65: Poison Ivy Relief with Essential Oils and Hydrosols

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RAW TRANSCRIPT
Liz Fulcher [00:00:00]:
You're listening to the Aromatic Wisdom podcast, episode number 65. I very recently got into some poison ivy while clearing out my backyard, and two days later I had a bad reaction. So what I'm going to talk about in this episode is what happened to my skin and the remedies I used to help control the itching and heal the wound.  

Liz Fulcher [00:00:53]:
Hello Friends! Welcome to another episode of the Aromatic Wisdom podcast. I'm going to just jump right in with a shout out to the newest Aromatic Wisdom insiders who support the show on Patreon. Welcome to Wendy. Brad gad. Gabigale. And Haslina. Thank you so much for your support and keep on the lookout for new goodies that I randomly add inside of patreon. So, for example, I just added a very cool printable infographic on aromatherapy scope of practice.

Liz Fulcher [00:01:24]:
Thank you. Also to everyone who has supported the podcast these nine years. I appreciate every single one of you. I really do. If you want to learn more about Patreon, it's Patreon.com aromaticwisdom. All right, let's get started with today's topic, poison IV relief with essential oils and hydrosols. And let me tell you, I had another episode planned for today. I was going to talk about chemotypes, and then the poison ivy happened, and I got such relief with my remedies that I thought, okay, this is totally relevant for right now.

Liz Fulcher [00:01:58]:
I'm going to share it with my beautiful listeners in case one of them, God forbid, gets poison ivy or their kids or someone they know. This can be really helpful. So all summer, I have been watching several shoots of poison ivy creep into my garden from over and under the fence that surrounds my backyard. I kind of think I was in dreamland, hoping, oh, it'll just go away. I didn't really want to face it, and I didn't really want to ask my husband to do it because he didn't have an issue with it. I did. Even though it's not where I walk, it's still coming into my space. So initially I tried to eradicate it with vinegar and dish soap because I don't want to use Roundup or any of those toxic chemicals on the earth.

Liz Fulcher [00:02:43]:
So last week, the weather was gorgeous. I decided to get in there and rip out the poison ivy by the roots. And I was very careful. I wore gloves and I leaned way over to avoid the leaves touching my feet or my legs because I was wearing sneakers and shorts. Let that be a lesson. What happened was nothing. I pulled the poison ivy out, and at one point, a bit of roots, I pulled it out, and the roots kind of came out from the earth and brushed against my leg. And I didn't think anything of it because I naively thought that you would only get a reaction from the poison ivy plant if you touch the leaves.

Liz Fulcher [00:03:27]:
More on that in a minute. So I continued my project, and when I was done for the day, I put my clothes, even my gloves, my sneakers, everything, right into the washing machine, got in the shower and scrubbed, and that was it. I felt very proud of myself that I had avoided getting any kind of reaction from the poison ivy until day two. About 48 hours after I had been in the garden, I noticed that I was starting to be itchy around my ankles, the inner elbows, and on my leg, exactly where the roots had touched my leg, just above the knee. I've been around poison ivy my whole life, and only once have I ever had a response, an allergic reaction. And it was just like this very, very itchy and kind of a red raised bump. And this is what I was experiencing. So I knew that this was a response to the poison ivy.

Liz Fulcher [00:04:25]:
And apparently, once you have it, you get it worse and worse every time. This is classic sensitization, and it can happen with your essential oils as well. I did a podcast episode on sensitization. I'll put a link to that in the show notes. If you have not heard it, I really recommend that you do go and listen to it. Sensitization, irritation, these are all things that one must be aware of when working with essential oils. And though we're not talking about a specific essential oil in this episode that's causing the allergic reaction, poison ivy contains an oily SAP called eurushiol that causes the irritating itchy allergic reaction that you get. It's actually contact dermatitis.

Liz Fulcher [00:05:10]:
And this is a very similar reaction that you'll get when you are sensitized to an essential oil. In both cases, essential oils, poison ivy, poison oak, any of those things out there that give you contact dermatitis, the reaction is more pronounced with every exposure. In the case of essential oils, this most commonly happens when people use them without a carrier, when people use them neat, directly from the bottle onto the skin, repeatedly, the chances of developing this contact dermatitis, this sensitization increases. And honestly, people who wear perfume and always keep the perfume for 30, 40 years, they put perfume right below their ears, on their neck. Eventually, they may become sensitized to the perfume. I've gone down a sensitization rabbit hole, but it's really, really an important conversation to have as aromatherapists to understand what creates contact dermatitis, what happens to your body, what happens to your skin. All right, before I get to the remedies that actually gave me the sweet relief from the itching, I want to back up just a second and give you a super quick two point primer on poison ivy and why it has the effect on your skin. This is probably more information than you need, but I like to be thorough.

