Toxicodendron radicans and My Fun Times With It
Part Two, I Just Can't Seem To Learn
(Again, don't try this at home!)
Just in case you missed me the first time, click here!
Alexander J Montgomery

• My favorite Poison Ivy plant in Ray Township, MI.

• Unfortunately, I could not take a sample from my favorite plant. The photo above should give you a good example why I couldn't. My sample oils came from this ground growth in the photo. That growth wasn't here a month ago.

• July 29, 2017 - Day 1 - I picked a tri-leave from the ground and waited a few seconds for the sap to flow. I then touched the top black dots on my arm above the numbers. This was at 2:40 pm. Just for the record, the lower dots are merely there for measurement to the infected area, which was 2.5 inches.
  
  At 4:30 pm, I covered spot #1, which was untreated with a band aid.
  
  #2 was covered with a liberal amount of salve.
  
  #3 was washed with the salve and then a liberal amount applied.
  
  At 6:00 pm, the entire area was washed thoroughly with grease cutting dish soap and cool water. The salve was re-applied to areas 2 and 3.
  
  At 10:00 pm, there is no visible sign of irritation.

• July 30, 2017 - Day 2 - I added some fresh sap to areas 4 and 5 at 8:40 am from my favorite plant. I wore shoes and covered my lower legs with garbage bags.
  
  Both red spots were thoroughly washed with Dawm 3x grease cutting soap and cold water with wash cloth. The right red spot was washed with the infused oil at 9:10 am.

• July 31, 2017 - Day 3 - Spots 1, 2 and 3 are reacting as follows: Spot 1 was only covered with a band aid and washed clean about 2 hours later. There is a blister area forming there. Spot 2 has a slightly smaller blister. Spot 3 has NO visible irritation.
  
  Red dot 4 is starting to blister. Red dot 5 only has a hardening of the skin.

• August 1, 2017 - Day 4 - Areas 1, 2, 4 & 5 have a bit more blistering. Area 3 now has a visible lump and small blister. This area was washed off with the Jewelweed salve, shortly after the application (about 2 hours) and treated with the infused oil.  I was encourage by no irritation, but the removal of the oil, early on is what kept the irritation down. Darn!
  
  What bothers me is now I have to deal with this itching and irritation for the next three weeks or so, unless I discover something that will take away those nasty things.
  
  Just for the record, the itching part is the worst of it for me. It only comes in bouts, though. If it gets to the point that my internal discipline can't take it anymore, I put some store bought cream consisting of 1% hydrocortisone, 99% grease of some type and some aloe vera. I would imagine that the amount of aloe is just enough to satisfy the FDA guidelines for labeling products. It's an anti-itch cream. It works, though.
  
  What I did do is wash my infected arm with cold water and Dawn 3x grease cutting dish soap. I then washed the area gently using natural apple cider vinegar, with the "mother". I let this solution dry. I then placed a drop of fractionated coconut oil on each spot. After about a half an hour, the skin felt tight around the oil, as it was being absorbed into the skin. Hmmm... There's something to think about down the road.
  
  Now to experiment with other natural remedies. This is the part that I regret never having done; becoming a chemist. I would have knowledge on what molecules interact with each other. I imagine that having that kind of knowledge would definitely be a time saver.

• August 2, 2017 - Day 5 - All 5 spots are now visible. 3 has the least visible sign of rash. 4 is the worst. 1 was oozing a little bit. I think I may have scratched it while sleeping.

• August 4, 2017 - Day 7 - All is well and going about the same as last time [Poison Ivy]. I am now working on a cure or relief for the visible rash that people get. I won't be posting that information, though.

[BACK]