The grossest thing about poison oak…
…are the weeping blisters. I went out last night wearing a pair of loose-fitting pants. This is how they looked this morning.
Hell yeah, my body did that! And if I’d been wearing white pants, you’d see that the weeping fluid is actually a deep yellow.
Now I won’t gross everyone out with a picture of my festering, weeping welts, but for the curious at heart, I’ll offer you this link to a picture of my legs, one week after exposure. Click at your own risk!
I’m off to the grocery store to pick up some calamine lotion. Nothing I like more than going out in public sporting open sores up and down my legs. I need a tshirt that says “I’m not contagious.”
Update: No more poison-oak!
OUCH! Man, Justin. That looks awful. I hope you feel better soon. :(
oatmeal bath, phisoderm soap and loose jammies
someone is MILKING THEIR AUDIENCE FoR SYMPATHY!
Je ne suis pas contagieux! to go with Je n’ai pas l’ebola!
oh silly jackie, no sympathy required, there’s just nothing more present on my mind than the condition of my legs. and nothing more interesting.
and their oozings.
uh, gross.
I guess the good news is that you now have a story and a nasty photo to share with your friends when you want to seriously ick them out. :)
YIKES! I am so sorry.
more pictures!!!
more pictures of my dissolving legs?
Dude, seriously. It’s a good thing you landed a woman before the weeping sores. You should thank God she hasn’t bolted since you got them and made them the subject of photos and ramblings for the whole world to see. Ick!!!
I went to the doctor at noon and got a shot of steroids in the ass. I’ll be taking prednisone for the next ten days, and of course will be blogging any noticeable changes in mood and physique.
p.s. How many blogs you got girl?
From wikipedia on Prednisone:
Fuck yeah!
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger…or makes you a fat-ass shoving down cupcakes and Pepsi while feeling ridiculosuly happy/sad about the spiders only you can see crawling on your walls.
I love me some Prednisone! Last year I had the poison ivy problem. I finally went to the doctor just before the ivy entered my eye where it can get in the cornea and cause you to go blind! Two shots of steroids and heavy dose of prednisone and I was all clear in like two days! I remember the prednisone giving me energy and also allowing me to eat and never really feel full! I took advantage of that!
notes: hot shower very bad for rash let alone the skin! cold compress, or in full body case cold moist beach towel! Paper sculpting kicks ass….Madonna born 8/16/58…when has she not danced strangely? I hope you threw away those pants that were pictured! future reference for poison oak: the soap you wash with before you go out does work! also the product Zanfel really works it’s just all about timing!
Holy SHIT, that looks awful. Does it feel as horrible as it looks?!
I feel better after getting all shot up with ‘riods. Everything has all dried up and turned into one big ass scab. Yum.
No effin’ way!
(via Jane)
I need an updated “gross-out” picture with all the gnarly scabs showing. I wanna make sure you’re really healing.
It’s definitely on my list of things to go. May have to wait til this weekend to get a one week later before and after feel.
Other observations: my pee is a deep deep yellow and I’ve been feeling a little jittery.
you’re soooo lucky you didn’t get it on your face! THAT hurts(your face swells out like five inches, with blisters that ooze and you wanna scratch em really bad)!
Jake, indeed!
I have a question, are little things that come up on your leg or hand for example that are white, is this an example of poison oak?
Uh, Bob, you should probably see a doctor.
wow man you’ve probably seen it all, right? I feel for you, deeply.
dude that must be painful I hope youget better or have you gotten better and send more pictures
i hate poison ivy with a passion of a thousand suns, i happen to have it bad on my face all swollen and puffy with oozing sores lovely eh.? got shot up and sent home with a cream i really hope this goes away soon.
Well, I am/have been immune to poison ivy, but apparently I am not immune to poison oak. :( I have it on my arms, ear lobes, chest…*sighs* at least the sores I have look the same to the sores on the legs in the pic. Time to be more careful in the yard.
i was just diagnosed with this. mine wasn’t as bad as yours, but i thought i had some freaky parasite infection because i was swimming in a lake a week prior to rummaging through the forest. damn, your legs look exactly like mine!!! gross. :)
i have a red rash on the back of my leg and 3 scabs from scratching it until my skin tore open at the early stages(i’ve had it for almost a week now) i don’t have any blisters its just a dark red rash and it sucks :[ i cover it in calomine lotion when is this gonna go away!?
Hey could it be like all over your body eventually? Like randaom spots everywhere, that are bid, itch, ooze, then finally heal?
holy crap, ouch man!!!
