My horse was wandering in the Ozark wilderness last weekend and got a bad case of poison ivy. The rash did not subside with standard OTC treatment options including cortizone and Ivarest. The mare refused to go to Urgent Care as she does not do well with corticosteroids and she did not feel like paying the copay. After several days of increased blistering and crabbiness, I urged her yesterday to self-medicate with Bimectin 1.87%, which she had forgotten was in her medicine cabinet. Because she had good experience with Ivermectin for other odd ailments, she figured she would give the paste a chance as an ointment. Within an hour of applying the flowery-scented paste, the horse noticed that the rash had begun to reverse and that the blisters were no longer bubbling. It appeared that all sites of poison ivy were in the stages of healing and before retiring to her stall for the night, she applied another layer of paste. She awoke this morning to find her wounds scabbed-over, all of the new blisters she had yesterday morning were no longer bumps, but tiny fading spots -- even the itching was gone. She was so happy she had an extra cup of coffee and made an egg sandwich. Needless to say, my horse was pleasantly surprised to find an unconventional use for Bimectin 1.87%. That is all.
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Wash with regular soap and water after possible exposure gets the oil off,and prevents problems.
Posted for those who don't know.
Yup, scrub with a wash cloth as if you were washing off sap or tar.
Urushiol is the clear oil that causes problems when you contact poison ivy, poison oak, or poison sumac. Wash it off within 4 hours and you won't have a problem.
I haven't seen Fels Naphta in years! Where do you buy it? Thanks.
I found mine in a regular grocery store in the laundry section.
Thanks. I have not been able to find it. I suppose amazon would have it.
Make sure to wipe it off with a rag after, not just rinse. Do an experiment with motor grease with soap/water with and without the rag. Poison ivy ks an oil, just like motor grease. Huge difference. I’ve also wondered if gojo would work.
Gojo is probably best,I use dish soap and a wash cloth and have no problems......
I’ve found that when I come in contact with it, mostly when I’m metal detecting, that if I scrub with dawn within 2 1/2 to 3 hours after contact, that I won’t get it. Regular soap is probably fine. I just use dawn for the grease cutting factor since it is an oil.