internally, surfacing in new places.
The worst thing about the delayed reaction to poison ivy is that you will undoubtedly be making your eventual symptoms worse in the period between exposure and the appearance of the rash. When you're first exposed, the urushiol will simply be on the surface of your skin, which is why it's possible to prevent a reaction if you realize what's happened and wash it off. If you don't, you will probably rub it in and spread it around unknowingly by touching the skin – for this reason, many people who have contact with poison ivy on, say, one arm, tend to spread the rash to their hands, face, other arm, neck and so on, simply through touching, rubbing or scratching with the oil on their hands. That's why it's best to know what poison ivy looks like, so that you can avoid being exposed without realizing.
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