Poison Oak

POISONOUS

Toxicodendron diversilobum

Photographer: G. Price

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Severe skin irritant

• Wash the skin thoroughly with soap and warm water. Because the plant oil enters skin quickly, try to wash it off within 30 minutes.
• Scrub under the fingernails with a brush to prevent the plant oil from spreading to other parts of the body.
• Wash clothing and shoes with soap and hot water. The plant oils can linger on them.
• Immediately bathe animals to remove the oils from their fur.
• Body heat and sweating can aggravate the itching. Stay cool and apply cool compresses to your skin.
• Calamine lotion and hydrocortisone cream can be applied to the skin to reduce itching and blistering.
• Bathing in lukewarm water with an oatmeal bath product, available in drugstores, may soothe itchy skin. Aluminum acetate (Domeboro solution) soaks can help to dry the rash and reduce itching.
• If creams, lotions, or bathing do not stop the itching, antihistamines may be helpful.
• In severe cases, especially for a rash around the face or genitals, the health care provider may prescribe steroids, taken by mouth or given by injection.
• Wash tools and other objects with a dilute bleach solution or rubbing alcohol. A product called Tecnu, available in camping stores and some pharmacies, is very effective at removing the oils, but expensive. It should not be used on skin.