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Poison ivy and poison oak looks
alike and both these plants have three leaflets per stem while
poison sumac has six to ten leaflets per stem. The best method
to prevent the effects from these plants is to remove all the
cloths and shoes that have touched the plant. We can wash our
skin with soap and water, we can apply some cleaning body
lotions and solutions with cotton, we can completely rinse our
body in water. These preventive methods are effective when they
are done within 6 hours.
Poison ivy’s usually grow near lakes and streams in east and
Midwest countries. The leaves will be green during summer and
will become red when the other season comes. This plant has
yellow and green flowers, white berries. Poison oak grows in
eastern regions with yellow colored berries. Poison sumac grows
in southern regions with pale, yellow and cream colored berries.
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There will be some problems that
create swelling, difficulty in breathing and swallowing,
weakness, dizziness, unconsciousness, blue colored lips and
mouth. Taking adrenalin will reduce them. Physician’s help is
required when the skin turns red, when formation of pus occurs
or when the rash spreads into the mouth, eye, genital parts and
face. We can wash our body in hot water though it causes itching
it gives a good relief later. Over-the-counter drugs like
antihistamine (Benedryl) can also be taken as a medication. We
can reduce the blisters by applying a ,mixture of baking soda in
water for every 10 minutes. We Should wear long pants, long
sleeves, and boots to avoid exposure to poison ivy.
First Aid for skin rashes
• Washing all the clothes, shoes that had touched the poisonous
plant
• Keeping hands away from our eyes, face and mouth
• Scraching and rubbing of the skin should be avoided
• Applying calamine lotion, zinc oxide ointment, applying a
paste of baking sods with water (3:1), taking over-the-counter
(OTC) medications like Benadryl with antihistamine composition.
The other OTC drugs available are aluminum acetate (Burrows
solution), Aveeno (oatmeal bath), aluminum hydroxide gel,
calamine, kaolin, zinc acetate, zinc carbonate and zinc oxide.
Poison ivy belongs to the Anacardiaceae family, and the
botanical name is Toxicodendron radicans or Rhus toxicodendron.
Poison ivy is found abundantly in North America. The plant can
grow up to a height of 1.2 m. The major damage caused by Poison
ivy is that it causes allergic reactions in our body. If the
smoke of the burnt poison ivy is inhaled, rashes may occur in
the linings of lungs and may cause difficulty in breathing. In
case if poison ivy is eaten, the digestive tract and lungs will
get badly affected ans sometimes leads to death. Poison ivy look
very attractive, but its sap is very dangerous. It immediately
casues rashes when a person touches the plant.
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In some cases, poison ivy is used in
medicine field also. A fluid is extracted from the fresh leaves.
Skin creams containing bentoquatum are also used for curing
poisonous effect.
Treatment
The following treatment methods are used for reducing the
poisonous effects of poison ivy
• Washing all the exposed areas with cold water, in a stream,
lake or a pond. If we wash the exposed parts within five
minutes, water may stop the effect of urushiol that spreads
throughout our body. We can use soap and water to reduce skin
rashes within half an hour from the exposure time.
• We should wash our clothes including rugs, shoes with a
detergent. We can also dry clean the contaminated clothes. This
is to inactivate urushiol since it may stay alive for number of
months. |
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