Uh, was this contact with Poison Oak?

[dhshuttlemonkey]

How long does the rash stay around?

[Steven Jackson]

One time I splattered some grease on my arm when dumping it in the alley at work, my arm kind of looked like your leg does.

[royta]

This sucks. It didn't take long for blisters & rash to form where I had major contact. However, I keep getting surprise patches here and there where I only had a small brush up against the plant. The most painful/itchy area is along my belt line on my back. It doesn't really have the blisters that you associate poison oak with (the blisters are on my legs & wrists), but it is a very nasty rash. That's a very sensitive area because it is soft skin that is covered almost all the time. The skin on my legs is much tougher, so it doesn't bother me near as bad as my lower back does. I think I could go riding, except that I think the bottom of my camelbak would severely irritate the rash on my lower back. I really want to do the night ride tonight on STT, and I'm sure I wouldn't notice any problems until after the ride. Of course, then the damage is done, and I'd be up all night tossing and turning.

[maxxxlaw]

about the crash and PO. Riding won't really affect it one way or another aside from the potential discomfort. Non-prescription products may help somewhat relieve the symptoms, but if you are highly sensitive(and it sounds like you are) the only thing that will decrease the amount of time suffering is a vist to the doc and an RX for a Medrol Dose Pac(an oral corticosteroid).

Your friendly neighborhood ex-pharmacist.

That being said, I am up for a ride Fri. am or this weekend, I will be in Big Bear, so SART is an option.

K

[royta]

Originally Posted by maxxxlaw

...but if you are highly sensitive(and it sounds like you are) the only thing that will decrease the amount of time suffering is a vist to the doc and an RX for a Medrol Dose Pac(an oral corticosteroid).

Actually, I think I'm just being a wuss. It was some pretty serious contact with the plant. The only time I knew dang well I was going to get it. So, I think I'm breaking out as bad as a normal person should.


I might go on a small ride (1 mile) this evening with a full camelbak to see if there is any irritation.

Regarding the drugs, I'll call my buddy who is a PA and see if he can do it without the official doctor ($$) visit.

[LBmtb]

Prednisone (pills) works wonders for me if you're going the RX route.

[ECOdork]

I had my first encounter with a stinging nettle plant the other day.

Started like a jellyfish sting, progressed to bee-sting/fire-ant bite welts and kept tingling all day. Not too painful, but I'm certainly not going to be rolling around in the stuff.

[Pain Freak]

Yeah, I got that the other day too. Stings and every now and then I hit my arm in a certain way and it stings again

[royta]

Originally Posted by mtbracer36

How long does the rash stay around?

I touched the PO a week ago today. Normally, I don't get the blisters until 5 days after contact. I got the blisters by Monday or Tuesday. I'd say I'm about a week away from having them being gone.

I'm still working, and every now and then I'll bump my leg against something. This causes blisters to break and ooze. Yesterday, I was changing out lamps & ballasts on the recessed Metal Halide light fixtures in Max Studio @ Fashion Island. You're reaching inside the recessed fixture in order to do this, and you rub your wrists against the metal edge. There is a very small patch of blisters on my left wrist that I broke open. A nice brown sugar type crust then forms on the area. It's awesome! My back doesn't have the blisters, but it does have a raised rash that is very painful after getting out of the shower.

What a sucky weekend. My wife, kids, and I will be at two gatherings, one with a chlorine pool, and the other with a salt water pool. I think I might sit on the sidelines.

[LBmtb]

Originally Posted by royta

A nice brown sugar type crust then forms on the area. It's awesome! My back doesn't have the blisters, but it does have a raised rash that is very painful after getting out of the shower.

Ah yes, good description on the crust! Brings back fond memories. Err, I mean horrible memories. Cold showers usually help shooth the rashes. Hot showers do the opposite (from my experience - could be a personal thing). I feel for you, man!

[royta]

Originally Posted by LBmtb

Cold showers usually help shooth the rashes. Hot showers do the opposite (from my experience - could be a personal thing).

Cold showers - Exactly! I think it's the soap that irritates it. You'd think the fact that I use Dove (1/4 cup of moisturizing cream) that it wouldn't be so much of a problem. It's a good thing I don't use manly soap, as I'd probably be in tears after the shower.


