on the subject of scratching. It does feel really good and if you are worried about the possibility of contamination from finger nails, use a CLEAN rough towel and wash it immediately afterward. I have a very aggressive case of poison sumac and the itching in the spreading area was driving me insane. The clean towel treatment was the only thing that saved me from torn skin. But do NOT rub the blistered areas vigorously, you'll tear open your skin and risk secondary infection! I've treated the rash and it's secondary eruptions with a product called "Technu" the active ingredient in this product is octylphenoxy-polyethoxyenthanol and fatty acid soap, in other words tallow soap. It's a medium weight lotion and it took about four days to start having any effect. It dries the skin, tremendously, and an application of tea made from peach leaves soothes the dryness and itch. There is a note in the "natural remedies" section about "wild peach leaves" with notice that the person wasn't sure if domesticated peach works. It does. The itch stops as soon as the tea dries and it doesn't dry out the skin like the Technu does. I've battled this rash for over a month now and it is finally starting to dry up!
Thank you for this wonderful site! All of this information has been most helpful. |
