Everyone needs to know about home remedies for poison ivy as well as prevention of it along with its cousins, poison sumac and poison oak. After all, they are everywhere, especially in woods and other places that kids like to play. It’s important to understand what they are and what they do, particularly poison ivy, since it’s so common.

Poison Ivy Basics

Poison Ivy is a green plant that usually grows in patches and fairly close to the ground in woodsy or weeded areas. It has shiny leaves, which is one way to easily recognize it.

Poison ivy contains a substance called urushiol, which is also found in poison oak and poison sumac. That’s the substance that causes most people to have a hive-like allergic reaction with extreme itchiness.

Preventing Poison Ivy

Poison ivy isn’t always preventable, but there are some ways to lower the risks, especially for your kids. One way is to simply teach kids what poison ivy and its cousins look like. That way, they can recognize the plants and avoid them for the most part. Also, teach your kids to wear appropriate clothes when they’re outside, such as long sleeves and regular shoes, not ones with open toes.

As far as removing poison ivy, you can do it yourself by spraying it with some sort of herbicide. You can also dig it up and throw it out or relocate it out of your way. Of course, you’ll need to wash all of your clothes and shower immediately after, since you risk contracting it.

Another option is that you can hire someone to remove the poison ivy. Whatever you do, though, make sure that they don’t try to burn it away. Not only can outdoor fires easily get out of control, but smoke from burning poison ivy can actually be toxic.

Treatments – Finding A Remedy For Poison Ivy

As mentioned above, you can’t always avoid you or your kids getting poison ivy. So, it’s good to know how to treat it. The first step is to wash the oil off of the person using rubbing alcohol, not soap. Soap will only hold the oil and spread it to others later.

Next, have the person take a long hot shower. First, they’ll need to rinse with only water. Later on, they can wash in the shower using liquid soap. That should help to stop the spread. However, it may not prevent the rash on the area that was in contact with the plant.

Another thing that you need to do to stop the spread is wash all of the clothes, tools, toys and other things that could have touched the poison ivy itself or the person with poison ivy. This may also include door knobs.

As far as home remedies for poison ivy rashes, the first thing you need to know is that the rash itself isn’t contagious. You can easily treat it by applying moisturizer or some sort of cream containing antihistamines. If the problem persists or gets worse, though, you may need to consult a doctor.