# Poison Ivy: a short play **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2010, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948 "2010-07-08T12:10:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/21 "2010-07-10T00:53:38Z")
> [@Ol\_Gaffer](#): > > This. Method. Works. I’m super, super allergic to poison oak and have gotten it more times than I can remember. Tecnu does nothing for me, although I have had success with the Zanfel that **pudytat72** recommended. However, I have had the greatest success with the hot water treatment **Mach Tuck** recommends. Only I don’t think it’s painful at all…in fact I find it unbelievably pleasurable. It’s like giving the rash the deepest and most substantial scratching you can imagine. It’s great. The wildland firefighters who turned me on to this method used to call it _oakgasm_ which isn’t that far from the truth. I am going to have to try this. I think I got poison ivy on my pants a couple of weeks ago, and it got on my ankles. Not showing up until after I washed the pants, which I did as soon as I got home. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/22 "2010-07-10T01:02:02Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > i had poison oak as well, hot water and bleach. the bleach dried out the uggy oozing and the hot water stopped the itchies. Yeah, he’d been going to the gym and using the painfully hot whirlpool tub there, until a couple lesions started oozing discharge. I think it was the most helpful thing - the Zanfel cost an arm and a leg, but didn’t do much. Other than the hot tub, 1% hydrocortisone cream has had the most success. Currently he’s buzzing like a live wire from the prednisone, but it’s not doing anything to stop the itching as of day 2 of the treatment. As for eroticism, this is pretty much the opposite. I tried to hug him in an unaffected area, only to have him yell, “Don’t touch me!” ---
**Author:** ![Ol\_Gaffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Ol\_Gaffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ol_Gaffer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/23 "2010-07-10T02:16:09Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I am going to have to try this. I think I got poison ivy on my pants a couple of weeks ago, and it got on my ankles. Not showing up until after I washed the pants, which I did as soon as I got home. It won’t do anything for the rash but it will control the itch. I find that, even with a really bad case, I can do the hot water spray once in the morning and again in the evening is all I need. An adjustable spray nozzle on a hose works the best. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/24 "2010-07-10T02:27:41Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > As for eroticism, this is pretty much the opposite. I tried to hug him in an unaffected area, only to have him yell, “Don’t touch me!” Girl, You need to get on The View right now so they can set you straight. Your. Man. Is. Cheating. On. You! Can you NOT see through this manbo’s devious ways? ---
**Author:** ![Ruken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f475e1/32.png) [@Ruken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruken)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/25 "2010-07-10T12:30:17Z")
> [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Yeah, he’d been going to the gym and using the painfully hot whirlpool tub there, until a couple lesions started oozing discharge. I think it was the most helpful thing - the Zanfel cost an arm and a leg, but didn’t do much. Other than the hot tub, 1% hydrocortisone cream has had the most success. Intentionally oozing discharge into a public hot tub. Eeeew. ---
**Author:** ![Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/bc8723/32.png) [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unauthorized_Cinnamon)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/26 "2010-07-10T13:18:28Z")
> [@billfish678](#): > > Girl, > > You need to get on The View right now so they can set you straight. Your. Man. Is. Cheating. On. You! Can you NOT see through this manbo’s devious ways? 😃 > [@Ruken](#): > > Intentionally oozing discharge into a public hot tub. Eeeew. No no, I meant to convey that he would use the hot tub at first, when he just had red itchy skin, but when there started to be drainage, he stopped using it - for obvious reasons! ---
**Author:** ![mozchron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@mozchron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozchron)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/27 "2010-07-10T13:27:19Z")
> [@Mach Tuck](#): > > The only way I could sleep was to take a scalding hot shower before bed time. Aim the water, as hot as you can stand it, at the rash. It burns with the heat of 1000 suns for a few seconds, then numbs. Something about the histimines in the skin discharging themselves. Painful, but it works. In my line of work, I often feed mosquitoes on my arm. THIS is the only method I use to control the itch. Hot water, as hot as you can stand. Hot enough to hurt, just below the damage point. It’ll itch like hell for about 20 seconds, then completely stop. \>5 hours of complete relief. Works much better than any cream, salve or spray. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/28 "2010-07-10T15:08:09Z")
