9 Natural Poison Ivy Remedies

As a child I was highly susceptible to poison ivy. Even a breeze from a patch would get my little skin itching. So I was immunized by taking a series of poison ivy drops - the old natural way, no chemicals. This immunization seemed to last for about 20 years with no recurrences of p.i.

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!

This is the only thing that worked me. I was not able to put my arm in ice water for a full 2 minutes, I felt my arm about to pop off after 30 seconds, so I just did the dunk multiple times and this Ice water trick worked beautifully.

After 2 or 3 days the poison Ivy was gone. Thank you so much for sharing this.

Last summer I had a long and nasty outbreak of poison ivy.

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.

My son keeps finding poison ivy. It is hard in the winter because the oil of poison ivy is in the roots and stems and you don't have the leaves to clue you in to pending trouble! Anyway, he had a bad rash on his leg from the poison ivy. He had been scratching it and it was starting to look infected. I had him put colloidal silver gel on it. I bought some Silver Shield Colloidal Silver Gel to have on hand as an easy treatment for kitchen burns and we have used it for such several times. Well, the silver gel did stop the infected look his rash had and he was convinced that it was helping the rash. He kept putting it on the rash and it cleared up quicker than usual. I will definitely be using this again in the future. I can't have too many remedies in my poison ivy arsenal! ~Mama to Many~

EC, your reference was to another site and it was revealing. It is truly great and I have experienced some of what was written. Yep, burning poison ivy is the very worst thing you can do. Also, myself I have gone through periods when I was immune and periods that I was not. That works for cancer for certain. I have no clue why some people are immune and others are not.

The worst case I ever got was when I was a counselor at a Boy Scout camp and we had a long rope swing. My hands slipped and I was drug on my stomach through a patch of poison ivy. My stomach turned to two inches of poison ivy blisters. My life was miserable for quit awhile. Yep, I understand what my experiment entails.

The thing that I'm wanting to prove is that you can control your problems with intelligence. Homeopathic's work and that is a given. So if my experiment allows someone to experience the out of doors without pain. Then the Lord will give me another star. With my background, I need all I can get.

======ORH======

Ye but ORH, a person would need a hefty dose of courage to do that, me thinks....

After clearing large vines and patches of poison ivy, I wasn't prepared for the extreme reaction I would experience. I had covered my body well for the yard clearing process, and afterwards, washed my arms with soap, wiped them with tea tree oil wipes, and finally with rubbing alcohol. Two days later, when severe rashes and blisters began appearing I used Tecnu, IvyRest, All Terrain Poison Ivy Cream (a great choice! ), baking soda paste, and witch hazel. Despite my efforts, I was in complete misery, my neck and arms bandaged mummy style in gauze. The blisters and oozing wouldn't stop. And it all just kept spreading! I was doing 4 loads of wash a day to make sure my bedding and clothes weren't the continued source of the problem. Any one who looked at me would feel the need to start itching or run. I got very little sleep and would begin each day feeling like it had all spread to more parts of my body. I was experiencing nausea, headaches, and a fever. At a certain point, I decided there was nothing more topically that I could do, and started to focus on internal treatments. I began drinking 1.5 liters of water each day, and used Herb Pharm Immune Defense tincture, Amla capsules (ayurvedic vitamin C), turmeric capsules, and Hyland's Poison Ivy tablets. This provided some relief, but new blisters continued to appear all over. I searched online and began to learn about systemic poison ivy. When rashes start appearing in places that had no contact with the ivy, and begin spreading all over, the ivy's urushiol oil has penetrated the skin to bond with white blood cells called Langerhan's cells. Now, I had some idea of why my reaction was unrelenting. The primary option at this stage is to go with steroid injections, antihistamines and over-the-counter medications. That isn't my strategy of choice, so I researched further into alternative treatments for systemic poison ivy. I found a few references to the virtues of Reishi mushrooms for treating inflammations experienced thru poison ivy. I bought Herb Pharm Reishi tincture and New Chapter Reishi capsules. I took the daily recommended dose of each 4X/day!!! Immediately I began experiencing relief and the a healing of the blisters. My neck (at 2-1/2 weeks of rash) looked like I had been impaled and was crusted over and bleeding from from the continued re-blistering. It felt like it was on fire and looked like charred embers.

