I took my bike for a ride today. Notice I did not say I rode my bike today.

I drove to a local single track park, unloaded and headed in. Go to the edge of the first set of rollers and was greeted with a sea of poison ivy and sumac.:twitchy:

Screw it, I loaded the bike up and went and had a beer instead (no reason to waste a good day:thumb:

The last couple of years I have started having terrible reactions. Could roll in it as a kid, not anymore. I probably spent $200 the last three years on Zanfel.

I am getting itchy just reading about this!

advices ? poison ivy, etc., just don't ride thru it.

Boom. Problem solved.

When I used bleach in the rash, I just dabbed it on gently and sparingly.

I started wiping mud on my shins and arms where Poison Ivy will show up - and all too often. Also spread mud on my shoes. It doesn't need to be a lot, just so when I wash the mud off at the watering hole/dog-swim area (or my water bottle), the oils wash away with the mud.
Having said that, whenever I forget to do this, my girlfriend gets mysterious itchy 'bug bites' on her arms & legs...& I just act like we gots a mosquito problem.

:lol: I never read this until today!!! Inconceivable!

My cousin gets poison ivy BAD, to the point he has to go to the hospital. What we do to help is take chlorox bleach and a scrub brush. Scrub it in under warm water and try to make it bleed, helps run the oil out and dry it up.

Water neutralizes poison ivy oils, as soon as you realize you got the oil on you, wash down with cold water.

After you get the rash, something I heard and tried with a bit of success was:
Soak the body part in warm-hot water. Hot water helps release histamines, which is a trigger for inflammation and itching. It will itch like a B**ch while in the water. If you go long enough, you can actually deplete the histamine reserves in the cells in that area, should give you 4-8 hours of relief.

Think Mil Surp BDU's. They are lightweight. They tie off at your ankles, or blouse if you wear real boots. They are usually cheaper than dedicated attire, and think BIG POCKETS!

Leave it to gastro to again send me scrambling to google and IMDB to decipher his references :lol:

You must watch the whole thing, D.