Well, I just spent about a thousand dollars on some dumb L.A. Dr. that thinks I have a serious wound that will require months of therpy. He wrapped it in a conpression bandage which was 4 layers thick and really tight. Gooped it up with greasy ointment. My regular Dr. still did not know what if was. But she thought I should not wrap it and should use calimine loation. It started to clear after the first appliction. I was looking for land in Utah last week. Gee I bet a Dr. in Utah would have know what it was right away.
I got some damm poison oak when I was out burying my beloved pet hamster. Took almost two weeks to manifest and then hit me like a truck. Awful!
My sister gets poison ivy and oak all the time from caring for racoons as a rehabber. She swears by jewelweed. It can be purchased in small vials at the health stores and is applied topically. It gets rid of the itching and drys up the blisters real fast!
If they still make it, “Sure” Anti-perspirant can be sprayed on your skin BEFORE going into an area that may have ivy. It will keep the oils from getting into the skin. Put clothes into hot wash then take a good shower with plenty of soap and you should be good. Saw that on the news years ago and it works.
Thats gross, what happened after that? Did you call a doctor or hospital right away? I only saw poison oak before.
horror story: had poison oak for weeks, but was diagnosed upon sight [w/o any tests] as having SCABIES so i had to continue about my daily routine thinking i had this disgusting parasite [which wouldn’t go away?] and not knowing how i got it- ew! the treatment 4 that made the poison oak MUCH worse. then on week three i went to the hospital and was finally given some shots to help heal it up. my god, for having gone to medical school, docs don’t always know much huh?
dude omg mine is worse than yours and it wont stop itching!!
its one my arms and covers my feet up to my mid thigh. how did you get it to stopp????!?!?!?!
eric, go to the doctor, get a steroid shot, and steroid pills afterwards.
thank you justin. i received the steriod pills and a shot.
i also now have bruising on my shins because of the swelling.
OK When u get a chance search 4 poison ivy and go to images and click the man with the face like :0 and then hit the back and say I WANT TO SEE THE MOTHER OF ALL POISON IVY RASHES NOW!~
I got into a lot of poison oak trying to find out where my dog broke the fence. After I got back in, I went to the computer and searched. There is a website that says to rub rubbing alcohol on the area within 10 min, then rinse, then wash with soap. It gets rid of the poison. Hope it works!
Yes, I would say it looks painful. I have never been exposed to poison oak or ivy that I know of in my 37 years of life, UNTIL now. I have been picking blackberries on the land that I live on and I noticed what looked at first to be a bug bite on my forearm. Well wouldnt you know it itched, so I had to scratch! Well now I cant sleep because of the icky ooze and the itching. I feel for you because mine is a small area relative to yours. I just found an old bottle of prednizone that my MD prescribed for my asthma, well wouldnt you know they use this to treat cases of poison ivy and oak! Hope it helps for sure because the itch is driving me nuts..Hope you are well by now.
Thank you for your site. I saw your pants and knew thats what I had. I would’ve bought a t-shirt too I’m not contagious! LOL.. I am covered from my stomach down to my feet. I went in and got the shot last nite and meds. I can’t believe this stuff. I hope It will stop in a few days. What a mess.
Alright I’ve tried all of them on and the only thing that ever worked for me was poison oak pills. I even ate a leaf of oak in desperation– WRONG ANSWER!!!!
For the gentlemen that cant stop the itch. Hot and then cold shower. 1/2 a lemon covered with salt (only if blisters are not prevelant and only hives) It made the itch stop and the rash was gone the following day. I didn’t say this! I’ve tried it several times since then and as bad as it may sound; scratching the hives creates more of them.. anywhere you scratch can create trouble when it becomes blood borne and the only time it didn’t work is when I ate it. Nothing works then– Paul
i didnt know you could get a shot!! i got it on my chest my lower back both of my legs on my feet really really bad on my arms and worst of all on my butt!!! it was the worst expierance of my life and when the blisters weeped my underwear stuck to me. and it all happened on my birth day *cry* now im deathly afraid of the outdoors
i have had poison oak for 8 days now!
most miserable thing ever
but today the prednisone is making a big difference and im seeing a lot of improvement.
