Jump to content

Have you ever got Poison Oak while out caching?


Recommended Posts

A couple years ago I got poison ivy while caching. While most people just get a rash, I'm very allergic to it and my skin on both legs started to peel off.

 

Fortunately, I the ointment started to work fast enough to leave on some minor scars.

Link to comment

I think I picked a good sport to be in. I don't think I’m allergic to PI. I’ve had go in my eyes, mouth, legs and arms. I do try to wash down as soon I get home and I carry Technu in my bag, but I’d think after 4 years I would have had some kind of reaction. If you are real allergic to it, then winter would be your best time to cache.

Link to comment

Yes, and on the first time I went geocaching too. I can recall getting it one other time from another geocache find years later. I am very allergic to poison oak and try to be careful, and even skip a number of geocaches that look risky.

 

What really makes a difference is when returning from a hike that I "may" have encountered poison oak, I toss my clothes straight away in the washing machine and take a shower using liquid bleach to remove any oils. I rinse throughly and follow up with body wash to remove any leftover bleach. I've never had a case of poison oak since using this method. Tip: make sure to scrub your shoes including the bottoms, as you are likely to have stepped on the leaves. Ordinary water and a scrub brush seems to work well. Handle everything carefully until it's be "decontaminated".

Link to comment

I get PI when I look at it. I have at least a small rash of it all summer long and have been known to get a bit during the winter. I have also had it so bad I've gotten steriod shots at the Dr.s office.

 

Did you know that if your pet walks thru it the oils get on the animals fur and then you get it from petting/playing with the animal? I got my second worst case ever from picking up kitties that came thru a patch of PI as they ran back home from being out in the woods to play.

 

Caching is just another means to make sure I always have a rash. I don't stop outdoor activities just because of it. I wear long pants, long sleeved shirts and know the enemy.

Link to comment

I tried the homeopathic drops last year and have been using them again this year. I went in very sceptical and was surprised to see only a few small outbreaks. Often times only a few blisters and no itching, that I can live with!

 

Technu is a great product that could use a fragrance additive but is cheap enough to keep in the pack and truck for quick grab and clean applications. My only complaint is that the bottles are weak and will crack after a short time. It's nasty enough when this happens in a shirt pocket but really is gross in a door pocket or pack. The bottles go into ziplocks right from the get go now.

 

I've not tried the high dollar Zanfel, at around $30 a tube but when, sadly not if, I get another reaction I'm going to give it a go.

 

Bleach? I've heard folks using swiming in the neighborhood pool and bleach/chorline-like compresses to break down the compounds.

 

A great resource can be found here:

http://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/welcome.html

Link to comment

I've gotten it many times. I skip caches if there is too much PO around them.

 

The worst case I've seen was a friend of mine that was petting a lab that had run through PO all day. He got it on his hands and then all over himself. He got it so bad that he had to go to the hospital.

Edited by TrailGators
Link to comment

I am another who has had it so bad I've had to not only get steroid shots at the Dr.s office but also a prescription for another type of steroids in pill form. This is despite taking most, if not all, the precautions mentioned throughout this thread.

Link to comment

I've gotten it a couple, I have it now, but I never get it bad; usually just a small rash on an arm.

 

...And yes, I do know what it looks like, but since I don't get it bad I guess I just don't care. :lol:

 

How about you?

 

Yep, all the time.. Very allergic to it; seems odd coming from an ex-surveyor... :)

I have a couple small places on me right now from caching just north Panama City, FL. (off of Hobb's Pasture Road). I keep clear of any I see, but sometimes you never know until a few days later when it starts popping up.

I've gotten so use to it that the itching doesn't bother me anymore and can keep from scratching it.... :D

 

Never did get the shots to make me immune to it while surveying for 8 years.. I should have but never did..

 

Poison Ivy, Oak and Sumac have all the same oil that makes you break out. I have found one thing that does a very good job and it's "Tecnu Extreme Poison Ivy Scrub". It works very well (so does clorox or baking soda soaks).

It stops the itching and speeds up the healing of the rash.

