questionspoison oak (tips?)


Get cold baths or showers. Bathing, massaging with an ice cube or applying cold compresses on the poison oak rash will offer temporary relief. They give a cooling sensation that will ease the pain brought about by the itchy rash.

Let the area dry. To help reduce the itching and oozing of the painful, red blisters, the infected area should be left to air dry.

Make use of antihistamines. You can also ask your doctor to advise some medications like antihistamines that you can use to get rid of poison oak rash. These medications can be taken either orally or applied topically, depending on your doctor’s recommendation. A popular example of an antihistamine is Benadryl, which delivers anti-allergy effects and provides mild relief from poison oak.


Get yourself some Super Ivy Dry. Hands down the best stuff you can get for poison ivy/oak.


I've used lye soap (you know, the old fashioned pioneer soap) since I was little. Apparently my mom read somewhere that it's good for drying up the rash, and it works too. You just wet the soap and rub it on the rash and leave it. I learned from my chemistry professor in college it's probably the NaOH in it that dries it up. Doesn't do anything for the itch though, I just take Benadryl.

The only time a doctor has ever given me anything for poison ivy/oak, it was some sort of topical steroid ointment that didn't work all that well, for me, and left me feeling like I'd fallen into a vat of Vaseline!


@unclefrog: I've used the Ivy dry before too, it works well.


The problem is that poison ivy/oak poison is oil based, and needs to be removed so that it doesn't spread.

If you know you've been exposed, you can often prevent a lot of the rash by washing with bleach or lye soap.

After that, ice cubes and amonia help.


Go to the doctor and get a steroid shot, that's the quickest way to get rid of the itching.


You don't say what area you live in, but if you are near the ocean, sea water actually worked best for me. It dried it up within 24hrs.

Prior to that, I used oatmeal, Aveeno, calamine, rubbing alcohol, Benadryl, corn starch, baking soda,Solarcaine, Lanacaine and finally: a washcloth soaked in almost boiling water and immediately applied to the area. Of those, the hot water actually worked best as the itching died away for a short period of time. Ultimately, it was the ocean water that got rid of it, though.


Warsh da areas wid sum rubbin' alkuhol n apli n ice pak


go to dr get prednisone. it will make you feel so much less itchy. Also steroid shot = depomedrol. That shot does rock. real steroids will make the itch like the hulk ivy gave you a massage


Seriously... Tecnu skin cleanser is the best we've ever used. We live in the Santa Cruz Mountains where poison oak is fairly prevalent. You can get this stuff at most any drugstore these days. Follow directions. It should clear up within a few days. Oh yeah, benedryl too.


Awesome :D...all the info is way appreciated - I'll use probably try most of 'em (maybe not all at once though..)

Quite a bit of the stuff I've never tried, like lye soap or the Super Ivy Dry. Thanks for the help.

(I'm in the Northwest/westcoast)

The pharmaceutical route is definitely the quickest & most comfortable route to go. Gotta love steroids :). I have some left-over steroid cream that I'm pretty sure helped nip it in the bud, just not soon enough. So now I've just been covering my legs knee to ankle in Calamine lotion heh [ed: The downside is, it's by FAR the most expensive and time consuming solution too though (doc. appmt.)]

All of this stuff will be great to know for future poison oak encounters too.

Not to mention, now we have a Poison Oak/Ivy repository, for the next Wooter who's dumb enough to go frolicking it the stuff :D - Gotta love the Questions section.


Jewelweed is a safe, natural remedy for poison ivy/oak/sumac. It also frequently grows near these irritating plants, so is readily available for immediate treatment. (Assuming you realize you were exposed)