Poison ivy can quickly spread all over your entire body if you are not careful. In order to prevent this spreading you will want to know exactly what to do in case of a poison ivy encounter. However, regardless of its size and how much of your body it covers it is an overwhelming mind consuming disease.
Poison ivy is quite contagious and it can spread rapidly all over your body. The most common way to contract this rash is by touching the plant itself. You do not even need to rub the plant; one touch will do the trick. However, this is not the only way you can spread the rash. It is so extremely contagious that you can contract it simply by touching something else that has touched it such as clothing.
These are also not the only ways in which people can catch this disease. The last way in which a person can contract it is rather dangerous and is cause for hospitalization. Wood burning that has pieces of poison ivy inside of it can release very poisonous toxins.
There are a few lucky people that will never contract poison ivy no matter their exposure to it. However, these people are rare and considered to be immune to it. These people need to be aware that their immunity can change at any given time, especially with age; people may grow out of their immunity to the disease.
The disease initially occurs in once location. However, it can spread rather quickly. When this occurs it can be frighteningly scary and hard to painful at times. You should be careful so as not to touch the infected location so that you do not spread it across the entirety of your body.
What you want to avoid is taking a shower in an attempt to wash off the harmful oils. This kind of hot water will only open the pores all over your body and spread all of the harmful oils. What you want to do is to wash off the infected areas with rubbing alcohol to disinfect it. You only have up to six hours after the initial start of the infection in order to disinfect it. After the six hour period has passed all of the oils have already seeped into the pores.
The rash itself can last up to three weeks, which can be an extremely long time to live with this type of intense itching pain. However, in more mild cases it can end in just a short week. If the itching prolongs for over a week you may want to see a doctor. This is because prescription medication can help to ease the pain as well as clear it up better than any over the counter medication.
You will always want to avoid poison ivy whenever possible. However, in the case in which contact does occur you will want to be sure you know exactly what to do. Also, you will want to know exactly what not to do so that you can make it go away as fast as possible.
Locate the right treatment for poison ivy by seeking it out online. There are many ways that you can kill poison ivy and end the itching. Head online today and learn more.
