9 Natural Poison Ivy Remedies

DMSO, applied topically to my husband's poison ivy, caused the itching to increase and it looked more irritated. He tried several applications, all with the same result. It did not help it go away.

When I am finished working in the garden or hiking, I come in and shower with dish soap and a small amount of ammonia using a net wash cloth. Suds up all over, rinse, never get poison ivy anymore. Think the ammonia neutralizes that poison acid.

I blog and last week I posted something about "Poison Ivy" a reader commented by sharing the following:

One thing I've found that works amazingly well came from the website of a hospital in upstate New York, where it is the only hospital for miles around, and where campers and hikers frequently come into contact with poison ivy. Rather than withholding information in order to get people into the ER, they put this remedy on their website:

Milk. Just soak a cloth with it, and hold it on the area affected. I did this with my 3-year-old, when initially it looked as if someone had slapped her (and I suspected my 8-year-old). There was an area of distinct red with a sharp edge that crossed from her cheek, halfway over her eye, and onto her forehead. But instead of fading, it got worse, to the point when she woke up the next morning that half of her face was swollen and her eye was swollen shut. I knew poison ivy in the eye was dangerous so I was looking for advice online (when to take to the ER, anything we should/shouldn't do in the meantime), and came across the advice to put milk on it.

We had pet milk (milk from a farm, unpasteurized), so that's what I used. I put her in the tub, soaked a washcloth, and held it on her face. When it got warm, I flipped it and added more milk.

Within 15 minutes, I could see a crack of eyeball, and her face was less puffy. Within half an hour, her eye was most of the way open. And within 45 minutes, the redness and swollenness was pretty much gone everywhere on her face, with just one little spot. She was 3 and so done with sitting in the bathtub while I held a washcloth on her face, so I let her out for a bit, and then before bedtime just patted some more milk on the one remaining spot, and after 10 minutes it was no longer red. It took a few days for the blistering to heal, but at that point it wasn't itchy or spreading at all-just damaged skin from her exposure.

My husband, at the same time, started cleaning up the yard (a tornado had deposited shredded poison ivy leaves in our yard) and got a very bad case. He went with over-the-counter remedies for 3 weeks, while it continued to get worse, and then finally caved and tried my "weird" remedy. His was so many places on his body it did take a couple of days to get it all, but it was just a couple of days. Yet the next time he had poison ivy he tried the conventional stuff again and again it was over a week before he'd try milk on it, but now he has learned his lesson and turns to milk right away!

We instantly tried milk on my mom who has a rip-roaring case of PI right now, and it brought almost instant relief. Better than ACV! Hope this helps!!! :)

Prevent Poison Ivy

I suffered something awful when they stopped giving the prevention shots for poison ivy at the doctors office. I am so susceptible to it that I'd swear I can get it by looking at it through binoculars! If I broke out in the spring it would stay with me through October. No exaggerating. I finally met a lady whose grandma told her to add a teaspoon of cream of tartar to water and drink it in the early spring (it's awful bitter!). My family has been doing this for years, now, and it really does work! If we're going to be out around poison ivy, or oak in the fall we take another dose just to be safe.

This works great! I read about cream of tartar in another place a couple years ago, and it just said to take it, so l ate a half teaspoon right off the spoon and followed it with water. It tastes tart, not bitter this way. It prevented my husbands allergic reaction to the grass and weeds as he cut the grass as well. l also used it to stop an asthma attack from mold when l was out of meds, and it worked. It is a by-product of wine-making, the powder forming on the barrels from a substance in grapes and other tart fruits.

Grapefruit Seed Extract is also good for treatment of Poison Ivy:

Just put 10 drops of GSE in a sprayer bottle and spray on area 2-3x daily, OR, if you don't have a sprayer bottle, you can put 3 drops of GSE in 2-3 oz. of water, dip a cotton ball in it, and just pat it on the area. It works beautifully! I am severely allergic to Poision Ivy -- and have tried just about everything -- even medications that costs $10-12 for a "spray on" remedy, but nothing worked as well as this simple remedy. A 2 oz. bottle of GSE is only $10 at a health food store or on-line, and it works for many, many things -- including candida, which I cured myself of using GSE. Oh! And TRY not to scratch -- that is hard, I know, but it spreads it. Thanks!