I am writing this post to share the miraculous benefits of reishi mushroom in healing the brutal effects of systemic poison ivy. Within 3 days of taking my reishi supplements, all the blistering had stopped and had begun disappearing. This above photo is 2-1/2 weeks into treating poison ivy before beginning treatment with reishi supplements. I put vitamin E on the scabs to keep them moist and to encourage healing. By day 4 of the reishi and topical vitamin E, my neck was clear of the scabs and healing greatly!!!

I had a case of poison ivy rash appear on two fingers of my right hand one week ago. Treated first by rinsing with lots of water, then washing thoroughly with soap/water, then with drops of Apple Cider Vinegar rubbed in, and finally with drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide rubbed in, similar to Ted's recommendation. The H2O2 treatment was amazing -- it immediately stopped the terrible itch! Every morning following I have treated my fingers with a few more drops of 3% H2O2, and this has kept the itching away all week. Now the rash is finally resolving. I have learned so much from reading Earthclinic posts -- thanks to all who contribute!

Since Nov 2012 to today, I have had 3 severe cases of Poison Ivy/Poison Oak. It has been on both my arms, leading me to think I'm getting it from my cat, when she rubs up against me while petting her.

Each time it took 4-6 weeks just to go through the healing process. I used over the counter medicine and some of them only provided temporary relief, and they were rather expensive. Then I tried banana peels. It worked! I rubbed the banana peel over one arm only to conduct an experiement. Instant relief!

Then I got to thinking about other natural products that may provide the same relief... honey.

On the other arm I swabbed it with store brand honey, wrapped arm with a paper towel so I wouldn't leave a sticky mess, and INSTANTLY the itch was gone! I left the honey and paper towel on for 4-6 hours (until bedtime) took my shower and to my amazment the sores dried up.

I also took 1 tablespoon of same honey by mouth and it caused the other places on both arms to stop itching, and only within about 5 minutes! The next day I allowed the spots to dry out, then began applying aloe jel (the type advertised to help with sunburns) and after just a few applications of the gel my arms were beginning to heal!

Then...

While battling with current outbreak on both arms, I had a new spot appear closer to my wrist, (again after I spent some time with my cat). Immediately applied the honey, wrapped lightly with paper towel and tape to secure it and got the same results!

Tried it a 3rd time when I noticed the small bumps had appeared on other wrist, before I ever scratched it, applied honey and covered with a bandaid, before bed I showered and removed the bandaid and the poison ivy was gone!

The banana peels, provided relief, but the honey has taken a 6 week process and reduced it to only days, with immediate results.

Thank you ec for a wonderful site.

I love this website and often come here for advice. I had found that diatomaceous earth helps soothe bug bites because it draws out the poison, but I had not found anything for it under curing poison ivy.

My son lives in a woody area and has a severe reaction to poison ivy. I usually have to take him to the doctor for a course of steroids, but since his infection happened right before Christmas, my only option was to go wait in an ER which he did not want to do. While I was in my pantry searching for my ACV, I came across my diatomaceous earth and a light went off inside in my brain.

I had him take a very hot shower and then made up paste of diatomaceous earth and water. I had to put it on him at least 3 times a day. I then gave him an allergy pill. By the 3rd day, it completely dissappeared with no scabbing. I had read many posts that said scrub the heads off, but I did not have to do that. Depending on how severe your infection is- 3 days is what it took for a mild infection.

I hope this remedy will bring you relief. Good luck!

