Poison ivy and the field

[enceladus]

We got back from a 96-hour FTX about 10 days ago , and I've been suffering through horrendous poison ivy all over my body (face, groin, arms, stomach, legs, etc) ever since. I did my best to avoid it, but it's pretty much impossible for me when we run night missions. This is the third time in my short career this has happened to me.

I went to sick call after about a week, and am currently using cream and oral prednisone, which is starting to help. I washed all my clothes and gear with soap and hot water, but I still think I caught a secondary rash.

Can anyone recommend any ways to avoid this in the future? I do my best to avoid it, and practice the best personal hygiene I can in the field, but it doesn't seem to be working....

 

[x SF med]

Benadryl, ivory soap, and avoidance... those are the keys. And use a good field soap to get the volatiles off of gear and your body when you get back.

 

[Gunz]

This ^^^ and some people are more highly allegric to it than others, me included. Sounds like you're one of them. Do you wear gloves in the field? If you don't, you should.

 

[Diamondback 2/2]

A cup of white vinegar in with the wash will kill off the poison ivy on the uniforms and equipment.

 

[AWP]

I think "We'll wait here to do xxxx" and then finding yourself in a patch of poison/ ivy/ oak is part of the military experience. Well, those who go to the field at least. The super fobbits who stay "home" should just have it smeared on them to share in the misery.

Stand to, sun's coming up, you're trying not to sleep on the stock of your weapon while in the prone, and then you realize what you're laying in.

 

[Gunz]

...finding yourself in a patch of poison/ ivy/ oak is part of the military experience. Well, those who go to the field at least. The super fobbits who stay "home" should just have it smeared on them to share in the misery.

...And add some Carolina chiggers around the ankles for good measure.

 

[AWP]

...And add some Carolina chiggers around the ankles for good measure.

Don't forget the ticks!

 

[Grunt]

Well, those who go to the field at least. The super fobbits who stay "home" should just have it smeared on them to share in the misery.

A few nice little "sprigs" of it strategically placed on their beds or in their closets by someone would help them enjoy that nice "outdoor experience".

But, I wouldn't really suggest anyone do that....

 

[Gunz]

Bugs and snakes and poisonous plants...There's this god dam tree down in the Panama jungle called Black Palm. It's got needles about 6 inches long and when you reach out to grab something in the dark to stop your slide down some muddy slope into the unseen depths of a ravine, and grab hold of a black palm, the tips of it's needles break off and get imbedded in your hand...and in the slime and filth of the jungle infection sets in and it festers...

Maybe we should add some of that to the Fobbit Stew.

 

[x SF med]

Lions and tigers and bears! Oh,my! add in some snakes, poison ivy and biting insects, and it's just like Merry old land of Oz, except we gots bad guys with rifles to replace the flying monkeys. PSG= tin man, Bergdahl= cowardly lion, Gomer Pyle=scarecrow, Plt Ldr = Dorothy, FOB=toto.....

 

[amlove21]

We got back from a 96-hour FTX about 10 days ago , and I've been suffering through horrendous poison ivy all over my body (face, groin, arms, stomach, legs, etc) ever since. I did my best to avoid it, but it's pretty much impossible for me when we run night missions. This is the third time in my short career this has happened to me.

I went to sick call after about a week, and am currently using cream and oral prednisone, which is starting to help. I washed all my clothes and gear with soap and hot water, but I still think I caught a secondary rash.

Can anyone recommend any ways to avoid this in the future? I do my best to avoid it, and practice the best personal hygiene I can in the field, but it doesn't seem to be working....

I'll just restate- JAB and the Troll had great advice.

Couple the pred with benadryl (just not a ton, it'll make you drowsy) and get all the re-contaminate off. So to speak.

 

[oldstonewall33]

I'm no professional, but I grew up in the Appalachian, coon hunting and barefoot and the such.. And for smaller patches, we used diluted bleach (50/50). Ya I know, sounds bad/stupid/ whatever other comments.. but bleach defeats poison ivy/oak like no other. Other than that, Benadryl, calamine lotion does ok to relieve the itching and to hep dry it out. My 2 cents..