If you have poison oak really bad this works every time
go to the doctor get prescribed prednisone(steroid)
take that and along with that take 3 benadryl 3 or 4 times a day ( a lot i know)
and you will feel way better
I have had a rash for about 6 days now, i cant take it anymore, started taking prednisone yesterday…….. it helped a good bit…… i will mix it with benadryl to see if it works better
i’ve had poison oak for about a week, its so nasty. i have weeping blisters, hives, rashes, you name it. i’ve tried rubbing alcohol,all it does is sting for a bit then the itch comes back, i’ve tried the lotions, somewhat helpful for a bit, and now i’m taking benedril. it helps me sleep, thank god cuz i havent been able to sleep all week. i’m gonna try baking soda and water i heard it works wonders. good luck.
I’ve had posion oak on my legs for about a week. Up until 3 days ago I didn’t know what it was. Been using Benadryl. The worse thing is wearing pants cause it rubs up on it.
I hugged my large dog after she had, obviously, been walking in the poison oak. Now I have terrible sores on my arms and chest and chin. No more hugs. I am going crazy with this itch.
Poison oak is pissing me off!! i have it where u dont want it… prednisone is the best… ive had it 6 times this year… ive done everything! washing, epson salt, just het prednisone!!
Ive had poison oak on my stomach and legs for the last 2 weeks!! Ive been to the doctor twice already with a shot of cortizone each visit and pills and it hasnt gone away yet!! Ive been having skin irritations to all the cream they prescribe even the calomine lotion..My next step is the dermatologist!! HELP..This is so PaInFul! I caint even stand to look at it..It itches so BaD!
I got this riding bikes in the woods after the storm 2 weeks ago. My legs look like this guys too. i had no symptoms for about 10 days after being exposed-then I kept getting these dots on certain places of my body -a dot on my ear and one on my stomach-kinda looks like a spider bite. Then extreme itching and breakout-only on my legs thank God-I have been mixing baking soda with water mixed with calamine lotion for 1 week and it is just starting to improve. The seeping has stopped and dry up coming-very gross to look at -dont blame others for wondering what the H@#! it is we have-ha ha -Wouldnt wish this on anyone but it is getting better slowly. I wear shorts but not to work -just wear long tall tube socks and walk fast so no one notices-even played a round of tennis and partner did not seem to notice. Good LUck to all recovering
i’ve had it for like 3 days now, in several isolated areas, arms and midsection, picked up a drunk girl from some bushes, I found that if you are able to spot signs of it immediately (any new white bubble, or lesions not normally there) put some bleach on a towel or rag , then rub infected areas vigorously. It kinda hurts but do it until it forms like a scrape. then wait like an an hour after it dries, wash with soap and water. with the bleach doin it’s work, you should feel the difference between a new itch and a new scab.Hey this doesn’t work for everybody,but if you need a quick solution, maybe try it. obviously …. DON’T use bleach near eyes! or genitals.
ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww thats really disterbing
yea just nasty man
i’ve had poison oak for over 2 months now, and no i’m not joking. i tried calamine to start with and that did not work. I had it from head to toe, i couldn’t even count them all. i went to the doctor and they gave me a six-day pack of prednisone and that started to help but by the time i got to the end of the pack the poison came back worse than it was before. i went back to the doctor again and they give me a 20-day pack. i’m on the 19th day and its coming back again. 20 days of prednisone is the best treatment there is and its not working for me any more. i don’t know what i’m going to do. it was nearly 100% gone and now i’m afraid its going to come back again. old spots are itching again and now i have 3 new spots. i guess i’m cursed to suffer with it the rest of my life.
I have had Poison Oak three times. I took hot oatmeal baths (fill your tub with hot water, and a bucket of oatmeal, let it soften, and bath in it). It helps relieve the itch for a little while, and when you get out it helps to dry it up too. But eventually I found the best and fastest cure was a homeopathic sugary pill I got from a homeopathic remedies store, Rhus Toxicodendron….it worked wonders and I haven’t had it since.
My husband has suffered from poison oak and the only thing that helps is Zanfel. It’s expensive, but worth every cent when you’re going crazy with the itching.
ummmmm well i thought i had poison oak but i dont know because it doesnt really look like it nor does it look like poison ivy, but i got this stuff for poison oak and its going away and it wasnt that bad actually.
My husband & i went camping on Jan. 16th. He broke out in a rash all over his body head to tow. Swollen face, eye-lids..everything, I had never got it before so i didn’t think anything of it until about 4 days later i start getting rash spots all over my arms, legs, stomach and a little on my face. I finally went to urgent care after the itching became to much. She gave me an oral steroid prednisone 50mg a day for 10 days. The sores are gone now, all i have in a rash and dry pealing skin. The rash is still red and itchy, but i would recommend prednisone. Also, calimine lotion helps, but still dries the skin so you may need some cortizone cream lotion. Hope you all get better!!