I tried using some invisible band-aid from the Dollar Tree and it has made me so much worse. It is causing my rash to weep profusely- so much so that I soak through a facecloth every hour....I cannot get the stuff off without using nail polish remover or the like, and I am not ready for that STING. I would have been better off just letting my body handle this issue with my trying to "help".

At various times in my life I have suffered with severe poison ivy outbreaks. Usually once or twice a year for a number of years then I would have no problems for a few years. in the past I originally almost always had to go to a doctor and beg for prednisone. often the doctors would not give me any until the rash spread extensively. Even with the prescription steroids I would have to shower often with poison ivy washes and use over the counter topical medicines then after about a month I would be ok but sometimes it would return even when I was very careful not to get reexposed. Because the steroid pills were so hard to get I found that I could get rid of the poison ivy if I took an Ibuprofen pill about every 4 hours until the poison ivy was gone. usually I could taper off after about 3 weeks and only take Ibuprofen when itching was severe. without some kind of Anti-inflamatory drug the poison ivy would just spread and itch unbearably. Even with the ibuprofen I would have to use washes and topical treatments to get rid of the rash. The ibuprofen treated rashes seemed not as likely to return in the current year as when I used steroid pills.

About five years ago I read a recommendation that eating honey might keep one from getting poison Ivy. since that time I have started putting a spoon of honey in one of my morning cups of coffee occasionally doing it more often in the likely high out break seasons - spring to mid summer. Although once in the past I did get poison ivy in winter. My own thinking on the subject led me to take some bee pollen pills that I got at thedrug store. These can be over done. When I first stared taking them daily, after a couple of weeks I broke out with a poison ivy type rash all over my body but it went away in a few hours. I encountered a second occurence of this rash when I took the pills daily after a few lay off days. Now I take them occasionally during poison ivy season. Maybe once a week at the start then cut back to one or two more pills over the next few months. This year I only took a couple in the spring and have eaten honey occasionally. I don't know if this has helped me but in the last five years I have not had any severe poison ivy outbreaks. I remember a couple of times having a few itchy bumps on my fingers that went away in a few days. I do not know what they were but when I got them I sure worried that they were poison ivy.

It works every time.

Just recently, while clearing some brush and trimming some overgrown city property,I developed a case of poison ivy. I picked up some Hydrocortisone cream with 1% aloe. That worked very well, but I really don't like to use creams, so I sprayed some rubbing alcohol on the infected areas. Instant relief. The blue ribbon goes to the L-Lysine tablet taken every morning for a week. The blisters, sores, and itching quickly disappeared!

Cure: Use DMSO either liquid or gel applied externally. The DMSO seems to neutralize the oil from the Poison Ivy that causes the rash and immediately stops the itching and dries up the blisters quickly.

I just got a spot of Poison Ivy on my forearm and it's driving me crazy itching! I have tried the DMSO and it's doing nothing. I tried the baking soda and vinegar, nothing. Guess I"ll try the fels naptha next..... UGH~!

To David from Grapeland: Hi David, Just wanted to tell you that the toxic substance on the rhus (poison ivy) is alkaline and that ACV, being acid, will titrate it, so that you won't get the itchy rash if you use it shortly after exposure to poison ivy/oak.m Just thoroughly wipe all exposed areas off with full strength ACV. After it breaks out, the best thing I have found to stop the itching and start drying it up is a product put out by "Fruit of the Earth" called Vitamin E with Naturals (Those naturals are burdock, calendula, chamomile, comfrey, golden seal and honey). I use the yellow gel form that I find in the lotion department of our local Dollar Tree stores. Using this it is gone in 3-4 days. You might also want to look into Beelith tablets (ask the pharmacists for them, nonprescription but I have never found them out on the counter) for those kidney stone problems. They are magnesium oxide and B6 vitamins. I'll share a funny one about kidney stones with you. Early one morning I got a excited call for help for an employee in the basement who was doubled over with abdominal pain. I asked if they could bring him up of if I needed to come down and get him. They brought up immediately. After getting a few things done, including interview, I asked the fellow if he'd had any history of kidney stones. Although his reply was negative, I told him that I was sure that was going to be the cause of his pain. My fellow nurse said, "Yeah, now you know what it feels like to have a baby". Realizing from the confused look on his face, that he did not understand what she meant, I said "They equate the pain of kidney stones to that of having a baby". After mulling this over a few minutes, our patient sounding very sincere, said: "The first thing I am going to do when I get out of here is call my ex-wife and apologize". Both of his nurses cracked up with laughter.

