Ooh, I itch!

[mysid]

Poison ivy has invaded my backyard, and being the good(ish) mom that I am, I decided that I really ought to get rid of as much as I could before my kids accidentally encountered it. I donned long plants and long rubber gloves and journeyed forth to do battle. I ripped out as much as I could find, stuffed it in a plastic garbage bag, and then immediately went inside to take a shower. (My clothes went straight into the washing machine.)

The next day, a few spots of rash appeared here and there on my arms just above where the gloves had protected. "Not too bad," I thought, and I dosed the rash with anti-itch gel when it began to bother me. The rash got worse as the days went by, but my handy anti-itch stuff always did the trick.

Today--days later--I awoke to find the tops/insides of my thighs covered with the distinctive blistery rash of poison ivy. How the hell did it get there? I was wearing long pants! And now my left breast is getting itchy too. I swear--I haven't had sex outdoors in years!

All that I can think is that when I showered that day, my washcloth spread the poison ivy oil from my arms to other areas of my body. [Grumble]
.

Comments

[fantomeq.livejournal.com]

OW OW ITCH! I bet it was the washcloth. I wouldn't have thought of that either. I hope you feel better soon. *Gives you virtual Benedryl*

[secretsolitaire.livejournal.com]

UGH, that sucks! I don't have any personal experience with poison ivy myself (*knocks on wood*), but my SO has gotten it several times and he always uses jewel weed (http://www.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/jewelwed.htm) to clear it up. We have a little grove of trees near our apartment where both poison ivy and jewel weed grow (they tend to grow near each other in the wild), so every time he gets P.I. he goes out to pick the jewel weed and then crushes it up to form a paste.

Sounds like your anti-itch gel is doing the trick, but just figured I'd mention this as a possibility too. Hope it clears up soon!

[greenwitch.livejournal.com]

If you're sensitive to it, the wash cloth would definately do it :-(

Fortunately I'm not sensitive (at the rate of which I encounter it on my job, if I haven't gotten it by now...), but I have family members who are and I have to be really careful about touching things after I take off my workboots (since the oils could get on the laces), and always turn my clothes inside out before tossing them into the laundry room...

Seriously though, I know people who can just go near it and not even touch it who get it. Nasty stuff.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

YUK! There's a very good reason to be glad I live over here!