Stop Poison Ivy Outbreaks With Natural Vitamin Supplements

Natural vitamin supplements can be used to put a stop to poison ivy and poison oak outbreaks and soothe that awful itching and stinging. We first have to understand what poison ivy and oak look like and the nature of the chemicals that cause the itching.

Poison ivy grows all over Eastern North America and has three leaves on each stem, around two to four inches long and if it has nothing to cling to will grow self-standing, unlike proper ivy. It is not, in fact, regular ivy. It can be seen as ground cover, especially by the side of roads, as shrubs in the countryside or as a vine climbing up trees. It can be found in residential gardens and by fences, and many people who have no idea what it looks like are unaware of it until they touch it. Then they know!

The leaves start off shiny and green, though the shine leaves them as they grow, and contrary to what many say, they are not truly shaped since the same plant can have several differently shaped leaves. In the fall they turn bright red, so if you see any bright red three-leaved stalks in your neighborhood, you should know what it is. Sometimes the leaves are slightly lobed, but not always. If there are any dead leaves lying around they might have black streaks in them coming from the oil.

Poison Oak tends to grows on the Pacific coast of Western North America. It also has three leaves on each stalk, so the old saying eaves of three, let it be?certainly applies with poison ivy and oak. Poison oak grows as a shrub or a vine, and leaves, while looking a bit like genuine oak leaves, are glossier and turn bright red in the fall. It has white flowers that form white or light brown berries, similar to those of poison ivy.

Poison ivy and poison oak contain a substance known as urushiol throughout the plants, from the highest leaf to the lowest root. When any part of the plant is damaged, the urushiol is released and can get on your skin or clothing. It can even be transferred to humans from other animals, such as your cat or dog, or other objects that have damaged the shoots or leaves, such as a ball.

The plants are very fragile, and it takes little to release the urushiol. It is a black sticky non-volatile resin composed of phenolic catechols with a side chain of 15 carbon atoms in the case of poison ivy and 17 in the case of poison oak. The oil is also released by burning, and is carried in the soot and ash. It should never be burned because that involves a trip to hospital by anybody who breathes it in.

The catechols are very powerful allergens, and just one small drop, the same size as a grain of salt, will cause a rash in 90% of people. The urushiol itself does not cause the itch, but when it is oxidized by skin cells it forms a highly reactive chemical called quinine. That is what is known as a hapten, that does not illicit an immune reaction until it combines with a larger molecule such as a protein. The quinine will undergo a chemical reaction with skin proteins that will cause sensitization that promotes the immune response.

Once it is attached to skin proteins, the quinine cannot be washed off. The urushiol has to be removed as quickly as possible before the hapten is formed. Otherwise it is the blisters and the itch that has to be treated; the poison ivy or oak itself can no longer be removed. The affected areas are red with a few small blisters that get larger and start to weep a clear fluid. The whole area eventually becomes an oozing crust and scabs over, and infection can set in at any time if the whole area is not kept scrupulously clean.

Medical treatment is cortisone and calamine lotion to ease the itch. Antihistamines can help, but only orally, since topical antihistamine creams do not appear to do much. However, natural remedies are effective and the immediate one is to use jewelweed, otherwise known as touch-me-not. Jewelweed is the traditional Native American remedy for poison ivy and is very effective, especially if you can get it on your skin immediately. It also helps once the blisters appear, and can sooth the itch and accelerate healing. It is probably the Number One natural treatment for poison ivy and poison oak.

Tea tree oil is another. Tea tree is also called melaleuca, and melaleuca or tea tree oil can cause a reduction in swelling and blisters overnight. Many people swear by it. Aloe vera and vitamin E can also be used to help the skin heal with the absence of, or minimum of, scarring. Vitamin C can also help, especially if rubbed on the skin rather than taken as a supplement. Rat Vein also called Dragon Tongue, is another plant that helps soothe the blisters and weeping skin. It can be applied crushed directly to the affected area. Others rub on rhubarb juice or mashed up honeysuckle.

Although all of these work, your first action if you are able to use it is to wash yourself thoroughly with soap and water, the hotter the better. This helps to wash off, not only the resin itself, but also the quinine formed on the skin before it can attach itself to your skin proteins. The more of this that can be removed, the less the affected skin will be in area.

Homeopathic remedies are also very effective, and the main one used is Rhus Toxicodendron, Rhus Tox. for short, and made from poison ivy. It is of use for all symptoms with red swollen eruptions and incessant itching. The dose of rhus is to the sixth to thirtieth potency.

Another homeopathic remedy, especially if your skin is itchy with watery eruptions that might ooze shortly, is tiglium. This is made from croton tiglium, and is useful in the treatment of a variety of skin conditions including severe eczema. This is recommended from the sixth to thirtieth potency, depending on degree of symptoms. Another is Xerophyllum taken at sixth potency or more for poison oak symptoms such as itching and eruptions, and also other similar skin conditions.

The most common potencies are sixth and thirtieth. The sixth potencies can be taken every 15 minutes in urgent cases, and stopped when the symptoms ease. In non-urgent cases they should be taken thrice daily. At thirtieth take them up to half hourly in emergencies, and weekly otherwise. If you get the right remedy it will work very quickly ?within two hours mostly, and it should be repeated when the effect wears off, not before.

These remedies should be discontinued once you get better for continual use will make them ineffective as a treatment for poison ivy and oak. Homeopathic preparations are available at your local health food store.

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