Poison Oak sucks!

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Joe
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During the Spring GA Rally I decided to go to the Amicalola Falls State Park. I had planned placing some of my mom's ashes there as I have been doing that since she passed.

Well, I remember someone saying the falls are close to the parking area - I should have listened more closely - I may have heard 'A' parking area vs 'THE' parking area.

So, I park the bike near the visitior center - I should have gone inside, may have helped - and saw a sign to the lower falls. I kept my gear on and stared walking on the trail - the falls should be close right?

Well, I kept walking....

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After about half a mile I'm getting warm so I take my jacket off and hang on some dry branch, then my mid layer and hold them in the elbow of my left arm.

Well, it was 1 mile till I came to some stairs and 'A' PARKING AREA!

1/4 mile later on some really nice pathway made from recycled tires, you see the waterfalls.

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So, some good news in the experience however, once I got back to camp I noticed the area where I was carrying my jacket getting red.. doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize it was one of the 3 big ones - ivy/oak/sumac.... I concluded it was likely poison oak.

I'm no experienced hiker or outdoors-man and if you showed me poison oak right now I wouldn't know it.

Anyway, looks like the itching, blisters and healing may take a couple weeks... Mostly on my left arm at the elbow, some on my right arm... some very small rash on my neck and a bit more along my waist... I never took off my boots or overpants so the lower areas were saved - thank you!

All this to just say, be very careful if you try some kind of short hike somewhere if you don't know how to identify these plants (ME). The trail was well marked and appeared to be well maintained and there were at least 10 people I saw going up or down that trail.

I've been using Calamine lotion, Cortisone-10 and Benadryl Gel to hold off the itching and the Gel seems to work best for itching but Calamine appears to help dry out the blisters lol - hope you already had breakfast.
 
aniwack said:
The gel is going to work best for the burning.
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Agreed, the calamine seems to draw out/dry the issue but the gel stops the itching so I'm using the gel when the itching starts to spike.. Crazy stuff. That's what I get for thinking I'm a hiker.
 
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I don't have any experience with poison ivy, since we don't have it here, but have dealt with poison oak and sumac. With those there's usually a couple days delay before you get the itching. Since you started to feel something almost immediately, it doesn't sound like either of those, but I'm no expert.
 
dwalby said:
I don't have any experience with poison ivy, since we don't have it here, but have dealt with poison oak and sumac. With those there's usually a couple days delay before you get the itching. Since you started to feel something almost immediately, it doesn't sound like either of those, but I'm no expert.
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Some is just now showing up... so that matches... I think the worst part in my arm could be due to the heat and direct contact was aggressively applying the oil into my skin in that area. The rash showed up there first but didn't itch immediately... but on my 900 mile ride home on Saturday it was 'interesting'.
 
Poison oak and its relatives, are my nemesis.

Due to my own discomfort level in the stuff, I can easily identify it from a distance, so I've successfully learned to avoid it.

Like wasps and mosquitoes, it's of the devil.
 
One other thing I learned that seems to work for me, is to run hot water over the itching area, as hot as you can stand. That seems to give me temporary relief from the itching, if I do that every hour or so. But that might not work so well if you have blistering, its been decades since I got it that bad, my more recent cases with Sumac have been milder.
 
also, I have Sumac growing wild on my property, if you're ever in the area stop by and we can rub some of the oil on your skin and see if its the same thing as you have now. Always want to help if I can. :biggrin:

BTW, with Sumac I can cut it down and put it in the green trash and as long as I don't get the oil on my skin, I'm OK. You need to break it to release the oil, so based on your description that doesn't seem like it would be what you encountered unless your jacket snapped a few stems to release the oil.
 
dwalby said:
One other thing I learned that seems to work for me, is to run hot water over the itching area, as hot as you can stand.
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This has worked for me when the skin is intact and just itchy. I'm not all that sensitive to PO, but if there's reason to think I've been in contact, I wash with Technu. It's probably just some mild version of turpentine that breaks up oils so they wash away, but I haven't ever had a rash when I've used it. I recall the instructions discussing washing of clothes and linens if they are suspected of having residual oils. Don't forget about that part.
 
Smudgemo said:
This has worked for me when the skin is intact and just itchy. I'm not all that sensitive to PO, but if there's reason to think I've been in contact, I wash with Technu. It's probably just some mild version of turpentine that breaks up oils so they wash away, but I haven't ever had a rash when I've used it. I recall the instructions discussing washing of clothes and linens if they are suspected of having residual oils. Don't forget about that part.
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Yup, washing the riding jacket / pants and sleeping bag next and then when it clears up some will set up the tent and clean the inside as that's where I typically store my jacket/pants... I should have just ridden through a car wash.
 
When out walking.....add ticks to above list of things to avoid and be aware of. Little bast**ds must be able to jump 5-10' to get on you. Doesn't take long to get a good grip on you either.
 
scootac said:
When out walking.....add ticks to above list of things to avoid and be aware of. Little bast**ds must be able to jump 5-10' to get on you. Doesn't take long to get a good grip on you either.
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You think poison oaks sucks?
Those little tick bastards REALLY suck.
(That's where the word 'politics' comes from, y'know.)
 
Sadlsor said:
You think poison oaks sucks?
Those little tick bastards REALLY suck.
(That's where the word 'politics' comes from, y'know.)
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Do you have a tick twister for yourself & Kaiser? You should never take them off with tweezers or a knife.

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Obo said:
Do you have a tick twister for yourself & Kaiser? You should never take them off with tweezers or a knife.
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No, I don't.
I usually remove them off of me with a hot match head, or acetylene torch.
Haven't had a tick on me for a while, years now, I think.
But it still hurts sometimes...
I put liquid chlorophyll in Kaiser's water bowls (home and office), which repels fleas and ticks and bloodsucking parasites naturally. Don't like chemicals, for me or for him. Had enough of those way back when we did chemistry experiments.
 
Sadlsor said:
No, I don't.
I usually remove them off of me with a hot match head, or acetylene torch.
Haven't had a tick on me for a while, years now, I think.
But it still hurts sometimes...
I put liquid chlorophyll in Kaiser's water bowls (home and office), which repels fleas and ticks and bloodsucking parasites naturally. Don't like chemicals, for me or for him. Had enough of those way back when we did chemistry experiments.
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It's something to pay attention to. Lyme disease (cause by ticks) is a real issue up this way. Have a friend who likely contracted it walking her dog in the woods regularly. Took quite a while for the doctors to figure it out, which unfortunately leads to cumulative issues.
 
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