While working out in your yard, you may have come into contact with a poison ivy vine, and now you have started to break out in a local rash. If so, use the following home remedy to soothe the itchiness and discomfort caused by this allergic reaction.
What You Will Need
Before you make and use your home remedy, gather the items below.
- Small bowl
- One cup of oatmeal
- One-half cup of warm water
- 20 drops of lemon oil
- Bottle of witch hazel
- Cotton balls
The oatmeal in this treatment helps dry out the pustules caused by the poison from the plant. It also has a soothing effect on your skin, helping to reduce the irritation and redness.
The lemon oil serves as an antiseptic that helps cleanse the skin of the poison. It also reduces the amount of oil that oozes out of the rash's pustules, helping to keep the irritation to a minimum. This also helps keep the rash from spreading, since the oil contains small amounts of the poison from the vine.
Witch hazel is an astringent used to cleanse the skin after the treatment. It is soothing and cooling to your skin without burning like alcohol-based products are prone to do.
Directions
After you have gathered together everything you need, follow the directions below to treat your poison ivy rash.
- In the bowl, mix together the oatmeal and water, and let it sit for 15 minutes so the oats can absorb the moisture.
- Add the lemon oil one drop at a time, mixing well to evenly distribute it.
- Dip a cotton ball into the oatmeal mixture, and spread the treatment directly onto the rash. Use a fresh cotton ball for each pass to avoid contaminating one area with the poison from another.
- After covering the rash, apply some of the treatment around it as a precaution, in case oils from the poison have made contact with the skin. This can prevent the rash from spreading.
- Leave the oatmeal mixture on your skin for 10 minutes.
- Rinse with warm water, then use the cotton balls to apply the witch hazel. Allow the skin to air dry.
Using the above home remedy twice a day can help give you relief from your rash. However, if you find that you break out all over your body, you may have a serious allergy to poison ivy and may want to make an appointment with an allergy doctor for treatment options, especially if you are in constant contact with the vine.
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