10 poison ivy myths

Recently I came down with my first case of poison ivy. And it's a doozy. A trip to the doctor last Monday has me on medication that's clearing it up quickly, though. I'll be happy to see it go away completely! Since this was my first case of the scratchy stuff, I did a little research online and discovered that a lot of the things I thought were facts about poison ivy turn out to be nothing but myths.

• Scratching will cause the rash to spread. Technically, this isn't true. The rash is caused by contact with urushiol oil from the poison ivy plant. If your skin still has traces of the oil and you scratch, you could transfer the oil to another part of your body. But, once the oil is gone, scratching will not spread the rash. However, take it from my personal experience, you don't want to scratch. I'm on a heavy-duty antibiotic to clear up the infection I have as a result of scratching.
• Poison ivy is contagious. Again, only contact with urushiol oil will cause the reaction. The rash itself is not contagious.
• Once allergic, always allergic to poison ivy. Not necessarily. Your sensitivity can change over time.
• People who claim they "aren't allergic" to poison ivy. Just because you haven't reacted to poison ivy in the past doesn't mean you won't react to it in the future.
• Dead poison ivy plants are no longer toxic. Not necessarily. Urushiol oil can stay active even on dead plants for quite some time.
• You can catch poison ivy by just being near the plants. Nope. You need to have direct contact with urushiol oil. However, weed whackers and lawn mowers can cause the oil to become airborne for a short time, so there is some truth to the myth.
• Keeping covered is a sure way to protect yourself from poison ivy. It certainly helps, but the urushiol oil can stick to clothing or garden tools so you still may inadvertently touch the oil and have a reaction.
• You have to touch a poison ivy plant to get a rash. Actually, inadvertent exposure to the oil is more common. For example, if you dog ran through an area with poison ivy and you pet him, the oil stuck to his fur could be enough to cause a reaction on your skin.
• Leaves of three, let them be. This is true for poison ivy, but poison oak and poison sumac are different.

Check out the post I wrote earlier in the year to train yourself to spot poison ivy. Ironic, isn't it? I wrote a post about spotting poison ivy, yet here I sit covered in an itchy, red rash. Time for me to go back and read my own post!