Seven out of 10 people are allergic to poison ivy, making this the world’s most common allergy. People who have the allergy are sensitive to urushiol, an irritating resin that’s found in poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac. If you so much as brush one of these plants, urushiol can get on your skin. Within as little as two hours, you’ll develop an itchy rash that will have you scratching for three weeks or more. You can also get the rash by touching clothes or other items that have been contaminated with urushiol. And if there’s urushiol on your fingers, you’ll be spreading the rash around your body every time you scratch.

Remedies to relieve poison ivy symptoms

Poison ivy

1) Use a vinegar compress to dry the rash and relieve itching. Mix a half-cup white vinegar with 1-1/2 cups water. Chill in the refrigerator. When you need cool relief, moisten a cloth in the solution and press it onto the rash.

2) Dab calamine lotion onto the rash. This classic poison ivy remedy relieves itch and will help dry up blisters. If you find the lotion too runny, just mix in a little cornstarch.

3) Soak a cloth in cold milk and hold it against your skin. Cold milk is more soothing to itchy skin than cold water. Exactly why milk relieves itching is unknown, but perhaps it’s the milk fat.

4) Using a cotton ball, treat your rash with witch hazel, which has a great reputation as a skin soother. The kind that comes in an alcohol solution cools your skin as it evaporates.

5) Moisten a plain old tea bag (black or green, it doesn’t matter) and apply it to the itchy skin. The tannic acid in tea, which is astringent, helps contract inflamed tissue and relieve the itching.

6) Take a warm bath to which you’ve added a few tablespoons of colloidal oatmeal or plain oatmeal ground in a blender. The oatmeal will help dry a rash that has started to blister, and also relieves the itch. Be careful when getting out’oatmeal makes the tub very slippery.