Poison Oak: experience with Oral Ivy?
My son gets crazy bad poison oak at least twice a season since he loves to be outdoors. Has anyone had experience successfully using Oral Ivy? I'm ready to try it on him (he's 15) for the rest of the season since school is starting and he doesn't want to miss school if he contracts it again. I'd love to hear whether this homeopathic remedy works. Thanks!
Aug 15, 2016
Parent Replies
Hopefully someone else can address your actual question, because I am not. I have no experience with Oral Ivy.
I am very active outdoors and go off-trail often. I find the notion that one would "get crazy bad poison oak" because you love to be outdoors false logic. I get quite the reaction to poison oak (anything with urushiol as I grew up in the south around poison ivy). Here is my strategy:
1) Learn what poison oak looks like and AVOID IT. If it's winter and there are only sticks: AVOID IT. If you aren't sure? Avoid it. Once you pay attention for a few seasons it's rather easy to identify.
2) Carry some "Mean Green" ** in the trunk of the car. If I suspect I might have gotten PO on me I will wash/rinse off the affected area with the Mean Green. I did this for a few years but I've found I haven't needed it in a long time and no longer bother. Changing clothes and taking a shower (not a bath) as soon as possible after exposure also helps.
3) Go to the Sierra! Once you're above 4500-5000 feet you don't need to worry anymore. ;-)
~Poison Oak hater
** Mean Green is an industrial cleaner with an off-label use to remove urushiol better than standard soaps/detergents. Do your own research and decide if you want to use it. I have the liquid variety (not the textured hand cleaner). Either should work.