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Poison Ivy
Nothing is as beautiful as nature. Think about it, do you prefer a tower block or a mountain? An electricity pylon or a tree? Sure, manmade things are functional, but they just can’t compete with nature! Normally Mother Nature is very generous and forgiving, however there are many exceptions. Some natural things can cause quite a lot of pain; common examples include stinging nettles and poison ivy. Poison ivy is also commonly referred to as poison oak. When walking over patches of poison ivy you often get a lovely feeling, however this feeling is short lived as you soon develop an itching sensation all over your body. You run to privacy so that you can scratch yourself all over! This plant is only defending itself, it’s one of the few ways that nature protects itself! You don’t have to go to see your doctor to stop this itching, it is possible to use many different home remedies. I’ll bet you’ve never heard of an oat meal bath, well this is one possible way to relieve itching. An oatmeal bath is nothing like a baked bean bath that people do for charity, so you can stop worrying! What you need is a pair of old tights, fill the tights with some oatmeal and then hang it on the tap. If you don’t want to bathe with oatmeal then you can just soak oatmeal in warm water for around 15 minutes, squeeze the oatmeal so that the water becomes cloudy. Use this liquid to put on the affected areas of the skin, oatmeal provides immediate relief from itching. Oatmeal baths are also useful for other dry, itchy skin conditions such as eczema. Oatmeal seems to cleanse the skin very well. Whatever causes the itching can be removed by washing with soap and water, use soap and wash all of the affected areas of the skin, repeat this process several times. If the condition still persists then you can consider using alcohol. If you do go down this path then make sure you apply lots of moisturizer to your skin afterwards as it will be quite dry. Another useful home remedy is the paste of the leaves of Jewelweed plant, which is better known as touch-me-not plants. Apply this paste over all of the affected areas. Make sure that you consume lots of fruits and milk as these are a good source of Vitamin C, which is required by your skin. If you cannot resolve the itching at home then perhaps it’s something more serious. You should always go and visit your doctor if you have any difficulties. Why not learn what poison ivy looks like? Then next time when you’re out and about you can avoid it, then you won’t even need to worry about a cure! |