OMGoodness!!!! I tried everything to get rid of poison ivy on my leg but no matter what I tried, it just kept itching and spreading. I had a bar of Fels Naptha waiting to be grated into homemade laundry detergent so I took it and rubbed it all over my leg. Actually, first I scrubbed the poison ivy area with a soft scrubbing brush, rinsed my leg for several minutes with as hot of water as I could stand, then applied the Fels Naptha. I left it on for a couple of minutes, washed it away with warm water and then doused my leg with the coldest water from the tap. NO MORE ITCHING!!! I repeated this method once a day and by the 3rd day there was a remarkable visible improvement. It is now about the 7th day and my leg is nearly completely healed!! Thank you for this remedy!!!

For Poison Ivy or Oak I found DMSO to be my life saver.Simply apply to the rash and cover with a bandage. Itching stops immediately and rash is gone in a couple of days.

Poison Ivy cure DMSO applied to the rash and covered with a gauze bandage stopped the itching immediately and the rash dried up in less than a week.

DMSO will cause the garlic smell and taste withOUT any garlic being applied with DMSO. It's very common, and most people who use DMSO will notice this very quickly. So we'll people who come around them if they're using at long-term.

However, you must be careful with DMSO, as it does act as a carrier and a crosses the blood-brain barrier.

Anyting small enough to be carried into the body using DMSO as a carrier, can cross the blood-brain barrier and cause severe damage or even death. There are no documented cases of this happening, but it can happen.

When using DMSO nothing should come in contact with that area for 2 hours prior in 2 hours after application. Unless it is something that you are intending to cross the blood-brain barrier and be carried into the body using the DMSO.

Please be extremely well-versed, well educated, in what you are doing, if you are going to use DMSO as a carrier for anything else. Research credible scientific resources, and don't try whatever you read on the internet.

It sounds like you might be getting continuously reinfected with the allergens . Do you have a dog that might be brushing up against poison ivy then bringing it home to you? as little as 1 billionth of a gram can affect some people who are very sensitive . This amount can easily be carried on wind currents without even being touched. In addition an old pair of shoes or even your carpet etc once contaminated can be a source of trouble for many years.

I am severely allergic to poison oak and I have found that if after scrubbing well and I still itch then I tried dmso and it immediately stopped the allergic reaction in my case.

If you try the dmso be cautious and only apply to a tiny area in case you may have a reaction to it.

After using dmso for a few years when I get in contact with poison oak I now have far less reaction than I used to, however bear in mind this may or may not work well for everyone.

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!

Externally applied DMSO will cure your rash.

Technu Extreme poison ivy scrub: This is my suggestion for poison ivy after having a very bad case of poison ivy last fall and trying every remedy (except the jewel weed -- I couldn't locate it) on the poison ivy page of Earth Clinic to no avail. I bought this stuff at the local pharmacy out of desparation and because it looked potent. Didn't realize it at the time I purchased it, but Technu is a homeopathic formula. Be forewarned -- it is quite expensive at $13.00 a bottle. However, it started to work within hours. It took 2 days of using this product to clear up a 2 week old rash over my entire body ( a total nightmare). I used the product again as soon as a poison ivy postule appeared on my arm last week and it never spread.

Hello Rosie, with all due respect to the medical field and Wikipedia, I disagree that it can't spread from the fluid in the blisters. Anyone who has ever had a good case of it will probably side with us. When you haven't been outside or petted the pets who have, and the stuff is still spreading a week or more later, it has to be from the rhus in the blisters that got inside the skin to cause the blisters to begin with. I also remember a roofer say that after initially breaking out with poison ivy one night, that after working on a roof throughout the next day and sweating up a storm, he found the poson ivy was gone after that. So apparently you can sweat it out, the same way it entered the skin to begin with. Now for the best thing I have found for this infernal itchy poison ivy, if you have a Dollar Tree or Deal's store go look in the hand lotion, shampoo section for a product put out by Fruit of the Earth called E or Vitamin E with Naturals. It comes in several different ones, but the yellow gel one is the one that I find stops the infernal itching and starts drying it up after the third time of applying it. You can probably find it in health food stores but probably not as cheap as at the above stores. It makes no claims at being anything other than a lotion or gel, but boy do I love this stuff. Just put it on the rash and reapply each time it starts itching again. The naturals in it are like chamomile, comfrey, burdock, etc. If you recognize the plant and know when you have come in contact with it, that's even better. If you go in, wash off, then get good old Apple Cider Vinegar & wet a wash cloth in it and thoroughly wipe everywhere that you think touched it. The acid of the vinegar titrates the alkali of the rhus and you don't break out (I think you probably have to do this within an hour or two of exposure though).

