According to the American Academy of Dermatology, about 85 percent of people who come in contact with poison ivy will suffer an allergic reaction to this common plant. Some people may be exposed to poison ivy several times before having a reaction, but others can suffer after their first contact. These steps will help you heal from the blistering, itchy rash caused by poison ivy.
Instructions
1. Wipe the affected area with isopropyl alcohol. Alcohol removes urushiol--the chemical in poison ivy that causes rash, blistering and itchiness--from your skin.
2. Rinse your skin with water. It is best to wipe with alcohol and rinse with water while you are still outside, so that you don't carry any urushiol into your home. Cold water is fine if that is all you have available.
3. Shower, using warm water and your usual bath soap. Apply the lather using your bare hands, rather than a washcloth or pouf, as the fabric might pick up any urushiol you missed and move it to other parts of your body. Rinse the soap off well.
4. Apply a topical cream, such as calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream, or take an over-the-counter antihistamine pill. These medications will help counteract the allergic reaction you are experiencing.
5. Take a skin-soothing oatmeal bath by filling a coffee filter with oatmeal and wrapping a rubber band around the opening of the filter to secure the oatmeal. Allow the oatmeal to steep in the bathwater while you relax.
Tags: allergic reaction, will help, with water, your skin