Hi Emily -
Your boyfriend's best defense is to take as many precautions as he can. I know it's summer but he really should "suit up" for the job by wearing boots, long pants, long sleeved shirt (buttoned up), gloves, and goggles. If he can get one of those hard hats with the plastic face shield - so much the better. The idea is that he doesn't want skin exposed when weed whacking.
There are commercial products on the market which will help prevent the urushiol oil from bonding on the skin. IvyBlock is one such product but must be reapplied.
Your boyfriend should avoid the steroids and I don't think a doctor would prescribe that anyway with no symptoms. Now I'm not a doctor but it just seems like you don't want to take medication (which has side-effects) thinking you can prevent the outbreak. So have him suit up. When he gets home all clothes should be washed thoroughly (taking care to not contaminate the washer or other items in the process of loading) and he should jump in the shower and wash with a good soap or detergent. We keep a bottle of Joy (the dish soap) in our shower for just such occasions. My husband weed whacks a large field of poison ivy about once a week and has yet (knock on wood) to get an outbreak this summer. He does the full getup I recommended above and makes sure to clean up well when he's done.
If your boyfriend gets an outbreak, keep it clean and dry. Many swear by treatments such as hot showers, baking soda, rhuli gel, etc. See our treatments section for more suggestions. We also just got an excellent suggestion for treatment here on the board. The solution was equal parts listerine, maalox and peroxide. Here's the link for that suggestion: Weird salve that I make.
Hope these suggestions help. The best treatment though is prevention (where possible). |