I have used baking soda and water and made a paste. It really works I and I could imagine how effective it would be with vinegar added. The biggest thing for me anyways is the relief from the itching especially at night. I found it tolerable at least with no itch. Great advice

Thank you for the baking soda and vinegar advice for poison ivy... I was so desperate, buying everything OTC and no relief. Almost instantaneously, the paste worked. Thank you!!!

It works because oak bark is high in tannins. No DMSO is produced by making a tea from bark.

Poison Ivy Rash Around the Eyes

How you may ask. Well we have an outside cat who when inside likes to jump on my lap when watching TV. I rub my eyes unawares at the time that the cat has been though the stuff. Waking up in the morning with one eye nearly swollen shut…bummer. My wife swears by the All Terrain Poison Ivy/Oak Bar.

I washed with cold water and allow the lather to remain on the affected area for 1-2 minutes, or as long as I could stand before it began to seep in my eyes. I felt immediate relief after using the soap and the washed area is squeaky clean.

Using ACV via dabbing with a cotton ball provided some longer term relief from future itch.

I diluted the ACV 1:1 with water as full strength burns the sensitive skin on the face. The swelling went down the same day and I can see out of the swollen eye. To address the dry, scabbing skin around my eyes, I applied a controlled and careful amount of Desitin Skin Protectant. The itch is gone though I still have some discoloration a few days later.

I am completely amazed that hot water relieved my poison ivy! Thank you earth clinic peeps! If I just glance sideways at poison ivy I will break out, so recently I had it on my hands and forearms, I pulled up my Dr. Earth Clinic and went searching. When I read about the hot water remedy I thought “what have I got to loose”? I ran the faucet over my arms and hands, hot as I could, being careful not to burn myself and believe me - they itch to high heaven when this is going on but then it slowly dissipates. Afterward they did not itch for over 8 hours! I promptly did it again and it was almost 16 hours this time. Each time the effect lasted longer, I'd say all total I might have done it 7 times. my skin is rather dry and flaky but that's a small price to pay for relief!

This wasn't as easy as Bobby made it sound, but it did work for me too.

I tried putting salt on the latest bout of poison ivy. I wet my skin, added salt and waited ten minutes, but it didn't sting.....and didn't work at all. But then I thought, what if it has to be stinging to work? So I scrubbed the poison ivy bumps until I had flat skin. Then, because that probably released all that oil to go elsewhere, I scrubbed with Goop (no water, just goop), then took it off with paper towels. THEN I wet my skin and put salt on. Yea, that stings. I didn't bother with olive oil, since I had raw skin. I put antibiotic ointment on it; any over the counter cheap brand will do.

But the salt worked, which was amazing since I've never been able to get Goop alone to do anything. Let the salt sit on there the full ten minutes. I had large and small patches to do, and it works best on the ones you catch early. It works on older ones as well, but there is more scrubbing involved and this method may scar. I would NOT use this on children; the ice water method kills the itch for hours and doesn't hurt. For me the salt method didn't just kill the itch for hours, it eliminated it for good. The roughed up skin healed in a few days, and ta-da, no more poison ivy! But I may have a scar on my ankle where the worst of the ivy was. I personally don't care, it was worth it not to suffer PI for a few weeks. But something to consider if you're going to try this.

I have had poison ivy many times in my life!! My "go to" remedy is ALWAYS "ICE WATER". Why? Because it is instantaneous relief from misery. 100% relief in a split second! Just leave your hand, arm, feet,... in the icy water for about one minute or two full minutes.

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.

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.

I make sure to give my kids a dose of benadryl at night when they have poison ivy. I think it helps reduce the reaction and helps them to sleep.