natural poison ivy relief
pretty, even
Growing up in the New England countryside, I learned very early on to recognize the leaves of the dreaded poison ivy plant. They may look harmless enough—pretty, even—but don’t let those shiny leaves fool you for even a second. If you so much as innocently brush against a dangling vine or, heaven forbid, grab one, then the consequences can feel absolutely miserable—for weeks on end. For whatever reason, the plant just seems to hate humans, and it expresses this dislike (in all seasons) through its oil—urushiol—which can be found in its roots, vines, and leaves. The delayed allergic rash that this oil provokes is positively wretched. Like, why does it stick around for sooooo long? How can new spots keep popping up a week—or more—after the initial one? Must the blisters get SO big? Why won’t it stop leaking? And for the love of God, STOP. ITCHING. ALREADY.
“Leaves of three, leave them be” is cute, easy to remember, and will do in a pinch, but differentiating poison ivy from all the other three-leaved plants out there is a must for those who enjoy spending time outdoors. Unless, of course, you’re one of the blessed few who don’t react to urushiol like the rest of us poor souls do. To whom I say: count your blessings.
rise of dread
Unfortunately, though, even if you can spot the plant from a mile away, you may still end up with a nasty case of poison ivy. Just this spring while my daughter and I were working on our property, she inadvertently grabbed an early springtime vine that was cleverly hidden amongst some bittersweet. Roughly twenty-four hours later, the telltale symptoms began appearing, along with the accompanying rise of dread. Trying not to panic (Oh shit. How bad is this gonna get? Did I rub my nose? My mouth? My EYE?), all she could do was wait. And itch. And wait some more while itching.
Slowly but surely, the skin between her fingers begin to painfully blister, hinting of what was to come. It progressed to the point where she spent considerable time each day wrapping her swollen, weeping fingers in gauze to both protect them from the pain of rubbing against each other and to absorb the leaking fluid. The incessantly itchy rash lingered for almost a month, so bad for much of it that she couldn’t bend her fingers or easily use that hand. We tried all of the natural remedies at our disposal—lavender hydrosol, running it under hot water, witch hazel, aloe vera, an internal essential oil blend that I’d concocted and a topical one—but none of these did anything to actually shorten the lifespan of the rash. Sadly for her, I had yet to stumble upon…
the magic of shea.
Shea nut butter has been part of my supplies stash for as long as I can remember, but it’s not generally a remedy that pops to mind when I’m searching for relief. While it always feels like a deeply nourishing butter, it's also greasy, waxy, and leaves behind a residue that can really linger, potentially staining clothing; because of this, I generally reserve it for my soap and lotion recipes. But around the same time that my girl’s poison-ivy-crippled hand was recovering, I was also nursing the tail-end of a case of poison ivy that covered most of my thigh. The rash had receded but left behind a large patch of dry, irritated skin that I found hard to heal and soothe, especially with my denim work overalls rubbing against it day after day. Precisely because I wanted something that would linger, I reached for the shea butter, applying it liberally several times a day. Thankfully, it was precisely what I needed and worked wonders, leaving behind healthy skin and a lasting favorable impression.
perpetual fear
Let's fast forward a couple of months now to my first (and clearly fateful) encounter with… chiggers. I had no idea they even existed in my neck of the woods but after being bitten by the little beasts, I lived in a perpetual state of fear for the rest of the summer. My body reacted poorly to their saliva—like really poorly. A line of bites marched up my neck, causing it to swell to twice its normal size. The itching was so desperate—far, far worse than poison ivy—that I thought I might go mad. In desperation, and after trying countless other remedies, I ran the bites under hot water to relieve the itching (more on this later) and then applied a light layer of shea nut butter. I only reached for the shea to prevent the skin on my neck from drying out like it had on my thigh, having no idea how overall effective it would be.
Because effective it was. And when I say it did the trick? I mean it really, really did the trick—almost immediately. I repeated the process as needed and, with enormous relief, watched the swelling and redness on my neck finally begin to recede. Even better, the itching retreated as well. For the second time over the course of the summer, shea had saved me. Which really got me thinking… what else could it do?
generously adorned
Every day we spend outside clearing our two-acres brings with it the distinct possibility of accidentally touching poison ivy, no matter how careful/covered we are; sadly, our property is generously adorned with it. After my success with the chigger bite, though, I naturally began to wonder if shea could be of any use against this relentless habitat hazard. I didn't have to wait long before I felt the first stirrings of a poison ivy reaction, and I wasted no time. As usual, I began with my standard rinsing under hot water and then followed that up with shea, just as I had with the chigger bites. And lo and behold....
IT WORKED! (cue the confetti, fireworks, and endless tears of joy)
It truly worked and just as beautifully as I’d hoped. Even better, in fact. The itching stopped and the rash cleared up within a matter of days, versus weeks. It felt nothing short of miraculous, honestly. But I was only one case… could this possibly be a success I could repeat, or was it merely a fluke? I cannot tell a lie, I felt like I might have stumbled onto a game-changer, but it was too early to get overly excited. The implications it held for our habitat work, however, could be huge.
Over and over during the course of the summer, I experimented on one case of poison ivy after another. Granted, we’re only four strong here and nothing has even come close in severity to the case my daughter had on her hands, but there hasn’t been a single time that it hasn’t performed beautifully. I haven’t invested the time and effort to explore why it works, nor have I explored how—all I know is this: we’re not scared of poison ivy anymore. After fifty years of dealing with the dreaded rashes, I now have something that provides relief and encourages my body to heal the problem remarkably quickly. I have no way of knowing how well it will work for those beyond my family yet, but it's easy enough that most everyone can give it a try. Two ingredients. Two steps. Doesn't get much easier than that.
poison ivy protocol
Step 1: My first step when dealing with any kind of bug bite or itchy rash is to rinse it under hot water. While taking care not to burn myself or damage the skin, I use water as hot as I can tolerate. Running it directly over the itch, an interesting thing happens. As soon as the heat hits it, the itching will really ramp up, building to a climax within ten seconds or so before fading. I’m not sure if this is true, but it appears to exhaust the itch receptors and can keep them fatigued for many hours. The first time I tried this was when I developed a nasty case of ringworm from one of our newly adopted guinea pigs many years ago; it was the only thing that brought me relief.
Step 2: Once the itch climaxes (my apologies, but it does really feel delightfully orgasmic), I pat the skin dry before adding a light layer of shea nut butter. And then? Well, that’s it. A week ago, just as I was drafting this post, a small poison ivy rash appeared on my calf (how opportune, right?). I immediately followed my new poison ivy protocol, soothing it first with the hot water and then the shea, and it was a full twenty-four hours later before the small bubbles began to itch again. I repeated this over the course of the week, usually just once a day or twice a day, and a week later finds the rash almost completely gone. Not just calmed down, but gone.
caution: latex
I will add a couple of things, however, the first of which is that shea nut butter might not be a great fit for everyone. The shea tree contains natural plant latex, so my oldest daughter who has a latex sensitivity can’t use shea (it causes a dermal reaction). So if you’re allergic to natural latex, you might want to avoid shea nut butter or at least do a patch test before using.
Secondly, please, please support fair trade shea nut butter. It’s a labor-intensive process for the women who harvest and process it (sometimes called: women’s gold), and fair trade ensures that they’re compensated fairly. Personally, I only use unrefined, organic shea nut butter, and I have no idea if the refined butter would have the same effect.
poison ivy relief
So there it is: natural poison ivy relief. Here's hoping your body appreciates the support of shea nut butter as much as mine does!
Much love & many thanks for reading,
Melinda
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