Hi Suzanne -
I usually try to get to everyone's questions but your initial post popped up at a time when my daughter was ill and I fell behind in postings. So.... I'm glad to hear that you are feeling better. Make sure that your course of steroids are long enough as you don't want a rebound rash. The minimum I've seen is about 14 or 15 days.
Your best defense is through identification. Figure out what it was that got you and then plan an attack to eradicate it. Unfortunately, poison ivy is quite prevalent here on the east coast so identification will be important should you venture outside of your backyard. I used to live in New Jersey - seemed kind of tame to me :-). Florida is the place to fear not only do they have poison ivy, they also have brazillian peppertree, oyster plants, and Florida poisonwood all of which cause nasty rashes.
Call me a nut but just today I pulled 4 poison ivy vines from around my azalea plants. Was I fully geared up? Nope. I had a pair of PVC coated gloves which go to my elbows and I had a plan. I found the plants while weeding and didn't want to change just to pull these plants. I was very careful in identifying the plants and where the roots were located and then pulled in such a way that the plant would never come in contact with me. The plants went into a trash bag and then to the garbage can. Washed off the gloves and resumed normal weeding. No reaction yet (and I'm the type where a rash shows up in a few hours) and I don't expect one. Knowledge, preparation, and execution are key here to preventing an outbreak. |
