If you think you have a rash from poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac, use this symptom evaluation chart. Use self-care measures: Apply calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream as directed. Take aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen as directed for pain.
Medication for Poison Ivy Rash
Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) These drugs reduce both pain perception and inflammation, so they can actually reduce the severity of your reaction while making you feel it less. Popular NSAIDs include ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) and naproxen (Aleve).
5) Ibuprofen (i.e. Advil or Motrin), 6) Jewelweed (also known as Impatiens biflora, this can reduce the itching but does not change the duration or severity of poison ivy dermatitis).
Apply calamine lotion or creams containing menthol. Take oral antihistamines, such as diphenhydramine (Benadryl), which may also help you sleep better. An over-the-counter antihistamine that won't make you so drowsy is loratadine (Alavert, Claritin, others).
However, in most cases, you can expect the rash to peak within 3-5 days after exposure. After that, the rash will gradually start to improve and should be completely gone within 2-3 weeks.
Homemade weed killers: You can kill poison ivy without noxious chemicals by dissolving one cup of salt, one tablespoon of white vinegar, and one tablespoon of dish soap in a gallon of water.
Poison Plant Rashes Aren't Contagious
The plant oil lingers (sometimes for years) on virtually any surface until it's washed off with water or rubbing alcohol. The rash will occur only where the plant oil has touched the skin, so a person with poison ivy can't spread it on the body by scratching.
There are many reasons why the itching worsens at night. Our body's natural rhythms are known to influence even the skin's functions like fluid retention, blood circulation and temperature. At night, the blood flow and temperature increase make your skin warmer. This may make you want to scratch.
Home remedies to help soothe hell's itch
Use ibuprofen, aspirin or naproxen for pain and inflammation. Take an antihistamine like diphenhydramine (Benadryl®) or fexofenadine (Allegra®) to reduce itching. Wet a towel or washcloth in cool water and place it on your burn to help pain and itching.
Take over-the-counter (OTC) anti-inflammatory medications such as aspirin or ibuprofen. This may alleviate some of the pain and itching temporarily. Consider taking an oral OTC antihistamine. These drugs, ordinarily used to curb allergy symptoms, may help reduce itchiness.
Medications such as ibuprofen, aspirin, or naproxen can help relieve the pain and inflammation from hell's itch. Try an oral antihistamine. Drugs commonly used for allergy symptoms, such as Benadryl, may reduce itching and help a person sleep at night if hell's itch is keeping them awake.
Getting out of the sun and applying a cool washcloth can provide relief. If your skin is painful, taking over-the-counter pain medications like ibuprofen may help too.
“Ibuprofen is a non-steroid, anti-inflammatory. In other words, it reduces inflammation and pain in the body, and it can also be used as a fever reducer,” Reeder says.
The painkilling effect of ibuprofen begins soon after a dose is taken, but the anti-inflammatory effect can sometimes take up to 3 weeks to get the best results. Ibuprofen shouldn't be used to treat conditions that are mainly related to inflammation.
It may seem like your poison ivy rash is spreading over time, but there are a few possible explanations. Different parts of the body tend to absorb urushiol at different rates. You could also have urushiol trapped under your fingernails or continued exposure to contaminated objects.
Another tip to try is dissolve one ounce of sea salt in a quart of water. Then, dip a cotton ball in the sea salt solution and gently dab it on your skin. The sea salt helps to dry out the rash for speedier healing.
Like other irritations to the skin, air is helpful to healing poison ivy or oak rash so it's best to leave it uncovered as often as you can. If you do cover the rash, use a sterile bandage applied loosely so that oxygen can reach the surface of the skin.
If you've never had a rash from poison ivy, oak, or sumac, it can take 2 to 3 weeks before you see a rash. The skin itches intensely where the rash will appear. Shortly after your skin starts to itch, the rash appears. If you have blisters, they break open and leak fluid.
Skin treatments — For some people, adding oatmeal to a bath, applying cool wet compresses, and applying calamine lotion may help to relieve itching. Once the blisters begin weeping fluid, astringents containing aluminum acetate (Burow's solution) and Domeboro may help to relieve the rash.
Do not use rubbing alcohol, bleach, or hydrogen peroxide as a treatment for poison ivy. These items will irritate the rash more than soothe symptoms.
Most cases of poison ivy go away on their own in 1 to 3 weeks. After about a week, the blisters should start to dry up and the rash will begin to fade. Severe cases may last longer, have worse symptoms, and cover more of your body.
Rashes from poisonous plants usually go away on their own within a week or two. In the meantime, poison ivy treatment includes over-the-counter (OTC) medications that can relieve the itchy rash: Anti-itch creams: Poison ivy creams include calamine lotion (Caladryl®) and hydrocortisone (Cortizone®).
Up to 85% of Americans are allergic to poison ivy, leaving at least 15% resistant to any reaction. If you are allergic to poison ivy, you're more likely to be allergic to poison oak and poison sumac, because all three plants contain the same rash-triggering plant oil called urushiol (pronounced yoo-ROO-shee-all).