Liz Fulcher [00:06:32]:
And as I have been told, Liz, if somebody asks you what time it is, you will build them a clock. Yeah, I kind of do over explain. So you can always skip ahead right to the remedies if you're interested. Know if you want to skip this part. If not, here we go. Number one, poison ivy's latin name is toxicodendron radicins. Isn't it interesting that the first five letters of the genus are to XIC? Poison ivy belongs to the Anacardiaca family and is notorious for causing skin irritation in most people. So that's sort of fact, number one about poison ivy.

Liz Fulcher [00:07:14]:
Number two, the entire poison ivy plant contains that offending compound, the uruchiol, every single part of the plant, the leaves, the vines, the stems and the roots. That's why I got a rash on my knee where the roots had brushed against my leg. This is also why you must never, ever burn poison ivy, because the arushal then becomes volatized in the smoke, and it can get in your lungs, and that can be extremely dangerous, even life threatening. Also, only humans get a rash from poison ivy, not animals. However, if you have a cat or a dog that walks near the poison ivy or brushes against it, that urushial is going to be carried on their fur, and it can be transferred to you, which is why my kitty cats do go in my backyard. They don't really leave the property, but they kind of just stay they stay close to the house, especially now that they're older. But I have seen them walking in the poison ivy. So how I address that is spray them with hydrosol comb.

Liz Fulcher [00:08:19]:
Comb, comb, comb. I use a flea comb just because it has very narrow teeth and it really gets in there. And then I wipe that off with alcohol, then spray with a hydrosol comb, comb, comb. And I feel like that gets anything off of their skin that could bother mine. And honestly, I've never received poison ivy from my cats. So for those who really want to geek out, the reason our skin responds to urushiol, it's a T cell immune response. It's also called delayed hypersensitivity, which is why sometimes it doesn't show up for several days. Your body's immune system recognizes the foreign object, and the uruchial binds with skin proteins.

Liz Fulcher [00:09:00]:
That's another reason why you've got to wash it off as soon as you recognize you've been exposed or that you've had contact with some part of the plant. As soon as you can use alcohol, use hand sanitizer. Obviously, soap and water really want to clean that area. Alcohol is very effective if you don't have soap and water. But before it has a chance to really bind. Get in there and get it off your skin. Okay. The moment you've been waiting for.

Liz Fulcher [00:09:29]:
How to get relief from poison ivy using essential oils and hydrosols. The first thing we have to ask ourselves before using any essential oil or hydrosol or any kind of aromatic is what issue or what symptom do I want to address? What outcome do I want? Then once you've defined exactly what it is that you want to sort of heal, then it's much easier to find the correct essential oils. So the primary issues and outcomes with poison ivy rash are to stop the ferocious itching that's, number one, address the itch. Number two, reduce the swelling and inflammation, and number three, protect the blisters from becoming infected, especially because we tend to scratch as much as we know we shouldn't. The itch is just so ferocious, and that's pretty much true for any itch. It's very hard, even unconsciously or subconsciously, no unconsciously, to scratch at something that itches. Often we're digging into it before we even realize it. So it's really easy for the blisters to become infected.

Liz Fulcher [00:10:34]:
So we want something to address that. So addressing number one, the itch. The fastest itch relief you can get is with peppermint essential oil. Anything that will cool the skin will actually help relieve the itch. I've even taken an ice pack and put it on my there was a part of my arm that was just so itchy, and first thing I did was put an ice pack on it, and then I treated it with my aromatics. So if you even can just do a nice cool ice pack, something cold, take heck, take the peas out of the freezer and put them on your arm. That will really help. Peppermint essential oil is effective in its cooling because the primary component is menthol.

Liz Fulcher [00:11:16]:
Peppermint essential oil, which is mentha. Pepperita can be as high as 50% of the total essential oil, and menthol is very cooling. It cools the skin fast, decreases the itching that's caused by this release of histamine that's happening in our body. There are no other essential oils I'm going to recommend for soothing the itch. And in terms of hydrosols, peppermint hydrosol. Peppermint hydrosol has menthol. It's just not going to be as dramatic in terms of reducing the itch. I actually use peppermint hydrosol with my poison ivy remedies with clay, which I'll get to in a second.

Liz Fulcher [00:11:53]:
When the itch is really bad, the first thing I do, because I'm just like you, something bothers me. I want a relief immediately. And so I'm not going to sit and play and blend and get out my bottles. No. I grab a bottle of peppermint essential oil. I grab unscented lotion, not oil. I pump the lotion into my palm till I get a puddle in there, which is probably going to be about a half an ounce. I put in two or three drops.

