Poison Ivy Allergy
Friday, July 1st, 2016
Poison Ivy Allergy: What You Need to Know
If your mother always said: “leaves of three, let it be,” she knew what she was talking about. Direct skin contact with poison ivy is a common cause of allergic contact dermatitis, which manifests as a rash that can be agonizingly itchy and long-lasting.
Some essential facts about poison ivy and poison oak rashes:
• Identifying: Poison ivy is found in forested areas across the much of the United States and Canada. Poison oak is common in southern states. Both plants can be identified by their distinctive sets of three leaves on a stem. Poison ivy leaves have pointy ends, while poison oak has oak-like scalloping at the leaf edges. While more commonly recognized as shrubs, both plants can also grow up trees as vines.
• Poison ivy and oak release a resin called urushiol, and it’s contact with that resin that leads to the rash. Experts say more than half the population of the U.S. and Canada are susceptible to reacting to poison ivy’s urushiol.
• Signs: A poison ivy rash typically occurs within 24 hours, though sometimes it will develop as late as 3 days after exposure. (An old wives’ tale is that the rash appears immediately – not so.) Unfortunately, the symptoms can last for 2 to 3 weeks.
• The rash: in most people, the rash looks like strips of tiny pimple-like blisters and is irritating and uncomfortable. But for some who are highly sensitive to poison ivy, the rash can turn into large, liquid-filled blisters and is extremely itchy and painful.
References:
Allergic Living. (2016). Poison ivy allergy: What you need to know. Retrieved from: http://allergicliving.com/2012/06/13/poison-ivy-allergy-what-you-need-to-know/.
