Poison ivy is a bigger deal than you might currently consider it to be. It can do a lot more than make you itch for a while. It has hospitalized people, and in extreme circumstances, some victims have died.

If this plant was being burned and you inhaled the smoke, you could get the rash on the lining inside your lungs. The pain would be unbearable, and it could be deadly.

Of course, it could also be fatal when there is a hypersensitive allergic reaction. But you have to figure, since that happens to some people with peanuts, it is certainly possible with poison ivy. The interesting thing about this particular plant is the fact that the longer you are exposed to it, the more sensitive you will become to it.

Somewhere between 15 and 30 percent of all people do not have a sensitivity to the poison in this plant, but that can change with exposure. If several friends were hiking and they all had contact with the plant, there might be at least one of them who was not affected by it, at all. However, if she decides to get cute and takes some with her, either to show off her special powers, or to chase her friends with it, there will likely come a point that she becomes sensitized, and develops the same reactions to it as everyone else.

The active ingredient in poison ivy is urushiol. It is a clear liquid compound in the sap of the plant that causes the itching rash. It binds to your skin upon contact and creates burning, inflammation and itching, which later turns into blisters.

Those blisters are going to ooze for a while. The good news is that they will not be spreading the poison in the process. Your best choices for relief are natural, or natural based products, rather than harsh chemicals. Oatmeal baths are very soothing & helpful, and so is baking soda as well as calamine lotion. The rash lasts one week to one month.

The pesky plant is found in North America. When Europeans come to the U. S. To go hiking, and they are experience it for the first time, they are amazed of how something so ubiquitous as it is can be so hazardous. The best thing anyone can do is to avoid contact with it completely. Since it looks very similar to so many other plants, you will probably avoid many things that you need not worry about. But, as they say, it is better to be safe, than it is to be sorry.

Poison ivy has leaves that grow in groupings of three. They are shaped like almonds. They can be found at ground level to 10″, and as shrubs, up to 4′, as well as vines that climb. They leaves are green, or orange, yellow or red, depending upon the season.

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