Afterward remove the gloves carefully and wash them and your hands. You can get rid of such plants by applying an herbicide or pulling them out of the ground, including the roots, while wearing heavy gloves. Identify and remove poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac from your yard or garden.
If needed, protect your skin by wearing socks, boots, pants, long sleeves and heavy gloves.
Keep pets from running through wooded areas so that urushiol doesn't stick to their fur, which you then may touch.
If camping, make sure you pitch your tent in an area free of these plants. Wear socks, pants and long sleeves when outdoors. When hiking or engaging in other activities that might expose you to these plants, try to stay on cleared pathways.
Learn how to identify poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac in all seasons. To prevent poison ivy rash, follow these tips:Īvoid the plants. Serious difficulty breathing and inflammation of the lining of the lungs may result from inhaling urushiol. See your doctor if pus starts oozing from the blisters. If you scratch a poison ivy rash, bacteria under your fingernails may cause the skin to become infected. Your risk of a rash is increased if you participate in outdoor activities that put you at higher risk of exposure to poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac: But it's possible to get poison ivy rash from someone if you touch plant resin that's still on the person or contaminated clothing. Pus that oozes from blisters doesn't contain urushiol and won't spread the rash. Even the smoke from burning poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac can irritate or harm your nasal passages or lungs.
The poison sumac plant has smooth-edged leaves and can grow as a bush or tree.
But if you develop a rash after touching a piece of clothing or pet fur that has urushiol on it, the rash may be more spread out.
Poison ivy rash often appears in a straight line because of the way the plant brushes against your skin. Difficulty breathing, if you've inhaled the smoke from burning poison ivy.Signs and symptoms of a poison ivy rash include: