The mighty oak

[Bear Heart]

And I'm not talking about the Governator.  I came back from a hunt in California only to discover that I had somehow came in contact with poison oak.  Doc gave me some stuff to put on it but I still thought about sticking my arm, the worst affected part, against a hot muffler the other day.  How long is this gonna last.  I have been back since the 9th.

[Terry Green]

Go to back to the doctor and get a shot.  I haven't messed around with that stuff since I got a HORRIBLE case of it in high school...I go get a shot and be done with it!!!

[Bear Heart]

Still in the Army so I pretty much get ointment and a kick out the door.  If it keeps up I am going to have to go to a civilian doctor and just ante up.

[Frank V]

Could be two weeks if you are really allergic to it! Go back & get a shot. Frank

[Plumber]

My son got it the other day clearing some woods out you can get that stuff year round . the doctor gave him some steroide I think it was predizone.BUT I AM NO DOCTOR I JUST LETTING YOU KNOW THERE IS A FAST WAY TO GET RID OF IT. good luck

[ishiwannabe]

Bear Heart...first off...hooah. Sick of that yet? LOL. Sorry...couldnt resist. I was in 7 years.

Get some Tecnu soap and anti itch lotion. Worked in the stuff after I ets'd, had it non stop until I found this stuff. It actually breaks down the oil that spreads the rash.

If that doesnt work, better go back to sick call and then hit a civilian doc.

[Drummer@Home]

Tim, 6 years for me, thats all I could take. I remember what its like to get what they give you and out the door. If you go back and whine hard enough maybe youll get the shot and get out of PT for a week. Just kidding buddy, Try not to get after it with your nails. It will be gone before too long.

[Chris Surtees]

Go to the ER brother...they should hook you up with the shot. Gotta love them Doc's but do not think they have the shot readily available to them.

[see]

a buddy at work swears that by boiling sycamore bark and drinking it will keep you from getting it.don't know about the taste.he does this at the early part of the season and says he never gets a rash.i don't know if this helps give you a immunity to it but he sure believes it.by the way i may try it this spring as i get it bad.

[Killdeer]

Do NOT eat the Bacitracin.

Killdeer  

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

Dang Tim! I'm really sorry to hear that! I forgot just how bad the poison oak is in our neck of the woods. I haven't been affected in years! I learned when I was fighting brush fires here a trick that seems to work for not getting the rash: eat a new and VERY small leaf of it early in the spring - you don't have to chew it, just swallow. It somehow creates an immunity. If you're REALLY sesitive you can get the same in pill form now.
   As for curing the itch I've heard of a few things too, like a paste made from the leaves of the Manzanita tree applied to the rash dries it up... My favorite thing to do with the nasty oak rash (and this feels surprisingly good, almost too good) is to take it under as hot a water as you can stand, let is soak. Once you think it might be burning (did I mention this feels good... sounds crazy, but you'll see what I mean)the scrub with soap followed by cold water, as cold as you can stand it. This will help clear the poison oak.
Remeber, all of your gear and the clothes you wore in the woods are contaminated and need to be washed in a separate load from your other laundry with warm water and a good detergent. Don't skip a thread.

If you think it was bad in the spring you should see it in the fall! Whew!

[Jeremy]

As with anything like this (poison oak, ivy, insect stings/bites, skin infections etc) it's the overblown immune response that's the problem.

The oil from the initial contact is likely long gone.  The soaps, scrubs and the like can work very well if used immediately.  They get rid of the oils fast.  After that though, it's the out of whack immune response that causes problems.

Your choices are to treat the symptoms until the response goes down, or knock down the immune response directly (steriods).  

The problem with the first choice is depending on the severity of the response you run the risk of it spreading beyond the initial contact point.  In short, your immune system could be so primed around that area that any irritation could set off a full blown response.  

Had a bad brush with a spider bite a year and a half ago... after the initial skin infection was gone the rash and blisters were still spreading... I could run my finger nail over an unaffected but adjacent area and watch it flair up.

[Bear Heart]

I am thinking that me being very sick during this hunt made me react so badly.  I have been around stuff like this in the past and had no reaction.  Tried the hot water thing and it is working way better than the ointment they gave me.  Thanks for the tips everyone.

[Jason Jelinek]

Zanfel really worked on my poison ivy. Its about $50 a small tube but works right away.  It's supposed to work on poison oak too.

[Jeremy]

I bought this really great stuff for killing the itch and drying out blisters.  I'll check on the name tonight, but it's part of a 2-part poison ivy system.  Poison ivy doesn't affect me, but my wife gets it by looking at the stuff.  The anti-itch spray is great though and it has some other stuff in it that reduces the pain and cools the area.

[BTH]

Bummer Tim. You did bust a lot of brush over the days we were there. Follow Juan's advice. I'm lucky I don't get it.

[doug77]

might be to late for you but go to wally world and ask for ZANFEL they usually have it in the pharmsey (SP) department It is a wonderful product if used a directed.

doug77