Long ago, there was a poison ivy anti itch product that was very successfull. It was taken off the market - - probably because it worked too well but some will tell you it's because many people were allergic to the product itself. I found an old tube of the product and the main ingredient is Zinc Oxide. I think you can buy Zinc Oxide in tubes over the counter now but zinc oxide is also a main ingredient in DIAPER RASH CREME.
I've passed this on to many of my friends and while the men have a hard time coming to grips with putting butt creme on their face, they've found the rewards are well worth it.
I am highly allergic to poison ivy and the diaper rash creme has always worked well for me. In my case, it minimizes any weeping; maintains the rash in the immediate area and dries it out quickly.
Another thing I practice is something called Histamine (sp?) therapy. It's the histamines in your body that make the itch so, if you can release those histamines all at once, versus slowly over the day as normally occurs, you'll get about 6 hours of itch relief.
A way to relieve the histamines quickly is to either in the shower or with a shower sprayer, start off with warm water on the affected area and slowly make the water hotter until it's as hot as you can stand. You will get a fast rush of itching that is quickly over. If you can do this about 3 times in a row, it will relieve enough histamines to get you through the day itch free.
Something to be careful of is DO NOT PUT BANDAIDS OR APPLY ANY TYPE OF TAPE/MEDICAL TAPE around the area. Too often, people find that the rash becomes worse or spreads to the area where a bandaid or tape has been applied because of an allergic reaction to the adhesive.
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