You can get a poison ivy rash from green, freshly growing poison ivy or poison ivy leaves or vines that have been dead for 20 years. It doesn’t matter if the plant is dead or alive, it all contains the urushiol oils. It’s less likely to get in contact with the oils on a dried out, dead plant, but the oils are still there.
Poison ivy, Poison oak, ang Poison sumac are the common plants/trees that contain urushiol, but be cautioned, mangoes, cashews, Japanese and Chinese lacquer , and Brazilian Pepper all contain urushiol.
Otherwise it’s stepping into garbage bags for each leg, then each leg into rainproof pants, and at least 2 strips of duck tape to attach and hold the garbage bag up inside the rainproof pants. But the oil is going to persist on the boots and pants for a while. Trash compactor bags are more sturdy than regular garbage bags.
Just so you know… if you get an outdoor cat and it takes a fancy to hanging out over there, then you pet it or it rubs your legs, you will have problems due to secondary transfer from the cat. – Real World Experience.
I am apparently immune to it. Lots of time I have just grabbed it barehanded and never even got a rash. My mother was just the opposite, if the wind was blowing it toward her she seemed to get the rash and if it touched her skin, she would get big water blisters and if they broke open, they would get infected.
I wasn’t sensitive to it. Touched it many times (mostly on accident because why take a chance?) and never got it. My siblings were the same. This year was the first year I ever had it. My brother also became sensitive to it at 35 after never having a reaction before- so don’t get too eager!
First, for those who consider themselves immune, there are two things to consider. First, you can develop sensitivity with repeated exposure. Second, there is a native plant, the aromatic sumac (rhus aromatica), that looks very similar. If you are judging your sensitivity based upon exposure to this plant via misidentification, you are not alone.
Another aside, while calamine is suggested for a rash, I can tell you from first hand experience, the better treatment is to apply plantain juice, not the plantain fruits in the market, but the plantago spp. that everyone calls a weed. Simply mash a leaf or two and apply the juice to the rash. Here is a good (but old) video from Green Deane: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBeI3tc6Xdo
Jewel weed, Spotted Touch Me Not will also bring some relief to the burning rash. The stems contain a clear colored gel. Smash the stems and coat the gel on the rash.
Ironically, the weed is often growing in the same area as poison ivy.
Yes, you cannot, repeat cannot, inhale the fumes. You will get poison ivy infection in your lungs. Wear an N95 mask and stay away from the smoke and fumes.
I didn’t think country boys tended to get bad cases of poison ivy. When I moved from the Ariz desert to Topanga Canyon in the coastal CA foothills at age 11 the poison oak made my family consider moving- that it might kill me. By the time I was 13 I was close to immune- occasional small cases that no longer spread- even if I pull poison ivy out by hand (they have the same chemical). The Topanga kids I knew tended to be immune because they’d been around it since they were toddlers.
Poison Ivy works the opposite of building immunity in my family, and we lose immunity as we age. I would quickly point out that the old saying “whatever does not kill you makes you stronger” applies here. Most people become more sensitive as they are exposed more to poison Ivy. In Misssouri in the old growth woods I can take the person with me that has the most immunity to poison Ivy and by one days end they will have a 3 week rash covering their body. The rash will be head to toe and be considered poison Ivy. The cedars there cause a severe rash. All plants in old growth woods are highly alleopathic in that area due to competition. Poison Ivy is very strong there and highly toxic. Poison Ivy varies in toxicity based on location, time of year (it is more toxic in the fall and less toxic now).