 

Something I take with me Everywhere (EpiPen not shown):

GeoKit01.jpg

Edited by wkmccall
Link to comment

I used to be immune to poison oak (and ivy), but repeated exposure from orienteering (rather than geocaching) broke it down, so now I can get poison oak following significant exposure if I don't put on Tecnu. As others have mentioned, Tecnu is an amazing product that chemically breaks down the oily irritants and prevents/minimizes the rash. I know many orienteers who would have to give up the sport if Tecnu didn't exist (as we run cross-country, often through thickets of PO).

Edited by hydnsek
Link to comment

I think I picked a good sport to be in. I don't think I’m allergic to PI. I’ve had go in my eyes, mouth, legs and arms. I do try to wash down as soon I get home and I carry Technu in my bag, but I’d think after 4 years I would have had some kind of reaction. If you are real allergic to it, then winter would be your best time to cache.

 

Keep in mind that the vines of poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac toxic to those that are allergic just as the leaves. These lovely plants don't lose their potency for a very long time either.

 

I personally learned of my allergy to poison ivy while cutting up a downed tree in my yard. If had poison ivy vines all up the trunk (no leaves, just the vines). I cut it up with a chain saw, carried the pieces back to the woods and disposed. 24 hours later. . . . massive reaction on the underside of my forearms and between my fingers where I had pulled the vines off some of the logs.

 

As a kid I wasn't allergic - apparently now I am.

 

That was about 10 years ago - I found either some Ivy, Oak or Sumac last weekend while caching on a small part of one hand. A little annoying but no big deal. Dried up today :lol:

Link to comment

I can walk through a jungle of it with no reaction. But my wife on the other hand just seems to look at it and she breaks out. It is something we have to watch out for with her when we are out and about, so we appreciate the cachers who put the "poison plant" attribute on their cache page. I usually go for them solo while she stays back.

Link to comment

I have always been allergic to it. A couple of weeks ago I noticed some of it on my finger. Since I was at work I had nothing available except what was in the first aid cabinet. I soaked a paper towel with hydrogen peroxide and held it on there a few minutes to hopefully stop the itching. Two hours or so later I looked at it and instead of a blister there was a slightly red place where the blister was.

 

Today is the fourth time recently I have done this as I have been caching a lot lately and it has worked every time. What amazes me, is that it is a cheap and extremely effective treatment, that I have found quite by accident.

 

I will add I have not allowed the rash to get very established before applying the hydrogen peroxide and this last time the blisters were a little worse than the first three times and I had to keep it on there for several minutes longer.

 

It may be my skin type or some other unknown factor, but I have been telling everyone about it when the subject comes up. The effectiveness is unbelievable!

 

I know it sounds as if I'm selling something but the product is very cheap and it has worked for me and I hope it will you as well.

 

Since learning this I have went caching without fear of the stuff unlike before. I'm not sure how bad the rash would have to be not to be effective, but I hope it works for everyone the same as with me. Good luck.

Link to comment

Shouldn't this topic be, "Who hasn't got poison oak while caching?" I get it very mildly. I never got it as a kid and only started getting it about 8 years ago after a grass fire.

 

I fought a grass fire near the American River here in Sacramento and it had a ton of PO that had burned up along with the grass. After the fire, I went back to the station and took a shower and noticed these little bumps on my leg at my boot line under my pants. I asked the guys at the fire house what these itchy little bumps were and they told me it was poison oak.

 

The soot from the fire sneaks up your pant legs on grass fires and where my boots rubbed my legs it must have rubbed in the PO into my skin causing me a reaction. Ever since I will get a small amount on my leg or arm but nothing that bothers me like the first time I got it.

Link to comment

I've gotten it a couple, I have it now, but I never get it bad; usually just a small rash on an arm.

 

...And yes, I do know what it looks like, but since I don't get it bad I guess I just don't care. :lol:

 

How about you?

 

Nope.. never. But I will clear it away from a cache for others when I find it encroaching. Yup.. I just pull it out with my hands.

Link to comment

Nope.. never. But I will clear it away from a cache for others when I find it encroaching. Yup.. I just pull it out with my hands.

