Poison ivy, and its pestilent friends poison oak and poison sumac, can cause horrible rashes for those unfortunate enough to be allergic to these plants. Urushiol is the oil in these poisonous plants that causes the allergic reaction and its attendant itching, burning, weeping, and cracking of the skin. If you get a poison ivy rash, this article will tell you how to get rid of the reaction, without having to wait 2-3 weeks for the skin to naturally overcome it. Completely getting rid of your poison ivy rash with the method described in this article will take only a few days, which beats the heck out of a few weeks.


Steps

1. If you don't yet have a rash, and are worried about getting one, then prevent it.
2. If you have a rash which is causing you a lot of pain and suffering, then treat it.
3. The real trick to completely wiping out a poison ivy rash is to kill the urushiol--the oil which causes it. This is actually quite easy to do. Mineral spirits kills urushiol.A nautral remedy is crushed jewelweed leaves if you can find it that is.

#The only over-the-counter poison ivy medication which contains the urushiol killing mineral spirits is called Tecnu. This stuff works wonders to kill the oil that causes the skin infection, thereby also preventing spread of the oil to other parts of the body. So, buy Tecnu, and follow all the instructions and warnings on its label.

1. If you can't afford to buy Tecnu, or are just too cheap, then there is another option for the desperate: paint thinner (or pure mineral spirits). The active ingredient in most paint thinners is mineral spirits. Make sure the paint thinner you have has mineral spirits in it. Simply put some paint thinner on a clean rag and rub the paint thinner soaked rag onto the infected areas of the skin. Be very careful around the eyes, nose, and mouth. The warning labels on bottles of paint thinner aren't kidding; you're not supposed to ingest this stuff. I would suggest if you had a choice go with the Tecnu because mineral spirits is a petoleum based solvent that can be absorbed through the skin.
2. Let the Tecnu or paint thinner soak into and around the infected areas of the skin for a few minutes.
3. After those few minutes are up, make sure to thoroughly wash, with soap and water, all of the chemicals off and out of your skin. The chemicals in Tecnu and paint thinner are not particularly good for your skin; however, they are manifestly better for it, in the short term, than urushiol.
4. Your infection should be pretty instantly killed and the desire to itch will also quickly subside; however, it will take a few days for any remnant swelling, cracking, and flaking to disappear.
5. Another way to get rid of poison ivy is to run the infected area under very hot (but bearable) water either in a sink or in the shower for 10 minutes. Not only will this get rid of the itch but your skin should return to normal in the next 2-3 days.
6. In the meantime, follow advice on how to ease the symptoms.

Tips

• Don't wait for symptoms to show up before applying Tecnu or mineral spirits if you already know that you've come into contact with poison ivy.
• The sooner you apply Tecnu or anything with mineral spirits to the infection, the sooner the infection will go away.
• The best way to avoid getting poison ivy again is to kill the plants you know you'll be in contact with.
• Poison ivy does not spread when scratched! When poison ivy rubs on skin, it will rub the middle of the future "rash" hardest, getting most oil in the middle. The outside will get oil, but not as much. the more oil, the faster it comes in. When someone starts scratching it, people think it is spreading. It's not! The rest of the rash is just coming in.
• Wash wherever the poison ivy touched you within 2 minutes of getting touched by poison ivy. It will not come in then.
• You can put tooth paste on the infected areas and let it sit for 5-10 min. Do this twice a day for 3 days and it will go away.

Warnings

• See a medical professional for very serious cases of poison ivy infection.
• Don't put Tecnu or paint thinner on your skin for the heck of it. It's not good for your skin.
• Follow all warning labels on the Tecnu bottle.
• Follow all warning labels on whatever liquid mineral spirits solution you use.
• Be very careful using paint thinner, as it could irritate the skin!