Poison Oak and how sweet it is!!

On Easter Sunday I went mountain biking with a bunch of friends on the Forrest Hill Divide Loop. Already Poison Oak was rampant and oily looking on the trail. Forrest Hill is known for it plethora of poison oak and as long as you stay on the trail you should be fine. Prairie City on the other hand isn’t known for any vegetation at all. So when a couple of people I race with and I all got poison oak on our right arm it was an unpleasant surprise. When we showed up to the race last night we saw the calling card of week 5 on many people’s right arm. Good times for all! So I thought I talk about poison oak.

Appearance

It’s a three leaf ground shrub that can also grown up trees. It is green in the spring but will turn red also. When it’s really bad it looks greasy. Check out the pictures.

 

Effects

 

The plants when touched leave a poison residue called urushiol. The more irritated the plant gets the more oily poison residue it excretes. So when 400 racers do 5 laps or more including their practice laps the poison oak plant is mad enough to give it to every one. This poison creates a red rash and bumps on the skin that is itchy, generally the more you itch it the worse and wider spread it will get. It usually takes 4 or 5 days to show up but can take longer. Some people react worse than others getting nasty blisters and oozing while it spreads all over quickly. It is not contagious to other people; the allergic reaction can only come from the plant not people’s rashes.

 

Treatment

 

If you know you touched some poison oak immediately wash that area with cold water or if you have it a product called Tecnu. This will usually eliminate the chance of getting the rash. We carry poison oak cleaners at REI. Now most of us don’t get the luxury of knowing we touched some poison oak because we’re riding our mountain bike too fast to see more than green blurs on the side of the trial. So when you do realize you have poison oak rash you just need to not itch it. To help with the itch soak it in cool water. Don’t use oily lotions because you want it to dry out, instead use calamine lotions or antihistamine sprays. If it gets really bad go to your doctor and get some corticosteroid pills and duct tape you hands together so you can’t itch it. Also try to avoid really hot showers and take luke warm showers. As long as you leave it alone it will be gone in a week or two.