What is the most effective method to clean skin exposed to poison oak?
Poison oak season has begun around here, with fields full of the nasty stuff growing everywhere. I tend to dress conservatively in areas I know have poison oak, to avoid getting exposed in the first place. Were I to be exposed, how should I clean the poison oak from my skin?
I'm aware of various hi-tech products designed to clean poison oak, but am unsure whether they're actually any more effective than just using regular soap and water.
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Poison oak's "poison" is an oil-based substance; therefore any oil-removing soap will do the trick. Dish soap is a low-cost and easily available substance for cleaning poison oak from skin. This study found that:
- Dish soap was significantly better than no treatment.
- Dish soap was not significantly different from two other products (Tecnu, which is much more expensive, and Goop).
Vigorously washing the affected area with dish soap and water will typically remove poison oak oils. It's best to wash the area immediately -- within a matter of minutes after exposure.
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Ivory soap (for North American campers)...it's the only one that actually cleans and does not leave any residue (which can hold oils) begins.
I don't know what other brands of a similar product there is, but I bet you can find your own if you look for ivory soap on the Internet.
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I don't know about poison oak, but have lots of experience with posion ivy. I think the irritant in both is similar (urushiol oil, or something like that). This answer applies to poison ivy, which I think transfer to posion oak too.
No, ordinary soap does no good against this oil. I have taken a shower with ordinary soap shortly after being exposed to poison ivy, and got the nasty rash. Last year I started using a product called TechNu (or something similar to that, can't remember exact name) and I can tell you it does work. It is something you use like soap after exposure, but unlike soap, it actually does wash off the irritating oil.
There have been a least two cases now where I'm quite sure I got exposed to poison ivy while doing trail work. I went home afterwards, took a shower and washed with the TechNu stuff, and had no symptoms. I'm quite allergic to poison ivy, and am convinced that washing with this stuff made a difference.
I'm at work now and the bottle is at home, but I sortof remember that poison oak is listed on the label as one of the irritants it is effective against.
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As noted, the key is removing it quickly. If you like to carry around dishsoap, that will work great. However if you do not regularly carry that around, abrasives are a good alternative. I've effectively used the sand at the bottom of a small waterfall to remove the oils and of the entire hiking group, all of whom realized too late what we'd walked through, none had a reaction.
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