What is Poison Ivy?

Poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac are the most common plants that cause an allergic skin rash that is often referred to as “poison ivy.” Urushiol, an oil contained on the plant’s leaves and in its sap, causes the rash, which is usually accompanied by small blisters and severe itching.

You can get poison ivy by:

  • touching poison ivy, poison oak or poison sumac plants;
  • touching clothing or shoes that have the plant’s sap on them;
  • touching or playing with pets that have sap on their fur; or
  • coming in contact with smoke when these plants are burned.
The poison ivy rash is not contagious.  If the rash seems to be spreading, this is most likely because the newly affected areas were exposed to a smaller amount of the plant’s sap or the areas were exposed at a later time, perhaps by clothing carrying the sap.

How Do I Treat Poison Ivy?

A reaction to poison ivy, oak or sumac usually occurs within 12 to 48 hours of exposure and can last up to 8 weeks. The severity of the rash depends on how much of the sap gets on your skin. Mild cases of poison ivycan be treated with home remedies, such as:

  • Oral antihistamines, such as Zyrtec or Benadryl;
  • Calamine lotion;
  • 1% hydrocortisone OTC
  • Cool, wet compresses on the affected area; and
  • Cool water soaks with colloidal oatmeal (Aveeno) or baking soda.
If the rash does not respond to the above treatments, you should see a physician. The doctor may prescribe a prescription-strength steroid cream or oral corticosteroids. If the rash has become infected by scratching, the physician may also prescribe antibiotics.

How Do I Avoid Contracting Poison Ivy?

The best way to keep from getting poison ivy is to take some precautions:

  • Know what to look for when you are working with shrubbery, clearing brush or walking in the woods. Poison ivy and poison oak have three leaves originating from the same place on a branch. Remember, “Leaves of three, let them be.” Poison sumac has 6-14 leaves on a branch—one leaf at the end of the branch with the others in two rows opposite each other.
  • Avoid direct contact with plants and vegetation. If this isn't possible, wear long-sleeved shirts, long pants, socks and work gloves to avoid getting sap on the skin. Make sure you wash your clothing at the end of the day.
  • If exposure is expected, over-the-counter products such as Ivy Block may be applied to the skin to prevent the urshiol oil from attaching to the skin.

If you think you have been exposed to poison ivy, oak or sumac, wash your skin thoroughly with degreasing soap and water as soon as possible. Sporting goods and outdoor equipment stores also sell specialty soaps that wash the remnants of poison ivy from skin and clothing.

Related Articles

We would love to learn what would be helpful on this page for you.

Articles by tag

2020 2021-top-workplace 4th-of-July 5-star-physician ACLS AED air-purification allentown Allergies announcement Antibiotics anxiety Aspen Hill coming soon Asthma autumn award awards back-to-school baltimore baltimore-child baltimore's-child baltimore-sun beach bedside-manner bel-air Best of Best urgent care Best urgent care VA beach best-for-families Bestof best-of best-of-2019 Best-of-2020 best-of-award best-of-awards bestofcountytimes Best-of-Jewish-times-winner best-urgent-care Best-urgent-Care-Bowie-Blade-News best-workplace bethlehem Biking Black-Friday blog Blood-Donation BLS Blueberries Camping capital-gazette careers CDC Cholesterol Circadian-Rhythm Cold cold-prevention colon-cancer concussion coronavirus covid-19 COVID-19-Test CPR cramp-prevention Dehydration dental-health Depression Dermatitis diabetes Drowning Drug Screening Dry-Skin eastern-pa easton Eating-Disorder employees employment Ergonomics E-Scooter exercise eye-health face-mask fall fall-sports Farmer's-Market First-Aid Fitness Flu Flu-season flu-shots food-storage food-swaps football For Parents For Women for-moms for-parents fredericksburg free-play Gastrointestinal General Generation-X-Health gift-ideas Goals Halloween hand-foot-and-mouth Hand-Washing Hanukkah harrisburg headache Head-Lice Health Healthcare Health-History health-symptoms Healthy Living healthy-eating healthy-living healthy-swaps Heart Heart-Disease heart-health Heat Heat-Exhaustion Heat-Safety hiking holiday Holidays horizonBCBS horizon-blue-shield Humidifier hydration Illness Inclusivity Inclusivity & Accessibility inclusivity-&-accessability injury-prevention Insect-Stings Insurance jetlag jobs Kidney Kwanzaa Laughter lehigh-valley life-support-class Lightning maryland Mask meal-prep mechanicsburg medical-records melanoma Memory Retention memory-retention Men's-Health mental-health Migrane millennial Millennials montco montco-pa montgomery-county montgomery-county-pa Mood Improvement Movember MRSA new jersey new-center new-jersey new-year New-Year's northern-va northern-virginia nova Nutrition Obesity Occupational Health ocean-safety osteoporosis outdoors Paddle-Sports PALS parenting Parenting-Tips parent-tips patient-first pennsylvania pets philadelphia philly physicals poison-ivy poison-prevention Power-Outage Pregnancy Probiotics Productivity Protein pumpkin recipe recipes registration resolutions richmond River Running safety Safety Tips safety-tips Seasonal-Affective-Disorder shin-splings sickness-prevention simply-the-best skin sleep Smoke-Detector Smoking Snow soccer sore-throat south-jersey sports Sports-Physicals spotsylvania Spring spring-cleaning St.-Patrick's-Day stafford Stitches strep Strep-Throat stress stress-managment Stroke summer summer-sports Sunburn Sunglasses Sun-Safety Sunscreen Swimmer's-ear swimming TBI Teal-Pumpkin Teething Thyroid tick tips-for-parents top-physicians top-workplace traveling-tips travel-tips Travel-Vaccines urgent-care Urinary-health vacation vaccinations vaccines Valentine's-Day Valentines-Day Video Vitamin-D volunteering Walking washington-dc washington-post washington-post-2019 Water-Sports Weight-Lifting Wellness Winter Workouts Yard-Work Yearly-Physical