Poison ivy and oak
Camping, hiking, golfing or just going for a walk: Summer is the time to take advantage of beautiful weather and enjoy the great outdoors. What can be unhealthy about that? Plenty, if you live in areas where poisonous plants reside. Ensure you have an incident-free summer by consulting our guide to dealing with common poisonous plants.
Poison ivy and oak
What it looks like:
Poison ivy has three glossy leaves, with the middle one having a longer stalk than the other two. Edges of the spoon-shaped leaves may be slightly notched or smooth and the ends are pointy.
Poison oak has three leaves resembling those you'd find on an oak tree, with the underside being lighter in colour than the top and rounded ends.
Where to find it:
According to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, poison ivy can be found in any province, except Newfoundland, and it's more often found in Southern Ontario and Southern Quebec. It can be found in cottage country, along golf courses and by the shores of streams, rivers and lakes. Poison oak is only found in southern British Columbia.
What happens on contact:
Bruised leaves release the poisonous sap urushiol, explains Dr. Joel DeKoven, a dermatologist at Sunnybrook and Women's College Health Sciences Centre in Toronto. Sap gets on the skin when you brush the plant or touch contaminated objects like animal fur, clothing or gardening tools.
"When the oil or oleo resin is on your skin and you have been sensitized to it, you'll break out in an itchy and blistery red rash," says DeKoven. The outbreak takes 12 to 48 hours to develop and appears as a line of bubbles. New lesions can continue to show up for two to three weeks but, in most cases, the irritation disappears after 10 days.
How to treat it:
Wash your skin immediately with water and, if available, soap to reduce the severity of the rash but be aware that the active component of the sap is absorbed in only three minutes. Treat the rash with a cream that contains topical corticoid steroids, says DeKoven. For severe cases, you may need oral cortisone. To control irritation, take a cool bath, apply cold compresses and wear cotton clothes, which allow the skin to breathe.
How to avoid it:
"The main thing is identification," emphasizes DeKoven. He also suggests wearing long pants, socks and high-top boots or shoes when going into prime areas.
Click to continue...