So happy to find another living being that is on the same page as I am. Found this "hot as you can stand" remedy on the internet ten yrs. ago..... I stand by it today. I must have a high tolerance....... As people flinch when I explain the process....... I no longer do the "bathtub'.... Instead the shower...... Which you can regulate better when you get to the point of "intolerance" and move out of the way alot faster..... I get the same sensation as a good "scratch of the itch"..... With the hot water..... And revel in it. (sick, I know, but "ahhhhhh") But it works...... Lasts for 6-8 hours... Itch free for 8 hours........ I'll take it anyday. NOTHING over the counter works this good... I also use calamine to quicken the drying process...... Thanks for your comments!! [I am suffering from a terrible case as I write this......... But there is light.... at the end of this tunnel.]

I was hoping that someone would have some responded to my first post. Most people that don't get poison Ivy are not going to read about it. The theory that I have read is if you eat a lot of honey you don't get poison ivy. I am not going to test this by intentionally exposing myself to poison ivy cause I think I still get poison ivy but it is not the systemic kind that spreads uncontrollably. I think I am more or less in the state that I had in the seventies when the poison ivy immunity vials were available. They made it possible for me to get rid of poison Ivy without doing something every two hour to relieve the unbearable itching. That is how I found the ibuprofen relief.

Usually ibuprofen will give me two hours of itching reduction. then most any topical treatment will give me another two hours of relief. At which time I can take another Ibuprofen without exceeding the recommend daily dosage of Ibuprofen. The ibuprofen, washes, and topicals prevent the inflammation from erupting and damaging the skin which then lengthens the recovery time beyond a month. I am confident enough in this ibuprofen relief that I would recommend any one that is exposed to poison ivy take ibuprofen if severe itching and inflammation start. The problem with ibuprofen is no doctor will give prednisone if they don't see evidence of suffering (Inflamation).

I thought that the way to generate some responses might be to ask a few people that are are suffering from a severe poison ivy reaction post whether they eat much honey regularly. I really think that there is something about Honey and Bee pollen that if ingested at adequate levels significantly reduces the severity of Poison Ivy outbreaks.

It has been 5 years since I have had any severe poison Ivy outbreaks. This year my vigilance and practices have lessened. I need some kind of reinforcement that the honey and bee pollen I do take are the reason I am not getting Poison Ivy. It is no real hardship to use honey and occasionally bee pollen but my motivation is noticeably dropping. If these things do help I would like for others that suffer severe poison ivy outbreaks share them.

I am having Poison Ivy Rush right now and what helps me for itching is the hottest possible shower and Aloe Vera Gel from Walgreens (only for couple bucks). This Gel is also fantastic for moskito bytes, sunburns and just burns. Make sure to keep it in refrigerator. It's great for babies too.

I have used garlic several times to treat poison ivy, and it is hands down the best treatment. I have used both the clove and powder (garlic powder not garlic salt), but find that I prefer the powder for it's ease of use. Both will stop the itching and dry the blisters.

When I use the powder, I make a paste that I water down to create a sticky film. I wet the affected area, sprinkle the garlic powder over it and rub it around. Once the paste starts to develop, I wet my fingers as needed to help dissolve most of the garlic. You don't want to wash it off, but if you do, you can always sprinkle on more powder. Once most of the powder is dissolved and has become tacky, I let the film dry and it becomes like a second skin. If some of the powder cakes up, you can rub it off after it dries. Sometimes I will purposely cake the wet powder over a weeping blister to help it dry up. This second skin will stay on for hours, even over night, drying and protecting the rash. Wash it off and reapply as necessary. I have found that this will dry up mild blisters within a day, and severe rashes within 3 to 5 days. Garlic is awesome!

There is no burning, it really stops the itching, and I don't need to use anything else. This is much better than the bleach my mother used as a kid, and much less toxic!

In the 60's I worked for the paper company who made DMSO and supported the research. DMSO could never be used in a double blind trial because it's use caused your breath to smell of garlic. It has zero to do with garlic.

The plant was located in Bogaloosa, La. No employee in the DMSO plant ever had a cold nor the flu while working in that section. The Doctors and Big Pharma killed DMSO because it was so effective and cheap. Read Dr. Jacob's books on the subject and you will cry.

Joyce is right about the poke plant but not about DMSO.