I can tell you from experience, you're tempting fate. I used to be completely immune. I could roll in the stuff. Once I had the audacity to pick some leaves and deliberately rub them on the back of my hand to show others that I was immune (and I was, then). They were appropriately horrified / impressed. :P

 

But repeated exposure breaks down the resistance. For me, it took several years, but it did finally happen. I still have a low reaction compared to some folks - minor encounters, including handling clothes and shoes, don't have any effect. For major exposure (bare skin in thickets of the stuff), I put on Tecnu and avoid a rash. The only time I'm impacted is if I have a major encounter and don't use Tecnu.

 

So, I'm just sayin'...play with fire, eventually you might get burned. :D

Edited by hydnsek
Link to comment

Nope.. never. But I will clear it away from a cache for others when I find it encroaching. Yup.. I just pull it out with my hands.

I can tell you from experience, you're tempting fate. I used to be completely immune. I could roll in the stuff. Once I had the audacity to pick some leaves and deliberately rub them on the back of my hand to show others that I was immune (and I was, then). They were appropriately horrified / impressed. :P

 

But repeated exposure breaks down the resistance. For me, it took several years, but it did finally happen. I still have a low reaction compared to some folks - minor encounters, including handling clothes and shoes, don't have any effect. For major exposure (bare skin in thickets of the stuff), I put on Tecnu and avoid a rash. The only time I'm impacted is if I have a major encounter and don't use Tecnu.

 

So, I'm just sayin'...play with fire, eventually you might get burned. :D

 

You could be right.. The stuff does make me nervous but after being a landscaper for over 6 years, a Park Ranger for another 12, I'd been exposed to it annually. The chief used to even target me to be the one to clear the trails of PO with a chainsaw. I can't count the number of times I've walked away dripping in PO sap and the fine chips all over me. I'm barely pushing 50 now and haven't been in that capacity for a decade but like you, I'm sure my days are numbered. Until then, I'll keep a cautious eye but I won't let it slow me down.

 

Happy caching!

Link to comment

I've never gotten poison oak (it's not common in the northeast), but I've gotten poison ivy.

 

If I know I've touched it, I'll use an alcohol wipe to clean the area. Some say the alcohol helps absorb/evaporate the oils, but others say that removes your skin's natural protective oils, making you more susceptible to it absorbing in quicker if you touch it again.

 

When I get home, I usually take a shower with soap and cool water, but that doesn't help if it's been awhile since you touched it.

Link to comment

Poison ivy for me. I'm fairly sensitive to it. This is my latest case. Not bad really, but the first time I've got it under my ring. So I had to leave it off for a couple days. It's to the stage where it itches less but looks worse.

 

0c6459e6-2378-4492-9d26-f5813906e812.jpg

Link to comment

It seems that almost every cache site I go to I run into this wicked plant!!! But thankfully I just get a few bumps on forearms and legs......nothing to write home to momma' about. It is irritating but further proves the dedication we cachers have to knowingly go out into this mess time and time again!!! ;)

Link to comment

We don't have poison oak in the northeast. Poison ivy grows with great abundance!

Usually, with poison ivy, I get a small rash that goes away in a few days. Once (I was on medication that must have lowered my resistance), the PI turned into allergic dermatitis. It spread from my arm all over my body. Prednisone cleared it up fairly quickly. Don't ever put me on prednisone again! For some. that is very dangerous stuff. The mood swings that it caused made me dangerous. (The ladies at work told me I had PMS.)

Link to comment

We don't have poison oak in the northeast.

 

Yeah, I know here in WV so many people confuse Virginia Creeper with poison oak. Thing is, poison ivy grows in amongst the Virginia Creeper so people get it confused because they break out. I've noticed though that I get less and less reaction to poison ivy, but I won't tempt it. My nemesis is stinging nettles. I HATE nettles...if you wear shorts in the stuff it will eatchoo up.

Link to comment
Yeah, I know here in WV so many people confuse Virginia Creeper with poison oak. Thing is, poison ivy grows in amongst the Virginia Creeper so people get it confused because they break out.

Someone made a note on one of my caches that there was some 5 leaf poison ivy nearby. 5 leaf poison ivy? What is that? I always thought PI have 3 leaves, so I looked it up and after a few minutes saw the reference to Virginia Creeper.

 

The whole 5 leave PI thing has sort of become a joke with some CT cachers. We now say, "Leaves of three, leave em be. Leaves of five, let em thrive..."

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...