Liz Fulcher [00:12:21]:
You don't need a lot of peppermint, essential oil, and I rub that mixture onto the spot we're talking about. In three minutes, you're already rubbing this into your skin and before you know it, the itching will stop. That's what I call a super quick stop gap measure. So I'll go ahead and I'm going to make my clay and I've got my sprays and so forth. But when that itch kicks up, think about it. If cooling stops the itch, what is going to make the itch more severe or what's going to trigger it? Well, that's going to be heat. So if you're taking a warm shower, it can start to itch again. Or when you come out of the shower, if you are out in the sunshine, if you're working, getting sweaty and hot, all of a sudden you'll notice the itch is triggered.

Liz Fulcher [00:13:03]:
So anything that's going to cool it down, do not, repeat, do not use peppermint essential oil undiluted on the skin. Sensitization is a real thing. It is a real problem. And you do not want to be sensitized. The reason you have the rash from poison ivy in the first place is a sensitization issue. Your skin's already fighting for its life. It's compromised. If you put a very strong essential oil on there, you could make it worse.

Liz Fulcher [00:13:34]:
You could then become allergic to peppermint. Just don't do it. Grab some. Honestly, if all you've got is your mom's Jurgens hand lotion. Jerkins. My grandmother used to call it jerkins jergens hand lotion, which is scented. If that's all you have for the moment, use it. But I really feel as though as a person who's using aromatics in their life, there are some things you should just always have around the house and a healthy, well made organic if it's possible.

Liz Fulcher [00:14:06]:
Unscented lotion or cream is something should always be in your stock. I keep some always in the fridge. Mine's in a big pump bottle. And I will literally pump it into my hand, put in my two drops of peppermint, and rub it into my knee or my arm or wherever that itch is really bad. Now number two, reduce the swelling. For that I would use German chamomile essential oil, blue tanzi essential oil, or Yarrow essential oil. Any of the blue oils are amazing for cooling and for reducing inflammation. I actually did an entire podcast episode just on the blue oils.

Liz Fulcher [00:14:45]:
I can't remember off the top of my head which episode that was. If you go back, you'll find it. I'll put, of course, a link to that in the show notes. I would use that in a carrier oil. Or again, a lotion. Oh, I want to go back. I forgot to say something. Why did I insist that you use lotion for the sudden itching? Stop the itching instead of oil? Because lotion absorbs very quickly and you'll get relief very quickly.

Liz Fulcher [00:15:13]:
Lotion is water based and it's just when you want to get something in and absorbed very fast. You want to use a lotion. So to reduce the swelling, going back to number two, using your blue oils, you could also use that in a cream. And I would add a little bit of tea tree essential oil to address number three, protecting the blisters from becoming infected. If you would like to use a spray tea tree hydrosol, German chamomile hydrosol, helicrysm hydrosol. Those are also very good for soothing the inflammation. Not so much the itch, but the inflammation and just settling it down. I love those hydrosols.

Liz Fulcher [00:15:58]:
I will put a link of where I buy them in the show notes. And honestly, one of the very best remedies that I've ever made for a poison ivy reaction is using clay. Because clay has a drawing component. I use French clay, peppermint, hydrosol peppermint essential oil, and German chamomile essential oil, little baking soda. And I have had people who've used this remedy for poison ivy tell me how much relief it gave them in terms of calming the itch, healing the wound. It's actually a very powerful remedy. Instead of using calamine lotion, which you can find in the United States in every drugstore, FYI, you could also buy calamine lotion and add essential oils to it as an option. I wrote a very popular blog post called how to Make Calamine Lotion with Natural Ingredients and it is really a clay based calamine lotion.

Liz Fulcher [00:17:01]:
It's not even really calamine lotion. Calamine is a proprietary name, by the way, so you can't ever sell anything and call it calamine. But it's a base for putting in your essential oils and relieving the problems that you get with poison ivy. And I will post a link to the recipe, but if you just want to search for it, just google Aromatic Wisdom Institute calamine lotion and that should bring it up for you. But it's got Himalayan salt, baking soda, clay peppermint, hydrosol, lavender peppermint essential oil, lavender essential oil, German chamomile essential oil, a jar. And then I actually have pictures of myself making it so you can follow along and make your own. I don't put preservatives in anything, so I always recommend make a small batch and make it and use it up, and then make another batch and use it up. And finally, the last thing I want to say about the poison ivy plant is obviously to avoid it, you have to be able to identify it.

Liz Fulcher [00:18:03]:
So here are some tips on recognizing it when you see it. Now, I've picked up a couple of cute diddies that people say that rhyme to help you remember how to identify poison ivy. Some of these you've probably heard of. One I had never heard of, but I love it. So number one is leaves of three. Let them be. Poison ivy leaves always appear in bunches of three leaflets. Number two, longer middle stem, don't touch them.