Comfrey is amazing

Even f the rash is old, swollen n leaking fluid, comfrey is probably the only medicinal herb that immediately stops the itching n starts the healing. Personal experience. It is truly better than the expensive otc junk, hot showers - which seems to aid in spreading the itchy oils systemically, and the other stuff I've tried which seem useless after the initial set in stage.

This remedy hurts but it kills poison ivy within hours.

My husband got into some poison ivy while cleaning out weeds on a cyclone fence and was covered with poison ivy. He came home in pain and itching very badly. I was told about the remedy and tried it on him. I had him to wet his arms and then I put table salt on them and he could only take letting it stay on about ten minutes and then washed it off. The salt dried up the bumps and calmed the itch and within a hour, for him, everything had stopped. I put Olive oil on his arms to moisturize his skin because it was very dry and he had no problems with it again. I also treated three boys the same way with the same results.

For all you've been doing to recover your health looks like it's beginning to really happen, so hurray! I forgot to mention Histamine in the first post as one of the bad chems produced in the inflammatory condition, so any antihistamine natural or pharma would be worth the trial. Pseudoephedrine was once the big otc antihistamine but the meth freaks have caused a big disturbance in it's sale because it is the main ingredient in the clandestine production of methamphetamine. Big pharma has created another chemical antihistamine to replace the problem one that can't be used as a precursor to meth. So, reduction of Histamine 1 and COX 2 is what you want. Lots of awareness of the potential in ant inflammatory diets across the world lately as this approach reduces many illnesses in itself.

I'll skip on the platelets frenzy on two counts. It is rumored that george sorros takes regular blood transfusions from young children or possibly aborted babies so??? As for healthy skin there are a number of good natural ways to achieve. Carnasine is the best. Check out Jon Barron as he's the expert on it as well as many other health & nutrition topics. He has lot's of info and excellent products (Baseline I think). I take Raw Bovine Bone Marrow regularly to keep my blood up. GABA and Ornithine are my favs for boosting HGH/IGF. I recently started D Aspartic Acid for the Testosterone boosting and getting good results. Yes, the very hormones that can take one right outa the sick-bed can immediately place you in the sex-bed, which is another situation that must be under control. But the longevity experts agree that boosting both the HGH & Test. together make for way better results.

My recovery is so difficult that it's always impossible to know the outcome. I have so many major problems and it's way to much suffering for anyone to endure. I take the smart & aggressive method and like Bill Belichick coaching football, identify & correct every mistake big or small.

M to M, we rarely pick off the dried clay. It just stays there for as long as it wants and eventually comes off in the shower. If it still needs attention, we put new clay (usually wet) on top.

Even if it works for you, that is not proving anything. What works for some people does not necessarily work for others, and in the face of people becoming deathly ill from doing this, the mom is unequivocally RIGHT for not experimenting/trying this on her son.

Go try it on your kids (which you definitely do not have, because if you did, you'd never advise anyone else to do this with such naive sureness) but don't tell someone else to do it.

This summer, someone told me that it was better to rub the oil of poison ivy off of your skin with towels than to wash the oil off with soap and water. Having heard to use soap and water for years and years and years, I was skeptical. He said that soap and water just spread it around and made it harder to get off than rubbing it off with paper towels.

Today I was making some salves and was having to clean oil out of jars. I used paper towels to get as much oil as possible off of the jars before using soap and water. I realized it was much easier to clean the jars if I used the paper towels. I also realized that when my hands were covered with oil, paper towels got it off much better than hot water and soapy water. Hmmm....

So I think I believe him. Next time we are exposed to poison ivy, I will try it. Maybe it is best to do both. One handy thing is that if you are exposed to poison ivy and are not near soap and water, you may be able to rub the area with your clothes, or an extra towel or garment in your car.

I think regular towels will work as well, but I like to minimize how much oil I am expecting my washing machine to get out of cloth. I have never been quite sure I was getting all of the poison ivy out of the clothes in the washer.

Has anyone else ever heard of this or tried it?

