Hydrotherapy
★★★★★
Then, in my late 20s while staying at a summer cabin in the woods, I came back from a walk one day to feel an itchy patch on my leg. Uh oh. So I quick went into the shower to wash off any oil before it got spread any farther.
The warm water felt so good, that I increased the heat and focused the water jet on that part of my leg for several seconds. Ahhh. Since that worked, I increased the heat some more. Ohhh, ahhh, even better. It felt like I was scratching it without scratching it.
I got the temp as hot as I could stand it, when the thought entered my head to blast it with cold. So I did. I let the icy cold water run on it for several seconds. Feeling relief and no more itching, I dried off, got dressed and went about the rest of the day.
A good 12 hours passed before I felt a little itching starting up again. So I did the warm-hot-hot water followed by a cold blast again. Another 12 hours without itching. This is great! Even better, I noticed that the patch that had been reddish was turning brownish.
It may have flared up slightly one or two more times before it totally disappeared as a brownish color in the skin, but it never spread and it never itched again. It just kind of faded away.
Of course, you would want to do this water therapy with a cloth if the rash is on your face or neck; but anywhere else on the body, with the shower head pointing at the spot, heat will do the trick. The best part? It only takes a few minutes and - it's free!
Hydrotherapy
★★★★★
He put cold water in half of our double sink and warm/hot water in the other half. He set a timer for 7 minutes and alternated hot and cold, beginning and ending with cool. It brought relief to the itching and to the swelling.
He is now able to make a fist and and can go to work. (He needs to be able to hold hand tools.)
If poison ivy is over a large part of the body, hydrotherapy can be done in the shower alternating warm and cool. Of course if poison ivy is over a large part of the body, medical attention may be needed as well. It can get out of control and become systemic, and even cause fever.
~Mama to Many~
Ice Water
★★★★★
After 2 or 3 days the poison Ivy was gone. Thank you so much for sharing this.
Ice Water
★★★★★
The relief is immediate and lasts for two to ten hours (depending upon how severe your poison ivy reaction is). Repeat as many times the first day as needed. The second day you won't need many.
By the third day you are almost home. WHY does it work? Heat is a catalyst for ALL biological reactions. Heat speeds up biological reactions. Heat is required for all biological reactions including poison ivy. When you put your hand/arm in ice water (approx. 33 deg F), the ice draws the HEAT out of the area with poison ivy. Essentially, shutting the poison ivy reaction down and giving your skin time to heal. HOW I do it: Just say I have a poison ivy outbreak on my forearm. I take a large ice chest. Fill it with water up to about 4 inches from the top. Then put in a full bag of ice. Maybe two bags. S
wish the ice around with your hand. If all the ice melts, then you should add another bag. When ready, I just submerge my entire forearm into the ice water. I like to leave my arm in the ice water for at least a full minute. Two full minutes is better. I had a friend who once had poison ivy on almost all areas of his body. He took quick baths in the bath tub in ice water. It worked and in 3 days he was done. That's it. Works 100% of the time. William Note that heat is a catalyst for chemical, bacterial, and biological reactions.
(TX)
02/28/2019
★★★★★
Thank you for the ice water suggestion! I've tried many things for poison ivy and this is now my absolute favorite. Nothing else has stopped the itch immediately. THANK YOU! Side note; no way would I be able to stand ice water for two minutes. So that probably should vary person to person. For me somewhere around 45 seconds to a minute was good enough to keep the itch at bay for a few hours. And the swelling went down and has stayed down.
Ionic Zinc
★★★★★
This past July I got it again though in 66 years I've only had it twice. Looking for relief, I remembered zinc in pill form clears up my granddaughter's eczema. I had a bottle of ionic zinc and knowing it is good for skin I decided to see if it would offer some relief from the blistering and itch. Ionic zinc is a liquid. Mine came in a blue bottle with a dropper. I put a bit on every tingle, pimple and start of an outbreak.
I immediately had what felt like an electrical charge or tiny pin pricks. It was a bit overwhelming at first and I wondered if it was a very smart idea but the sensation eased and in a short time blisters appeared. Poison ivy takes days to blister and you aren't on your way to healing until your skin is a full blown mess. What got me to apply the ionic zinc again that evening was the fact that once I applied the zinc the itching stopped.
I applied it morning and night, a small amount. It is like water with a bit of oil, you need to shake the bottle and pump the dropper so you have the mixed ionic zinc in the dropper. I don't know the science behind it but I know it worked. If you've had poison ivy you know how long it takes to surface, blister, weep and finally start to go away. The ionic zinc got rid of all of it within a week, full cycle, start to finish. It surfaced, dried up and went away with no itch.
The only side effect I experienced was that the skin on my arms, after the poison ivy healed, was wrinkly and very dry.
