Avoiding Poison Ivy

Poison ivy is often difficult to avoid. Even if you don't directly brush up against the plant, you can get poison ivy from touching a garden tool, ball, or even a pet (animals don't have the same sensitivity) that has urushiol on it. Some creams containing the ingredient bentoquatum can block urushiol and offer some protection before poison ivy exposure. Still, your best defense is to stay away from poison ivy and to get rid of it in your yard.


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This product claims to protect you against poison ivy.

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Try spraying the plant with a weed killer.


But the plant is not an easy foe to defeat. If you spray it with a weed killer (products such as Roundup and Kleenup, which contain the ingredient glyphosate), you may kill the poison ivy, but you must be careful not to kill any other plants around it. The other option is to remove the poison ivy by hand, but you must wear a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, gloves, and boots to avoid any contact with your skin. Clean your clothes as soon as you're finished with water and soap or isopropyl alcohol. Be sure to pull the plants out from the roots, because any trace of a plant you leave behind can regrow. Never burn the plant, because the urushiol vaporizes when heated. When it gets into the smoke, it can severely irritate the lungs.

To find out more about poison ivy and related topics, check out the links on the following page.

­Poison Ivy Myths
Myth: Poison ivy is contagious.
Reality: You can't spread poison ivy by coming into contact with a person who has it, unless that person has urushiol on their skin. You can, however, pick it up by touching a dog that has gotten poison ivy on its fur, or by touching the blade of a weed whacker that you just used to cut down the plants.

Myth: You can spread poison ivy to other parts of your body by picking at the blisters on your skin.
Reality: The only way you can get poison ivy is by touching the plant, or by touching an object that has come into direct contact with the plant and has urushiol on it. If you scratch or pick at the rash and blisters, you may cause an infection, but you won't cause the rash to spread. Although the rash may appear to "spread," it is only because the reaction occurs more slowly on some parts of the body than it does in other parts.

Myth: If I eat poison ivy, I'll become immune to it in the future.
Reality: This is not only untrue, but it can be lethal. Eating poison ivy can cause a potentially fatal allergic reaction. Some animals, including deer, happily eat poison ivy with no ill effects.

Myth: Some people are so sensitive to poison ivy that they can catch it just by being near the plant.
Reality: You have to touch the plant to get poison ivy - just being close to it will not get urushiol on your skin.

Myth: You can't get poison ivy from a dead plant.
Reality: Urushiol can linger on surfaces -- including the poison ivy plant -- for several years, even after the plant has died.

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