The Dreaded Urushiol

I had never really thought that typing on a computer could ever be painful and uncomfortable, until I tried to do so with hands riddled by the effects of poison ivy. And it is not just my hands that have touched by the scourge of urushiol, the oily compound present throughout the plant that is responsible for so much of my discomfort. It's reach has affected my hands, arms, chest, thighs, and, quite unfortunately, my groin. There is not patch of skin that isn't covered with blisters and painful rashes. Suffice it to say, this is perhaps the worst case of poison ivy I have had yet.

Inevitably, whenever I tell people that I have poison ivy, the first thing that they say to me is "Don't you know what poison ivy looks like?" Of course I know what poison ivy looks like. I spend enough time in the woods to have a working knowledge of botany, but, consider this: around this time of year, most of the vegetation out there has yet to leaf out, including poison ivy. Also, it might help to know how I contracted these painfully itchy blister. I obtained this recent bought by digging up the roots of sassafras (more on sassafras in future posts). I wanted to make some tea, so I decided to dig up some roots. The problem with this, was that the sassafras was in the company of dormant ivy. The thick layer of leafy detritus covering the forest floor prevented me from noticing that the ivy was present. That, and I really wasn't thinking about poison ivy at the time, just had my mind focused on that sassafras. I had just assumed that the small roots I was pulling out along with the sassafras belong to some innocent plant that had yet to emerge. I was wrong. Urushiol is present throughout the plant, not just within the leaves, as some would believe.

The funny thing about all of this, is that for the past three years I have had a kind of immunity to the plant. Some would say that it was just because I didn't come into contact with the urushiol to facilitate an immune system response, but I would say that I know for an absolute fact that I had come into contact with the oils on several occasions, within that three year period, with nary a blister or small rash. There was a botanist that I had worked briefly with back in West Virginia that had explained to me that, for most people, the response to urushiol fluctuates with changes in hormones. I have no reason not to believe this. Anecdotal evidence would support this and it would explain why some years I get it and other years I am free from it.

I have tried just about everything to relieve myself of this recent bought. Calamine lotion hasn't done much. Either has the caladryl, benadryl, or the cortizone I have taken. I even went back to an old stand-by that has helped me out in the past: freshly squeezed lemon juice. An old-timer told me about lemon juice as being a good remedy for poison ivy. I have used it in the past and it has always worked. It soothes the itch while drying out the pus-filled blisters. This recent case, however, is much to extreme and aggressive to be taken down by such simple remedies. One thing that I haven't done, and it something that I will never do, is scratch the ivy until I have open sores all over and then pour concentrated bleach over the wounds. I have heard this remedy much too often than I should. Why anybody would think that is safe to pour concentrated bleach over open sores, is beyond me.

This gets me to thinking about another remedy that I had heard about. This is probably the most extreme remedy, but it is one that I have seen first hand. A gentleman that I used to work with, and one that I have great respect for, told me of this ancient 'cure' for poison ivy. It was an old Native American technique that he verdantly practiced and swore by. It involved regularly eating the plant so as to build up one's immunity to the oils. He begins early in the spring, when the plant is just beginning to bud, and every day thereafter, he eats one small leaf, until the plant drops them all in the fall. I have not tried this method, and I would not recommend this to anyone, particularly to anyone that is susceptible to the plant's toxins, but he does swear by it. I will just take him for his word and do what I can to avoid the plant altogether.

One final note, before this rant is over and done with and I must apply more lotion to my wounds, I would like to point out a recent study performed by Duke University. In this study, they discovered that, with the increase in CO2 production associated with global climate change, the oils within toxicodendron species are going to become more toxic, eliciting a much more aggressive immune system response as the CO2 levels continue to rise. Something to think about. Yet another unintended consequence of climate change. They had also showed that poison ivy, and other vines, absolutely thrive in these elevated CO2 conditions, growing as much as 130% more a year in response to it. To those that are impacted by urushiol, this is absolutely frightening. Our planet is going to be taken over by poison ivy. That's all there is to it. Might as well throw in the towel now.