The Scourge - Poison Oak remedies?

[chaka]

please share....

I get bad cases of poison oak about 4 or 5 times a year from mtb riding. Right now I'm watching puss seep thru my pants at work, and feeling a trickle of puss make its way down the back of my neck from an oak riddled gash under my hair on the back of my head. I crashed last Friday night... rag dolled into a veritable field of the shit.

For reference, here is my current treatment, which hopefully some of you who are new to the Scourge may find useful:

1) If oak contact is suspected but not for certain:
Vigorously Technu exposed arms and legs as soon as possible after the ride, or use dishwashing soap (poor man's technu), wash off with cold water either via garden hose on the back porch or in a cold shower. Monitor and repeat if any signs of oak show up. Cold water is key... keeps the pores closed so they don't open up and swallow more of the poison oils. Sometimes I will wash the bike lothing, sometimes I won't depending on how confident I was that I came into contact.

2) If oak contact is known to have occurred:
Scrub entire nakedness with Technu, rinse with cold water. The scrub with dishwashing soap, rinse with cold water. Then scrub with normal bath soap, again rinse with cold water. Repeat the following day, and pray to to whatever god you have that you stopped the oak scourge... Wash those clothes!

3) Once you are pussing... try to keep the areas clean, do not scratch, and wipe down the localized areas with full-strength bleach once or twice a day. Stings like a mother f'r but goes a long way to cutting the itch and burn, and seems to speed drying. Also have had some success with CaliGel from the some company that makes Technu. Drink heavily in the evening before bed to try to get some sleep. Repeat for 3-4 days until the pussing seems to be replaced by hard scabs. Also, be wary that you may have transferred oil to clothing/towels/bedding in the first few days... And remember the shit is all over your bike tires, maybe frame, etc. Somehow, from last friday's crash, the shit got under my helmet, so now I need to scrub my helmet.

So, there's my advice... Anyone else care to share some miracle cures?

[lemon boy]

go to a doctor.

[chaka]

go to a doctor.

And have to shave off all of this fur? No way. Seriously, I am past the bad stages, weeping is slowing, no infection (another benefit fo the bleach).

Shameless bump... some other bikers msut have some good suggestions to share.

[watersnowdirt]

Seriously - go to a doctor and get a cortisone shot. We have lots of oak around here and I usually get it at least once a summer. last summer i got it so badly my eye swelled nearly shut.

A cortisone shot helped immediately. I don't know what I would have done without it.

[Viva]

When I used to get local exposure, I'd isolate the area with mineral oil.

[Arty50]

1) Pour gas all over body.
2) Light match.

[Telenater]

Best way is to minimize exposure (and be nonreactive like me).

I have heard good things about Ivy Block as a preexposure cream (like sunblock, but for poison oak, ivy and sumac)

If you are exposed, wash with soap ASAP(tecnu, dishsoap, or other oil cutting soap that doesn't have an abrasive substance like some mechanic's soaps). I've heard that citrus juices also are effective at cutting and diluting the oils.

[slim]

Anyone else care to share some miracle cures?

www.zanfel.com

This stuff is the shit. Spendy but it works. It's so effective my company purchased a huge order of it and issued it to our field staff.

[chaka]

thanks for the tips. Holy Shite, Slim. $40 an OZ! Is this a front for coke?

really works, huh? Might have to check it out. However, I am leary running though about three of those bottles for one crash worth of poison oak infestation...
thanks again

[slim]

thanks for the tips. Holy Shite, Slim. $40 an OZ! Is this a front for coke?

really works, huh? Might have to check it out. However, I am leary running though about three of those bottles for one crash worth of poison oak infestation...
thanks again

Like I said, spendy. However, it works. Immediately. Plain and simple.

[bigtrubs]

Holy cow! I've never come across poison oak before, only heard of it in movies. What regions is it most common in? I'm from AB and we don't get it there, not sure about BC.

[ill-advised strategy]

I had to run a chainsaw through 6' high poison oak all day every day for about a month once. The rest of my crew was clearing behind me.

This afforded a great opportunity to see how various stuff worked.

Believe it or not, far and away the best treatment was, after exposure, to take a spray bottle of

(I think the exact product was "clorox clean-up" spray cleaner) into the shower and spray the exposed areas. It worked better than anything anybody else tried. Wash affected clothing in color-safe bleach. Also important: any affected clothing should be isolated, don't let what touched the oak touch your car seats or other clothing, and if it does: spray it with bleach.

I don't know why it works so well, but trust me: it's the shiz.

[snow_slider]

My 2 cents, cause I have a shit-ton of experience with the dreaded weed. Both Poison Oak and Poison Ivy contain the same urushiol oil, which causes the rash, so the following info is good for either.

Beforehand - apply Ivy Block to all extremities. This shit works. You look like a goon when it dries to a chalky gray film on your skin, but I've never gotted the ivy/oak when I used it.

If you come in contact with the ivy/oak - wash as soon as you can. If this means pulling off beside a stream or lake, then do it. When you get home, use Technu or just buy a bar of Fels-Naptha soap (it's in the laundry detergent aisle). As mentioned shower off in COLD water.

If you get the ivy/oak - Zanfel is good but expensive. It works like a wonder drug for me, but I know others who haven't gotten ANY relief from it, so buyer beware. The clorox treatment is a very good one UNLESS you have open sores. If you do, don't use clorox. You DON'T want that shit in your bloodstream.

If you're itching like hell and just can't stand it - Ice the affeccted area down. Ice will numb the itching. If that doesn't work, use a hair dryer on the affected area. It will feel like you're scratching the area, but without actually having to scratch it.

Point to remember - Exposure to Ivy/oak works on a reverse tolerance method. The more times you're exposed to it, the easier you can get it.

Some useless Ivy/Oak trivia:
-Only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram) needed to cause rash
-Average is 100 nanograms for most people
-1/4 ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth
-500 people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin
-Specimens of urushiol several centuries old have found to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.
-1 to 5 years is normal for urushiol oil to stay active on any surface including dead plants
-Derived from urushi, Japanese name for lacquer

[chaka]

The clorox treatment is a very good one UNLESS you have open sores. If you do, don't use clorox. You DON'T want that shit in your bloodstream.

Point to remember - Exposure to Ivy/oak works on a reverse tolerance method. The more times you're exposed to it, the easier you can get it.

Some useless Ivy/Oak trivia:
-Only 1 nanogram (billionth of a gram) needed to cause rash
-Average is 100 nanograms for most people
-1/4 ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth
-500 people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin
-Specimens of urushiol several centuries old have found to cause dermatitis in sensitive people.
-1 to 5 years is normal for urushiol oil to stay active on any surface including dead plants
-Derived from urushi, Japanese name for lacquer

Ummm.... so exactly how bad is clorox on an open oak sore? I think I'm feeling lightheaded Whoops. Maybe uneducated self treatment is not the best thing.

Reverse Tolerance... I'm basically f'd on that one. Most of the lower elevation sierra foothills have extensive oak. Exposure is to some degree inevitable if you are of the knobby tire persuasion. Unless I want to ride around in a 3mm wetsuit.

Those are great factoids, I will bust those out at the next cocktail party.

[ill-advised strategy]

Ummm.... so exactly how bad is clorox on an open oak sore? I think I'm feeling lightheaded Whoops. Maybe uneducated self treatment is not the best thing.

Shit mang. I hope you're kidding.

Sorry if I steered you wrong. I never got to the open-sore stage.

Yipes.

[FollowMe]

Jeeeeesus man, if I had to put up w/ that shit, I'd never bike. Come across it every once in a long while though, but never like described above.