Zeichner, is to make sure none of the plant’s oil remains on your skin. The most important first step in treating any reaction, according to Dr. Most of the time, treatment for poison ivy consists of self-care to alleviate discomfort. Or you may have oil from the plant under your fingernails, or you've unknowingly touched a contaminated item.
If a skin rash appears to spread, it’s probably because the area was already exposed and it's experiencing a delayed reaction. You also can’t spread a rash across your body by scratching once you've washed off the oil. Poison ivy isn’t contagious unless there is still oil from the plant on your skin and you spread it to other surfaces. This can harm your nasal passages and lungs, and can cause a severe reaction in some people. In addition to direct contact and touching contaminated items, you can also have a poison ivy reaction by breathing smoke from the plant if it's burned. “Upon future exposure, our immune system becomes activated, leading to significant inflammation.” “Our bodies become sensitized to poison ivy after an initial exposure,” says Joshua Zeichner, MD, the director of cosmetic and clinical research in dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. No one is born allergic to poison ivy, though. Most people are susceptible to this allergic reaction from poison ivy, but about 15 percent of people won’t ever get a reaction, according to the American Skin Association. This reaction is known as allergic contact dermatitis. When the oil from poison ivy touches your skin, it bonds to the area and causes a reaction from your body’s own immune system. Learn More About What Poison Ivy Looks Like “If it’s sunny, it will grow quickly,” says Radimecky. One reason poison ivy thrives in areas that have been disturbed is that it prefers at least partial sunlight. When they’re mature, poison ivy plants grow berries that start out green but develop a whitish hue - “sort of a cream color,” Radimecky says. But in some areas it grows as a bushy shrub, up to four feet tall. The plant itself usually isn’t very tall - generally less than a foot high, according to Radimecky, unless it’s climbing the side of a tree or another vertical surface. Poison ivy leaves may be toothed or lobed but may also be smooth-edged. “One side of the leaf might not be the same as the other side, and the three leaves on the plant are not identical,” says Radimecky. Poison ivy leaves do have a defining feature: They’re not usually symmetrical. Sometimes they’re shiny, sometimes they’re not,” Radimecky says. “Sometimes they’re green, sometimes they’re red. The two leaf stems on the sides, she notes, tend to be shorter than the one in the middle.Īs for the color of its leaves, poison ivy can vary widely. “On poison ivy, three leaf stems branch from the same spot on the plant.” Many people are familiar with the phrase, “Leaves of three, let it be” - but according to Radimecky, this usually isn’t enough information to avoid the plant.įirst, what does “leaves of three” actually mean? “The leaves each have a leaf stem,” says Radimecky.