Misstep has writer itching for remedies

I set out a couple of weeks ago to clear away some old shrub roses and an enormously weedy, grassy area along the road beside my garden. I gathered all the necessary tools: A manual brush-whacker, a string trimmer, pruners, a rake and a pitchfork to do the job. The day wasn’t particularly hot, but nonetheless I wore shorts, a short-sleeved shirt, sneakers and ankle socks.

Big mistake.

I started in on the project with the usual gusto – hacking away here, cutting away there. The more progress I made, the faster I worked. A project like this, the more you do, the more you want to see it done. Transforming that nasty-looking weed patch into something that resembled a smooth rolling lawn was all I could think about. So think about it, I did. I chopped and cut and tossed and piled and hauled.

As I went about my task, my mind wandered and I was oblivious to the enemy lurking in the dense, tall grass around my feet. The plant danced about my ankles. It dallied along my shins. When I ran the string trimmer, it was sprayed through the air, coating my forearms. Although I wore goggles when I ran that brutish machine, bits landed on my cheeks and were swiped across my eyelids when I removed the protective gear.

Knowing what poison ivy looks like is only half the battle. Knowing where it is, is the other critical part. I learned what poison ivy looks like as a child. I relearned it in botany class. I learned it a third time when I taught my own children how to beware of the plant. Even though I’d almost always seen it growing along roadsides, I never knew it grew under that tall stand of grass bordering my road.

I ran to the house and washed my skin over and over again, but it was too late. In several days, rashes around my ankles and on my arms appeared. Tiny itch spots appeared on my face, but surprisingly, they weren’t too bad. My legs bore the worst of it. As a person in discomfort tends to do, I solicited advice from anyone willing to give it. Try this, try that, neighbors and friends offered. A friend from Indiana had no idea what to do, but she sweetly sent eight packets of an oatmeal bath treatment and a bottle of itch-relief powder packaged in a bright orange bottle that seemed to capture the urgency of my distress. She even sent it Express Mail – now that’s a true friend!

I tried lotions, gels, ointments and creams. Some soothed the itching, others reduced the swelling. All gave only temporarily relief. “I’d rather be in pain than itch,” I told anyone who showed the most remote interest in my predicament. The old standby, calamine lotion, seemed to provide the most relief. In fact, the most help was offered by my mom, who’s best in these sort of situations, and came in the form of an alternative medicine reference called “Prescription for Nutritional Healing” by James and Phyllis Balch.

This book explained the allergenic reaction our bodies have to poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. It turns out, according to the book, that it takes less than 1 ounce of the potent toxin to affect a person. That statistic is quite alarming, and makes me feel as though I came through pretty well, considering I trampled through the poison patch for about a half-hour before I came to my senses.

Every part of poison ivy is toxic. The poison toxin is an oil located in the plant’s tissues – the leaves, stems and roots. Even dried plant parts are toxic. If bits of the plant or its toxic oils are on clothing, reactions may be caused if clothes are not properly treated after contact. Once the skin is affected, scratching can spread the inflammation to other parts of the body. The first symptom of infection is a burning or itching sensation, the reference says. An intensely itchy rash follows, and it may be accompanied by swelling or weeping blisters. The rash can last two to 14 days.

One neighbor offered this advice: wash the skin with brown or yellow laundry soap – such as Fels Naptha – within 10 minutes of contamination. “Prescription” backs up this claim, adding that alcohol may also be used to wash away the toxic oils. Remove all clothing and shoes immediately and lather and rinse several times. If the washing isn’t done within 10 minutes, the oil will penetrate the skin and cannot be washed off.

The book recommends several alternatives for relieving the rash. Also, Vitamin C, a natural antihistamine that reduces swelling, is an important dietary supplement if you’ve contracted poison ivy. Vitamin A is also recommended by the reference. Most helpful, I think, was applying Vitamin E oil to the rash once the itching subsided. This substance rapidly heals the affected area and supposedly prevents scarring.

Thanks to the various remedies, I’m better (and, thankfully, a bit wiser) now. If there’s more to say about poison ivy, I’m afraid I can’t say it right now. Just writing this is making me itch!

Diana George Chapin is the NEWS garden columnist. Send horticulture questions to Gardening Questions, RR1, Box 2120, Montville 04941, or e-mail them to dianagc@ctel.net. Selected questions will be answered in future columns. Include name, address and telephone number.