I’ve used the hot water system as well. My best “cure” for poison-anything-that-itches-like-hell is a day at the pool on a sunny day. YMMV. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/29 "2010-07-10T20:04:24Z")
> [@Ol\_Gaffer](#): > > This. Method. Works. I’m super, super allergic to poison oak and have gotten it more times than I can remember. Tecnu does nothing for me, although I have had success with the Zanfel that **pudytat72** recommended. However, I have had the greatest success with the hot water treatment **Mach Tuck** recommends. Only I don’t think it’s painful at all…in fact I find it unbelievably pleasurable. It’s like giving the rash the deepest and most substantial scratching you can imagine. It’s great. The wildland firefighters who turned me on to this method used to call it _oakgasm_ which isn’t that far from the truth. The pleasure from the hot water is the release of histimines. You can do the same thing on any part of your body with a very hot shower by slowly stepping into the hot water. I do this when my back is sore. Can’t say it helps my back but it feels good. When dealing with poison ivy I use isopropyl alcohol liberally to break up the oil and then a good soap wash. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/30 "2010-07-10T20:45:33Z")
I’ve never had a reaction to poison ivy/oak/sumac (to say that I’m not the outdoorsy type, though, is the understatement of the year,) but I’ve watched my brother have awful, awful reactions - to the point that he breaks out if he’s downwind of a large clump of the stuff. Doesn’t look like fun! But this: > [@Unauthorized\_Cinnamon](#): > > Act IV > > Husband: The guys at work say you can lose your resistance to poison ivy over time - that must be what happened. > Wife: :smack: It’s looking even worse, and you’re scratching till you bleed. Why not call the doctor? > Husband: They’ll just tell me to try not to scratch and wait for it to go away. Honest to Dog, I’ve considered starting a business wherein wives/daughters/sisters can hire a total stranger to tell men something. Why is it that they won’t listen to the intelligent, well-informed opinions of the women in their lives, but they’ll take the advice of random mouth-breathing strangers on the street? ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/31 "2010-07-10T22:00:00Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > Honest to Dog, I’ve considered starting a business wherein wives/daughters/sisters can hire a total stranger to tell men something. Why is it that they won’t listen to the intelligent, well-informed opinions of the women in their lives, but they’ll take the advice of random mouth-breathing strangers on the street? And when you have that going, start an off shoot - a child-trading service. Because kids will cheerfully do chores for other people that they would never consider doing at home. ---
**Author:** ![Lacunae\_Matata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lacunae\_Matata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lacunae_Matata)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/32 "2010-07-10T22:56:52Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > And when you have that going, start an off shoot - a child-trading service. Because kids will cheerfully do chores for other people that they would never consider doing at home. Awesome idea! And so true! ---
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2010, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948/33 "2010-07-12T01:13:30Z")
As a kid, I was probably the most hyper-allergic to poison ivy you could imagine! I would get horrible cases, several times a year. One of the worst cases I got was in the dead of winter, sledding down hills. The doctor figured I must have made contact with the roots of the plant somehow. I have had it on my scalp, palms of my hands, in my ears, nose, eyelids, between my toes - anywhere and everywhere on my body when I was a kid. You have no idea what poison ivy welts are like until your penis and testicles are the color of tomatoes and itch like hell 24 hours a day! I had to be hospitalized once for a night as it was so bad all over my body - they actually strapped my hands to the bed (this was before any of the new medications). My parents tried every remedy they heard of - some quite bizarre - but to no avail. Luckily, I have since lived in NYC, Berlin, Los Angeles and now Las Vegas - not exactly hotbeds of poison ivy plants. I never want to get near another poison ivy plant! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poison-ivy-a-short-play/545948.md?page=1)