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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Next time you allow your horse to run lose in poison ivy, bathe her with soapy water within 2 hours. Once infected once learned. When gardening, always shower within 2 hours. The sooner the better. Now, what was the saying Benjamin Franklin often used? Something about measurement using an ounce and a pound.
The thing is, this horse knows better. She took a dip in a nearby river afterwards, thinking it would suffice, but alas, the horse noticed the bumps two days later and was very mad at herself for not bringing soap along for the adventure.
Since poison ivy, poison oak, and sumac all contain the same type of oil that produces the itch and lesions, a soap or even GO-JO, or some other oil/grease remover must be used right away (within max 2 hours) to remove the oil from the skin. Touching the infected area only spreads the oil to other parts of the body.
In fact, this same oil from poison ivy/poison oak was used as the basis for developing weaponized gases in warfare. I don't recall if it was mustard gas or another. It just shows the sinister minds out there.