Anyone know when your skin is pealing like it does when your sunburned…does that mean its healing?
If you are ever in contact with poison Oak or poison Ivy, the best thing you can do, is to immediately pee on the affected area. It will cure it fast. This is from an old dog of war.
im a wild land fire fighter and live in the country. what i do is mix 50% water and 50% bleach it works grate and um have yall heard of TecNu go get some it works grate.
I get posion oak probably every year some how some way even by just looking at it. I have it now and I normally get a cortisone shot but this time the doc gave me something different and it was thicker than cortisone, hurt like hell too. Anyway they gave me a cream to use too, coridone (not working at all), so i’ve started the calamine lotion today but I’ve had for 4days counting today and it doesn’t look any better. I’ve done clorox before and on small spots it works but on larger spots it caused it to spread even more. The worst part about it is its where my hip meets the upper part of my body right in the part that bends (where you underwear line goes). Any recommendations I’m up for.
yea iv had poisin ivy,oak,and sumac plenty of times and some how managed to stay away from it for about a year then just the other day went fishin’ with a buddy a mine and we were walkin through some forest to get to the other side of the lake and couple days later got it again and now im suffering o well!!! good night oklahoma!!
I have had poison oak for about 2 weeks now. Just went to the doctor today and they gave me a cortizone shot. hopefully that will work…I tried lots of different creams and lotions and the only thing that was relieving and helpful to me was the Zanfel. 40 bucks a tube but it will relieve the itch for at least 4 hours. I guess i used it too late though cause my shins, knees, and forearms are infected so im on an antibiotic for 2 weeks or so. wis me luck!
I’ve got it really bad right now–not the first time. My arms are like Justin’s legs times ten, at least they were a week ago. I have had steroid treatment both orally and via injection, in addition to antibiotics. If you cannot sleep at night, your Doctor can prescribe adderall. It knocks you out, but at least it allows for sleep. Best I can say is resist the temptation to apply heat, as it will only make it worse. Otherwise, keep applying a drying agent and hang in there. There are some Ivy/Oak shields available that are designed to prevent the oil from bonding with skin, unfortunately I did not apply this time.
I was weed eating not paying attention and I cleared a whole patch of it at a clients house .. Even worse I was wearing shorts . Yeah LOL I have it really bad on my legs and now its on my arms . Im sucking bad right now , tomorrow Im off to get some paint thinner , it will kill the urushiol oil that causes the rash .. I hope I can get rid of this in a few days , I hate these open sores on my body , I look like the people on that movie Outbreak LOL..
You would think at age 42, I would have figured out how to avoid this mess. I was weed eating as well with shorts and flip flops on. what an idiot! I am covered head to toe. I will do better the rest of the summer. I usually just get it from my dog. he runs around outside and then comes in to snuggle. My husband has started meeting him at the door and wiping him off.
i one wiped my rear end with poison sumac i thought i had a hemeroid until i found out my boss got it who pooped in the same woods, one of the most miserable experiences of my life. dont wipe with sumac
use zanfel to stop the itch and heal it fast
We were clearing a lot for a client and my careless brother didn’t fully cover himself and he has both poison oak and sumac from head to toe. worst of all he did not take a shower immediately so he even has it in his crack and all over… well you understand. unfortunately they have him on steroids and we give him NyQuil to get him to sleep.
i got poison oak all over my legs, looks alot like the pic, my chest, arms, and worst part, behind the knees….i was drunk and decided rolling down a steep hill would be a fun idea…now i’m covered w/ oak
One day me and a couple friends were walking across the train track trying to get to another part of town. Little did I know that the weeds were laced with poison oak. Now mind you that I’m 14 so go figure I wasn’t paying attention. What I found strange was that I was the only one who got it. I don’t have it very bad which I’m thankful for, but I have soccer practice everyday and my gear rubs it and causes it to spread. I’m open to all suggestions because this is the first time I’ve every gotten it. Needless to say I have no idea what to do for it.
yea im covered in poison oak and first day of school is around the corner and i dont want this crap all over my neck and legs still any suggestions on how to get rid of the rash and fast??
I decided to go drunk cardboarding down a steep hill in the middle of the night with a group of people. i was stupid and wore shorts and a t-shirt. Im covered with poison oak. its terrible.
