If the rash is widespread or causes many blisters, your doctor may prescribe an oral corticosteroid, such as prednisone, to reduce swelling. If a bacterial infection has developed at the rash site, your doctor might prescribe an oral antibiotic.
Your healthcare provider may prescribe a poison ivy rash treatment if it becomes more severe or forms on the mucous membranes of your eyes, nose, mouth or genitals. They may recommend an oral steroid such as prednisone. Your healthcare provider may also prescribe treatment for a secondary infection if this develops.
Poison ivy rashes typically respond to steroids quickly. If you get appropriate therapy for your reaction, it can stop within 1-2 days.
A poison ivy rash will eventually go away on its own. But the itching can be hard to deal with and make it difficult to sleep. If you scratch your blisters, they may become infected.
Steroid pills or injections — If you develop severe symptoms or the rash covers a large area (especially on the face or genitals), you may need steroid pills (eg, prednisone) or injections (eg, triamcinolone acetonide, budesonide) to help relieve itching and swelling.
It may seem like the rash is spreading if it appears over time instead of all at once. But this is either because the plant oil is absorbed at different rates on different parts of the body or because of repeated exposure to contaminated objects or plant oil trapped under the fingernails.
If you've never had a rash from poison ivy, oak, or sumac, it can take 2 to 3 weeks before you see a rash. The skin itches intensely where the rash will appear. Shortly after your skin starts to itch, the rash appears. If you have blisters, they break open and leak fluid.
Most cases of poison ivy go away on their own in 1 to 3 weeks. After about a week, the blisters should start to dry up and the rash will begin to fade. Severe cases may last longer, have worse symptoms, and cover more of your body.
While most allergic reactions to poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac are easily managed at home, you should call your healthcare provider right away if: The rash covers all or most of your body. You are unable to stop the itching or if it feels like all of your skin is itching.
Complications of Poison Ivy
This can result in lasting or serious damage. It's also possible for a poison ivy rash to get infected, especially if you scratch the area and break open blisters. Bacteria under your fingernails are often the source of this infection, which may need to be treated with antibiotics.
High-dose prescription corticosteroid medicines can reduce the symptoms of a poison ivy, oak, or sumac rash (allergic contact dermatitis) and sometimes reduce the severity and shorten the length of a rash.
A thin layer of topical 1% hydrocortisone cream on the affected area may help, if you have a very mild case limited to one area on an arm or leg, says Dr. Yu.
This includes the severity of your exposure and how sensitive you are to the plant's oils. However, in most cases, you can expect the rash to peak within 3-5 days after exposure. After that, the rash will gradually start to improve and should be completely gone within 2-3 weeks.
The symptoms are worse within 1 to 14 days after touching the plant, but they can develop up to 21 days later if one has never been exposed to urushiol before. The blisters can occur at different times in different people; blisters can develop on the arms several days after blisters on the hands developed.
The Rash Shows Up Right Away
It forms within 24 to 72 hours of contact, depending on where the plant touched you. It usually peaks within a week, but can last as long as 3 weeks. A rash from poison ivy, oak, or sumac looks like patches or streaks of red, raised blisters.
Fact: Poison ivy can't be caught from other people. However, oils can stay on clothes, gardening gloves, equipment, tools, shoes, pets, and other items. Touching items with the oils can produce the same skin rash as touching the poison ivy plant directly. Myth: Only the leaves of poison ivy are poisonous.
Repeat exposure to poison ivy can lead to sensitization and a lifelong allergy. With each contact the poison ivy allergic reaction can become worse, leading to increasingly severe dermatitis.
Do not use rubbing alcohol, bleach, or hydrogen peroxide as a treatment for poison ivy. These items will irritate the rash more than soothe symptoms.
To eradicate poison oak and poison ivy chemically, use an herbicide that contains glyphosate, triclopyr, or a 3-way herbicide that contains 2,4-D amine, dicamba, and mecoprop.
It may seem like your poison ivy rash is spreading over time, but there are a few possible explanations. Different parts of the body tend to absorb urushiol at different rates. You could also have urushiol trapped under your fingernails or continued exposure to contaminated objects.
Take a bath: Oatmeal baths and Domeboro® soaks are good home remedies for poison ivy itch, as they can relieve skin irritation. “They're very soothing and can help dry up the rash,” Dr. Ng says.
The truth is that poison ivy cannot enter your bloodstream. This myth is popular because urushiol can easily spread from one body part to another just by touching it. The rash will actually only appear wherever contact has been made. So, while it can be a real pain, poison ivy can't actually get under your skin.