Liz Fulcher [00:18:34]:
Take a look at your leaves of three. Poison ivy features a very distinctive longer stem at the base of the middle leaflet. So the one in the middle is longer and the two on the side are a little bit smaller. And three, this was the one that was new to me, but I love it. Hairy vine no friend of mine poison ivy features these little distinctive tendrils or hairs that the plant uses to adhere to whatever it's climbing. So other climbing plants, at least in the northeast where I live, like Concord grapes, Virginia creepers, they have smooth vines. So if you see a vine that's kind of hairy, you know that that is poison ivy. So that makes the distinction easy.

Liz Fulcher [00:19:21]:
So again, that's leaves of three, let them be longer middle stem, don't touch them hairy vine no friend of mine so there's probably more than you ever wanted to know about poison ivy, but you are now informed and hopefully the aromatics will help you if you come in contact with this very common plant. And now we move into that portion of the podcast that seems to be extremely popular with Y'all, and that's called Smell My Life. Well, it's funny, in this segment I always share a way that I used an aromatic in my life most recently, and this whole episode has been about that. But you know, if you've spent any time at all with me, you know, I've always got another story up my aromatic sleeve. So here we go. So I'm making this recording in the summer, and in the summer I eat a lot of watermelon. I can literally, in the course of over three or four days, just consume an entire watermelon all by myself. I'm not particularly proud of that fact, but I'm not ashamed of it either.

Liz Fulcher [00:20:30]:
Watermelon is really good for you and really healthy, and it's hydrating and full of minerals. However, sometimes when I cut it, I leave a little piece behind or there's a little juice or a little something on the counter. If I don't wipe it, we get ants. And that was the case recently where I sort of came down in the morning and there were little tiny ants everywhere. They're not big carpenter ants. They're not the big fat bodied ants. I truly don't know what kind of ant they are. My husband, Endearingly, calls them little piss ants, but they're very small and they actually come in, I think, through the socket of the plug near the sink.

Liz Fulcher [00:21:07]:
Anyway, there was a whole line of them on the wall and all over the counter. I hate killing anything. I absolutely will not kill a bug if I can avoid it. But there were so many, I kind of swept them into the sink. But I knew one way to get rid of them would be with peppermint essential oil. It's funny, peppermint seems to be featured quite a lot in this episode, doesn't it? Peppermint for itch peppermint for ants. Okay, peppermint is apparently very good summer essential oil. So I took the peppermint essential oil and I cleaned around the socket where they were coming in and cleaned the wall and I cleaned my countertop, which is granite.

Liz Fulcher [00:21:48]:
I can use essential oils on granite, but I do tend to wipe it off right away because I'm never really sure. I know vinegar is terrible for granite, it etches the beautiful polish, but I've never had problems with essential oils. So I wipe everything down and like that, they're gone. They just don't come back. Now granted, the watermelon is gone, but I've had in the past where if I don't use peppermint, they keep coming back. So that peppermint is actually really well known for repelling ants and repelling mice. Years ago, James and I lived in a farmhouse and there was a hole when you open the was was a hole in the back of the pantry that mice would come in. We discovered this after we discovered we had mice and we found what they were coming in and I just took a rag and soaked it with peppermint and jammed it in the hole.

Liz Fulcher [00:22:40]:
So yes, I blocked the hole, but I also like to believe that they didn't come back or dig a new hole because there was so much peppermint in the back of the cupboard. So there you go. That's smell my life for this week. And finally, I'd like to invite you if you enjoy the podcast, if you get any kind of benefit from it and you would like to leave a good review. Obviously I would like you to leave nice reviews and that helps other people find the podcast and it gives more credibility to the work that I do here and it's easy to do that. You can go to Aromaticwisdompodcast.com and up at the top you'll see the word reviews. Click on that and it'll kind of tell you where to go. You can leave a review on Apple, actually any place spotify, any place where you listen to your podcasts.

Liz Fulcher [00:23:29]:
You can probably leave a review or you can just leave one. There's a little form on my podcast website. Anyway, Aromaticwisdompodcast.com, you'll see the reviews. Once again, thank you so much for giving me your precious time. I just love that we spend this time together. I adore all of you. Thank you for the emails that I get. Thank you to my patrons for supporting the podcast, and thank you for giving me purpose.

Liz Fulcher [00:23:57]:
I really feel at my age, as my life is slowing down, this has had a bigger place in my life, this podcast, and it really does give me a sense of purpose. You know I'm here for you. Please never hesitate to let me know if there's something specific you'd like to hear on the podcast, some specific topic you'd like me to address. You can drop me a note right inside the podcast website. Aromaticwisdompodcast.com. And as always, until next time, my friends, be happy. Be well. You, sam SA.