Whether you are out hiking, camping or simply up at the cottage, chances are you may run into some poison ivy, or actually, your child may run into some poison ivy. There really is no way around it, beside keeping your child locked in the tent throughout the entire trip and I often follow the belief that if they are going to run through a field of tall grass, chances are there is going to be poison ivy in there as well.

It isn’t a big thing and with a little lotion, poison ivy can be fixed up. Of course, no one wants to see their children suffer through poison ivy and there are ways to avoid having to deal with an outbreak of poison ivy over the summer.

The most important key to avoiding poison ivy is to know what it looks like. Many people don’t know and I have to check my first aid book every year to refresh my memory. I remember years ago, my mother-in-law had gone out in the late fall to pick some late blooming wildflowers for her table. She searched everywhere and found this very pretty plant with beautiful white berries. After picking it, piling it into her arms and bringing it home to arrange in her center piece, her husband looked at it and exclaimed, “You picked poison ivy!” Needless to say, the next few days were filled with a lot of itching.

Poison Ivy has a saying that goes along with it “Leaves of three let it be, berries white, take flight.” Now the leaves of three can be confusing since some people conjure up images of a leaf with three points but in reality it means three separate leaves on one stalk. The leaves have a distinct arrangement in the fact that one faces left, another right and the third straight out from the stem. The leaves have a point with a rounded bottom and have a slight tooth-like edge around it. Generally the leaves are a deep green but they do turn scarlet red in the fall. In spring, poison ivy has green and yellow flowers and by late summer and fall the flowers have given way to green and then white berries. All of the plant is poisonous and there is no safe part to touch.

Once you know how it looks and show it to your children, they should be able to avoid it, although sometimes accidents do happen and you will have to take measures to care for it.

If you or your child touch poison ivy it is very important to do the following.

1. Wash the area immediately with soap and water.
2. Clean the area off with rubbing alcohol. Make sure to cover the complete surface since the oil from the plant can rub off from one part of the skin to the next.
3. Care for the rash and itching with either an colloidal oatmeal bath (carefully since the bathtub will become very slick from the oatmeal), calamine lotion, baking soda paste or a topical corticosteroid that your doctor may prescribe. If the rash is severe, it is important to contact your physician and he may prescribe an oral corticosteroid.

It isn’t the end of the world if you or your child gets poison ivy but from what I have heard, it certainly feels like it.

Still, I hope that you, and your family will have a fun, safe and poison ivy free summer. For more information on Poison Ivy and for pictures to identify it, please visit this site.

All the best,

Sirena Van Schaik

Tags: berries, calamine lotion, first aid for poison ivy, flowers, kid safety, poison ivy, summer safety, three leaves

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