LBmtb, I don't think my breakout is even close to as bad as yours. From your pictures, it appears you get blister patches even where you didn't actually come in contact with the plant. I've got blister patches all over my legs, but I came in a LOT of contact with the plant. The only thing that puzzles me is my back. I guess my jersey must have pulled up, or something. However, there are no blisters. Wierd.

[dstepper]

I do not necessarily think that water is bad and chorine or salt could dry out the rash.

When I lived up Nor-Cal, Vichy Hot Springs outside of Ukiah, Ca. would not charge people with poison oak to use the hot baths. I have never had a bad case but people that I knew swore by the hot springs. They could get rid of the rash in days instead of weeks.

Vichy Hot Springs is unusual in that the water is naturally carbonated.

[royta]

I guess that's what I was worried about. I was worried about the salt water or chlorine drying out the rash and hurting like a mofo. Maybe I'll give it a shot.

Yeah, I can imagine plenty of PO in Ukiah.

[royta]

Gosh dang it all to heck!!

I wish I knew what was going on here. All of the original patches of blisters on my legs are drying up. However, there are now new patches of blisters on my legs, and even new patches forming around older patches. I don't think the new patches are caused by coming into contact with unwashed urushiol from clothes, etc., as blisters are only on my legs, not the rest of my body. It's been two weeks today, so what's with the new blisters?

I've done some reading up, and I learned that where there is massive contact, you'll get the blisters very soon after. However, there will also be areas with not as bad of contact (from the original exposure), and the blisters will form later on. However, blisters shouldn't be forming two weeks after the fact, should they?

I haven't ridden my bike since 5/19. I haven't slid across the dirt in quite some time, so I'm probably due. I really don't want to have to scrub dirt out of oozing blister patches. That just doesn't sound fun to me.

[LBmtb]

Technically poison oak doesn't spread so the two possibilities are ones you touched on. Either you touched urushiol from something (if you washed everything real good - then maybe your car seat or maybe you layed in bed a bit before showering?) or the new spots are from lesser dosages of the oil from the original day. Although 2 weeks does seem like a bit too long after. My guess would be that you didn't wash stuff good enough or some of that urushiol was spread to something that you didnt wash. Here's a bit of info.

[royta]

I know for sure that some of this isn't from recontact. I have one patch on the right side of my left knee. The original patch was .75" diameter. It is now drying up, but there is now an outer ring of fresh blisters. Overall diameter of the inner & outer is now 1.5". The majority of the new blisters look nothing more than extensions of the original patches.

I hit the PO bush @ around 7AM. I finished my ride at 9:30AM. I finally got in the shower at my grandmother's at around 10AM to 10:30AM. No Tecnu, only Dove dishwashing soap. I bought Tecnu at around 12PM and applied it at around 1:00PM (probably way too late). I finally got home at around 11PM and had a Tecnu scrub in the shower. Any unwashed urushiol should have been plenty bonded to the skin before I went to bed, so I can't imagine I'm getting recontact from my bed. I totally forgot about using Tecnu on my steering wheel, so I did that two days ago.

The fact that the new blisters (except for the ones on my right knee cap area) appear to be extensions of the original patches, leads me to believe that my body is still reacting to the urushiol. I'm thinking (hoping) the reaction is from the original urushiol. If new contact, then why not new blisters on other areas of my body (did I jinx myself)? Why only my legs?

[royta]

Well, the new blisters on my right knee are now liquid free. Now my legs have the thick peeling lizard scales. Whew, I'm so glad that mess is over. I've been off my bike since 5/19.

I'm going to do two or three laps of the 12HR Temecula course tomorrow morning at 5:30ish. Yippee!!

[Jordansrealm]

I dont know if its been mentioned here I dont wanna read through all the responses but I heard you need to destroy the clothing you were wearing that got exposed. The oils in the PI or PO get in the cloth and pretty much do not come out. Only if it went through the contamination so like if your leg got it maybe toss your socks or shorts but not your shirt, etc..

Not 100% sure but what I heard