Lotion on poison ivy?

my dad has poison ivy, and he uses the calamine lotion and its working. but he wants to know if you can still put on regular lotion for dry skin over the blisters. without and side effects. so thank you for your help.

Lotion on poison ivy?
He really needs to use a hydrocortisone cream 3 x day...this helps reduce inflammation,redness,itching much better than calamine lotion..
Reply:Well, the whole idea of treating poison ivy in the past has been to "dry out" the area.



So based on that, I would echo the opinion to avoid any moisturizer.



And, I would echo the opinion of the poster who says "hot water."



I unfortunately have a long, long relationship with the typical reaction from the poison ivy/poison oak plants. I have to work in them nearly every day.



As mentioned, a quick and easy home remedy, although you have to be careful, is application of lots of warm to "hottish" water to the site of the itch. The heat of the water activates the body's histamine.



Histamine is what causes you to feel the itch. The body can only produce so much histamine at a time, and by running hot water over the area, you will "use up" all the body's histamine. The itch will disappear for four to six hours until the body produces a new bunch of histamine.



BUT, while the hot water is applied, the area will itch like crazy while all the histamine pops off...Usually only takes two or three minutes...You also have to be intelligent enough not to scald your skin with the hot water while doing this. Use the hottest you can stand without doing any 1st, second or third degree burns....LOL



On a related topic, you have heard of "anti-histamines," right. Typically called allergy pills, such as Bendaryl, etc., I find they give mild to moderate relief.



Finally, I have found what I consider a "miracle cure" for the itch, but it is a lot more expensive than hot water. The first company to come out with it was ZANFEL. If you do a web search on it, you will find lots of information, including where to buy it. It is pricey. $30 + a tube and it is a small tube, but you don't need much.



A few years later, Tecnu came out with a copy of the Zanfel formula. It is usually a bit cheaper. I talked to the pharmacist who made the formula for Tecnu. He says they both work equally well, a slight difference in formulas for legal sake.



The Tecnu product is called Tecnu Extreme. Be aware that Tecnu has SEVERAL products....On the West Coast, where I live, they are both available in all the major chain drugstores. You may not be so lucky, but both Tecnu and Zanfel have Web sites that can probably direct you to where to buy.



I have recommended these to a few dozen people over the years and only one has said they did not work. All the rest were very outspoken about how wonderful the relief was.



As I said, they are both expensive, and hot water is cheaper....



Finally, this is the BEST Web site I have ever found for poison oak, and although some of it is out-of-date, it has more than enough ideas to keep you busy for awhile.



http://poisonivy.aesir.com/



Again....my usual cure is hot water. If it is a large area, or particularly stubborn, I go for the Zanfel or Tecnu Extreme.



If it is near the eyes, on the genitals, or causing some other major problems, you NEED to see a physician immediately.



Steroids will knock it down big time, but, of course, they are also expensive and carry their own list of side effects.
Reply:Calamine dries out the blister and the regular lotion moisturizes the same site- stay with the calamine.
Reply:DON'T



Calamine dries it out. Let it do its thing completely BEFORE using regular lotion.



Regular lotion will counter act the calamine, and make the itching much much worse and last a lot longer.
Reply:Tell your dad to try this:

Get in the shower as hot as you can stand but not to hot it will burn you. After a while the lesions will start to itch. Stay in the hot shower even though you won't think you can stand it anymore until the lesions finally stop itching, then stay 5 minutes more. This will give about 8 hours of relief with no itching--enough to get you thru the night.

It works. It may not be worth if if your dad just has a few lesions on his body, but for people who are covered in it, this can be a huge relief. let me know if it works for your dad. I gave this advise to some young men in basic training that were covered in it and it worked for them.

mobility scooter