How to relieve poison ivy torture

Background
I have this wretched affliction as I type this. I was exposed last Sunday while working in the yard. The only body parts exposed were a few inches between my wrists and elbows. The rash appeared on Day 1 after exposure in a few manageable spots on my forearms. It more than doubled on Day 2 and also produced large, bubbly clusters of blisters, which doubled again on Day 3. It continued to spread north and south on my arms by Day 4, when I finally saw a doctor and was prescribed Predisone (a steroid), which (I think) started helping dry up the horrific blisters within hours.

(Photo at right was taken after a couple days of healing had begun. It is now 2 months later and I still have scarring.)

At the onset of my misery, I searched the Internet for suggestions on how to eradicate the blisters and the itch and viewed the variety of suggestions here: http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/misc.html. From those suggestions, I concocted my own remedies and this one worked GREAT for me:

Remedy for reducing itching
Gather the following:

• Baking soda (regular stuff in yellow box: Arm & Hammer)
  
• Rubbing alcohol (or hot water works too)
• Gold Bond Extra Strength medicated powder (the kind in the green bottle, but the regular kind in the yellow bottle would probably work also)

1. Make a paste with the baking soda and alcohol (hot water also works, but I think the alcohol provided a more "tingly" feeling).
2. The "paste"should be wet -- kind of like the consistency of gravy.
3. Use your hands to gently rub the paste all over your affected areas.
4. Allow the pasted areas to mostly dry, then sprinkle the Gold Bond over that and gently pat it on.

That's it. Works great for me. It makes a bit of a mess and you'll probably shed the powder all around, but oh well. I re-apply the concoction two or three times a day and have had very, very little itching. The worst part of the poison ivy for me this time around (I've had it several times before) has been its hideousness, the bubbles of ooze, the inconvenience, and the fact that I have to wear long sleeves to cover my disgustingly gross-looking arms.

If you're reading this, you're probably afflicted and I feel for you and your misery. I hope this helps you find relief. And I highly recommend seeing the doctor if your symptoms progress and spread like mine. Like my doctor said, it had affected my whole system (regardless of location of physical exposure) and was popping out in other places, like my stomach, forehead, etc.

You can bet I'll take even more precautions next time I work in the yard (today). I've already attacked the yard with Round Up poison ivy killer, and I'll be completely covered head to toe, no matter how hot it is. And when finished, my clothes will go carefully and immediately into the wash.

Good luck!

Toughen Up

The link at the bottom of my comments here is a commentary from The Washington Times about something that got me riled up:

What is happening to us? It appears we've become not only a nation of wussies but a wussy nation. What's with all the pandering and political correctness? It continues to get worse. The movie, "Gran Torino" illustrates that a person who uses so-called "derogatory" or "offensive" terms toward people is not necessarily ignorant or insensitive or -- most importantly -- "hateful" toward a particular group.

Was it the 1960s when our nation's practice of pandering began? Like a snowball gathering size as it rolls downhill, so has the culture of politically-correct pandering. And in so doing, the "offended," i.e., weak people, have become strong.

How could this happen? Apparently easily: The panderers have repeatedly accused non-panderers of being "ignorant" for using "hate speech" (like displaying a Rebel flag, stating the belief that marriage is between a man and woman, or using the term "Islamic terrorist"), and have thereby established themselves as being intellectually superior. Non-panderers may not have agreed with the panderers' nonsensical "reasoning," but were in the inexplicably complicated position of being unable to defend a position of "hate." Therefore, over 30-40 years, the panderers' ranks have snowballed, gathering people who were, in fact, too ignorant to cognize and articulate the defense that pandering to weakness begets weakness.

But my accusation of the ignorance of the non-panderers who succumbed to the pandering way is not said with the same disdain and intellectual superiority of the panderers. It is simply a fact of nature that some people are deeper thinkers than others. The trouble is, too many people succumbed -- it does take work to think these things through -- and we all know that many panderers are actually closet non-panderers. A nation of wussies. Too afraid to come out of the closet and proclaim their intolerance of weakness. As in Clint Eastwood's character in "Gran Torino," he used a downright cornucopia of politically-incorrect, stereotypical slurs, but he had more strength, guts, and tolerance than any weak panderer could ever have.

Now we have a president who can repeatedly refer to the Koran as "holy." Even if an American politician did refer to the Bible, he certainly couldn't get away with calling it "holy," even though it is part of its title.

We need to turn this around. We need to develop a defense that even inarticulate people can easily argue. The panderers' weapon of intellectual superiority -- however false in reality it is -- has proven powerful enough to weaken us more than I could have ever imagined.

Oh, and by the way, I'm guilty too: I didn't want to offend when I said, "It appears we've become not only a nation of wussies but a wussy nation." I'll amend that by saying we've become not only a nation of pussies but a pussy nation. That's more accurate. No offense.

Victoria


http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/09/americas-first-muslim-president/?feat=article_top10_read