~Mama to Many~

Several in my family have been dealing with poison ivy in the last couple of weeks. We have used many natural remedies for poison ivy over the years with success. An herbal salve, oatmeal, apple cider vinegar, and many other things! But some of my children balk at salve, don't like the smell of vinegar...they want the least intrusive remedy. So I made a tea that I put into a spray bottle and kept in the fridge. They could pull it out and spray their poison ivy whenever it was bothering them. This was especially nice for my daughter, who had it around her eyes. She would spray them often for relief and the tea spray was completely safe when it got into her eyes. My son had poison ivy on his arms and legs. His arms healed faster because he sprayed them much more often since he wore jeans during the day and wasn't bothering spraying his legs.

For the child who had poison ivy all over his arms and legs, I also gave him several tea baths. I would make a gallon of strong herbal tea and add it to his bathwater. He would soak for about 30 minutes a couple of times a day. (This was not convenient to him but he was pretty miserable and therefore willing. In fact, in spite of diligent home treatment internally and externally, he ended up needing prednisone. We continued the spray even when he was on prednisone.)

Recipe for Herbal Spray for Poison Ivy

• 1 Tablespoon dry comfrey leaves
• 1 Tablespoon dry plantain leaves
• 1 cup boiling water

Put dry leaves into a mason jar. Add boiling water. Let steep for 30 minutes. Strain leaves out of tea. Store in a spray bottle in the refrigerator. Make a fresh batch of tea each day.

Recipe for Herbal Tea Bath for Poison Ivy

• 1/2 cup dry comfrey leaves
• 1/2 cup dry plantain leaves
• 1 gallon boiling water

Bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Remove from heat. Add dry leaves. Cover. Steep 30 minutes to 2 hours. Strain out leaves. Add to a tub of water. If water is very hot, be careful not to let very hot water hit the skin of the child in the tub, if he is in there already. :)

One morning my three year old woke up and said, "I want a comfrey bath!!! " He had poison ivy and had seen his brother have many "comfrey baths." He wasn't feeling too patient, so I put him in the tub with warm water and a cup of baking soda (which I find helpful for itching and nearly everything! ) I put 1/2 cup comfrey leaves into an old sock and tied it off, like a giant tea bag. I put it into his bath water (since I didn't really have time to make the bath tea on the stove because he wanted his bath NOW.) Periodically I would squeeze the sock to release the comfrey tea. By the end of his bath, the water was tea colored! It worked quite well. And he felt a good bit better and was in a much better mood.

~Mama to Many~

I always use a stick deodorant/antiperspirant for poison ivy. It dries the rash and takes out the itch for a while. Easy to apply even at work or in the middle of the night! After trying all the home remedies for years this has been my go to for the last 4 years. I start using it as soon as I itch, see 1 bump or a line of bumps. Best to keep clothing off rash/keep air circulating around the rash or use hair dryer, bentonite clay also helps with the drying but the deodorant is great to use immediately, because it is handy.

Old fashioned Poison Ivy skin cure.

I once read a book about a young man that raised Honey bees. This was back when rural areas had few telephones (can't recall the state but I think it was in the Midwest U.S.A.). Probably in the 1920's or 1930's. This family lived in the woods and the boy would explore the area enjoying the outdoors. The boy said that he once got into some poison ivy and was going through misery all over his body! No one could help him so his mother got on a telephone and called his grandmother in another state.

It took hours to get a hold of his grandmother but when the boy's mother finally got the grandmother on the phone the grandmother told the boy's mother to go out into the woods and take an ax and go to an oak tree and cut down a load of OAK BARK! She then told the mother to place the oak bark in a big tub or sink and fill the tub or sink with water covering the oak bark and to boil the oak bark and water. The oak bark was to be taken out of the tub and the boy was to soak in the oak bark hot water (hot to where the boy could stand it) and soak in this solution until the water became cold. Then the boy was to get into his pajamas and go straight to bed and sleep.

The boy claims that when he woke up the next morning the poison ivy irritation was gone! Just thought I would share this story with others. I have the book in storage but with 6 full storage units I will have a hard time finding it. But I think it is a true story.