I probably could have been more careful applying the zinc only to the poison ivy, maybe have used a q-tip. I put coconut oil on the dry patches and used a soft skin brush when I bathed. After a few days my skin was back to normal. Ionic zinc worked for me. Last year it took me three weeks to just get feeling ok with the poison ivy starting to clear.
I'm hoping this might help someone else get relief. Take care and stay smart.
Jewelweed
★★★★★
Jewelweed
★★★★★
At the end of the day, I strained out the plant material and took the remaining orange jewelweed tea and froze it in ice cube trays. These ice cubes are now in the freezer, ready for the next need. Cold is usually soothing for poison ivy, anyway.
Most herbalists agree that jewelweed should NOT be used internally.
~Mama to Many~
Jewelweed
★★★★★
Jewelweed
★★★★★
EC: Jewel Weed (aka Touch-Me-Not) often grows near poison ivy and is easy to locate. Good photos here.
(Washington, Dc, Usa)
12/06/2010
★★★★★
I picked up a Jewelweed tincture at my local health food store too. I'd had a poison ivy rash that wouldn't go away for over 2 weeks. The Jewelweed tincture cleared it up in 3 days. Now I'm never without a bottle of it in my house. I've tried it on mosquito bites and it's *great* on eczema too.
Jewelweed
★★★★★
(Washington, Pa. 15301)
06/10/2013
(Middle, Tennessee, Usa)
06/10/2013
If you can't get Jewel Weed, try some of the other things on the poison ivy page here at Earth Clinic... some really good ideas there that are easily available.
Also, I have a teenage son who has had severe poison ivy many times over the years. He has had to take steroids for it numerous times. However, this summer he has been exposed a few times and has only had mild cases. Perhaps it is because he is super careful, but I think some other things have factored in as well. A few years ago he had bad asthma. Over time we were able to get him off all prescription and over the counter drugs and inhalers. We found for him that if he took Nettle Leaf powder capsules (3-4 capsules 2-3 times a day) and a Quercetin Capsule twice a day, he no longer had trouble with asthma! If allergy symptoms increased a bit (this always set off his asthma, as did any sickness) he would take a few extra quercetin and nettles capsules.) He took this daily for a year or more. I think it actually helped to heal him. Now he just takes it as needed. But since Nettles can be used for skin rashes, I always have him take some if he has been exposed to poison ivy or if he has a little bit. All that to say, taking nettles capsules or drinking Nettle tea (at least a quart or two over a day) may help a lot, too and it is very safe.
Hope you find relief soon!
(Orlando, Fl)
06/11/2013
★★★★★
Externally applied DMSO will cure your rash.
Jewelweed
★★★★★
Jewelweed
★★★★★
Jewelweed
★★★★★
Jewelweed, Yarrow, Plantain Salve
★★★★★
a couple years ago I had made a salve with a bunch of jewelweed and a couple handfuls of yarrow leaves and plantain leaves. I think I soaked them (dried form) in castor oil and later added beeswax ro make salve. Its been in my fridge for 2 years.
This summer my friend got a part time landscaping job and he thinks he got into some poison ivy. His forearms were red and blotchy but hadnt yet formed blisters. He asked if I still had some salve, so I gave him some. The next day I texted him at his other job, as a cook, and asked him how the salve worked. I was curious because it was old. He answered, " it worked like a magic eraser" . He's the kind of guy that jokes around alot, so I asked him if he was serious. He said yeah, an that everywhere he put it was almost totaly gone. My wife and I went up to his work to eat dinner and I saw his arms, myself. I could hardly see any redness or raised inflamed skin.
Another thing im curious about is I just saw a video on "old people smell" and apparently it's a real thing and it's an oil our body produces as we age. This oil binds to our skin and no amount of washing with soap will remove the oil or smell. Apparently, a japanese persimmon fruit negates this oil and binds to it and removes it from the skin... I was wondering if this might also bind to urishol oil of poison ivy....anyone ever hear of persimmon as a remedy?
(Colorado)
11/10/2026
Keith, that's a great recipe. But sometimes people forget that the key is to get the oil off your skin and clothes. Scrubbing with natural soap will do it, every day. I used to swear by Tecnu but I think regular natural soap is as good (not dergent bars like Dove, they will harm your skin further). And make sure you get the oil out of your clothes or you will keep getting reinfected.
L-lysine, Vitamin C, Aspirin
★★★★★
One of my adults sons had a cold. I was giving him the following, twice a day:
2 capsules (total 800mg) L-lysine
2 tablets (700mg) aspirin
1 tablet (1000 mg) Vitamin C
After a few days he told me - "Whatever you were giving me for my cold really helped my poison ivy. I had some on my fingers and it was getting bad, but now it is almost dried up." (I didn't even know he had poison ivy! )
I recalled that L-lysine is sometimes used for cold sores. Something about it must be helpful when skin needs healing. Vitamin C is also helpful for skin issues. I don't know if the aspirin had any benefit at all to the poison ivy, but didn't want to neglect it, in case it did.
~Mama to Many~