Technu works pretty good it really dries up the seeping oil. Also salt baths and if you are near an ocean swim and then lay in the sun. I have had it twice before and now have it again. One time I was 6 months pregnant and could not get it to go away.. this time it is pretty small.
The only thing to use is Domeboro. You can buy it at the pharmacy. Make a solution and use it as a compress several times a day followed by a good cortisone cream. It’s a little expensive but when you itch that bad it really doesn’t matter how much the solution costs. My son is EXTREMELY allergic to poison ivy and this has worked every time.
I was weed eating in shorts and got it all over my body. legs, chest, arms, and neck. it sucks!
7 days into the itch and sleeping is tough, benadryl gel seems to help the itch but only temporarily. This is my first and hopefully my last. Nasty s plant
I got it weed eating too. Had it everywhere! Tried Zanfel and had a bad reaction, it doubled in size almost overnight. Technu didn’t do much for me either. Hot water or the blow dryer got rid of the itch for several hours at a time because it supposedley dissapates all of the built up histamines and then it takes several hours for your body to build up more. I was on prednisone and taking oatmeal baths, taking Evening Prim Rose Oil & Echinacea suppliments, So when it all of the sudden started to dry up, I’m not sure exactly what it was that was working. It did take 34 days for me to get completely cleared up because I had it sooooo bad! Then, you’ll love this, on about day 38, I fell into another patch of it when I fell off of my horse! So now I have it again on my arm!
Possible Eureka! In an effort to encapsulate the sores so that they would not ooze, I brushed on New Skin Liquid bandage. It doesn’t totally stop the oozing, but cuts it down considerably and the best part is that it STOPS the itching!!!
I brushed on the liquid bandage and then used the blow dryer to dry it really quickly. Also, it has an antiseptic which is good for the open sores. I have no idea whether this will actually help to heal it faster… update to follow.
Since Poison Oak is essentially an allergic reaction, antihistimines (like Benadryl and Zertec) work well in fighting the symptons. Try using Phels-Nafta bar soap. It has been used for over a hundred years with great results. Caladryl (the pink, not the clear) also works awesome on the oak! Most definitely DO NOT take hot baths, but rather cold ones and cold compresses or ice cubes on the biggest blisters helps relieve the swelling and pain. Hot baths feel better immediately, but heat tends to extend the blistering…after all, you are experiencing burning. I’ve had it a bunch of times and this is the treatment I use every time I get it.
My cousin recommended a past of baking soda and water, it made it “crust” over, so I wished I would have used it on day 1. You can also add some vinegar to that mixture. Another natural remedy online was a banana peel rubbed on it. But I found another remedy, actually to be used on the face and with only three treatments in two days, it seems to be working. Mine is really bad on my arm on the inside of my elbow, it spread 1/4 way up and down my arm from the elbow. I first thought it was poison ivy, but after seeing these pixs I realized it is poison oak. I am allergic and found this natural remedy online and it seems to be working. 1 c oatmeal (I had regular oatmeal at home and ground it in the blender, add 10 drops of tea tree oil, add 10 drops of peppermint oil and 1 Tbspn of Witch Hazel (All of the oils and the witch hazel can be bought at any natural stores. The 10 drops comes out to be about a 1/2 tsp. Since the oatmeal is so much, I added another T of witch hazel (my witch hazel also had aloe in it). You are to make a paste with just this, but I had to add some water, until you make a sticky paste. I used a plastic spoon to apply it on my arm, so I could through it away after use. If you have any left, you can keep it in the refrigerator. I am 6 days in and this is taking it away already. Some sites suggested just the tea tree oil, but you need a carrier oil with it, such as almond oil or cold-pressed olive oil. (I haven’t tried this yet). Good Luck! This is horrible!!
I dont know what i did to get it …..But i want it gone before school starts :[
yes this does suck…i have had it for almost 2 weeks…and so far no weeping it seems to be drying up…and what sucks worst for me is that im allergic to antihistimines!!!! im using ivy-dry cream it seems to be helping but slowly…good luck everybody
I had my initial breakout of poison oak on my right shin. I wasn’t sure what it was at the time, but the itching was unbearable. A friend gave me some benadryl gel. Little did I know, that wasn’t a good idea. After a few hours with the gel, the breakouts began blistering and oozing. Then I started getting breakouts and itching on other areas of my body. I had to get a script called in for Prednisone and hopefully this will help. I’m also putting layers of calamine on the breakouts, which seems to help. I keep it right on my nightstand.