Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Poison Ivy

I have poison ivy. Last Friday I was taking out the rest of the hedge behind the back patio and I came across something that looked suspiciously like budding poison ivy. I just tore out the vines and dug up their roots and threw them away. By Saturday I had two patches of poison ivy erupting on both my forearms. Despite lathering myself in an oatmeal paste (the only treatment that works for me is to dry the poison ivy patches up with oatmeal) it has spread all over my arms and I have a spot of it on my face near my left ear. To keep from itching myself crazy I've been soaking in Aveeno (more oatmeal) baths. It does take away the itchiness, but soaking in the tub twice a day isn't all that practical.
I've battled poison ivy outbreaks my whole life. Once, when I was ten, I sat in poison ivy while taking a break from swimming at Perry Lake. By far the worst case of poison ivy I've ever had, in the most sensitive place imaginable. I couldn't sit down for weeks. Oh, and worst 'cure' I ever tried was applying boiling hot poultices made from goldenseal to the effected area. First off, it didn't work, and second it stained my skin green. I looked like Swamp Thing, or at least a walking fungus.
So, anyway, I've got the hedges all out and tulip tree planted to provide shade, eventually, for the patio. But damn.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Poor Jennifer! It's awful when you can't scratch your itch. I'm so sorry.

jennifer from pittsburgh said...

IIRC, you've had your own tangle with a nasty bout of poison ivy, no? ;)

Anonymous said...

What gypsy said.

What jfp said.

;)

Hope you´re doing better soon.

Here, we don´t have poison ivy, only nettle and wild blackberry (the plant, not the tech thingy, which we do also have, we are not behind the moon).

jennifer from pittsburgh said...

Glad to know that you're not living outside space there, ygfa! Until you experience the reverse joy of having poison ivy, just consider yourself lucky. Funny, isn't it, that the original explorers to north america didn't think to export this back to the old world...;)

Anonymous said...

I guess they needed space for all the pretty and useful valuables they brought back.

(Hmmm, I am not even sure that Europeans brought it there.)

Anonymous said...

Yes...I know poisen ivy well. Of course, for me, it paid off! lol

Anonymous said...

steriods make poisen ivy stop itching and disappear. Ask your doc for pretnizone! I swear it works wonders!