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Re: Tattooing with poison oak

Subject: Re: Tattooing with poison oak
Author: Jim
Date: 6/2/2003 9:51 am
Views: 5902
Status: Approved
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Perhaps this can put your mind at ease. Unless you have the oil still under your finger nails or on a towel, etc, you are most likely not spreading the rash. The oil binds very quickly to proteins in your skin and you are now seeing the over response of your immune system attacking this oil skin protein which results in the rash. What you are most likely seeing are outbreaks from spots that had smaller amounts of the oil and your immune system now locating these bonded oil protein spots. So the oil is contagious but the rash is not if that makes any sense. Since all the oil should have bonded by now to any skin.... you really shouldn't be able to spread it after 24 hours. Thicker parts of the skin (bottoms of hands) take longer for the oil to bond than thinner parts of the skin (joints). You can read out this more here. and I answered a thread here.

Of course if you have it systemically, you will see it on spots that you have not touched then it can break out anywhere. From your initially description it sounded like you had it on a few localized spots. When I had a systemic reaction it just kept spreading to areas like my legs and belly even though I had worn long pants that day. I had also used tecnu from start to about day 5 when I gave up and went looking for something else. (Zanfel in my case)

In a systemic reaction which is most commonly received when the oil enters a cut or is inhaled via the burning of the plants in a forest fire for example you will keep breaking out.

If you now think you might have a rash where the tattoo would be it would be prudent to delay to my way of thinking.

SubjectAuthorDate
Tattooing with poison oak (Approved)BEN5/31/2003 11:26 am
  Re: Tattooing with poison oakJim6/1/2003 10:13 am
    Re: Tattooing with poison oak (Approved)Ben6/1/2003 11:45 pm
      Re: Tattooing with poison oakJim6/2/2003 9:51 am
        Re: Tattooing with poison oak (Approved)BEN6/11/2003 0:13 am