[pct-l] questions about poison oak recovery

[Terry]

As a fire fighter for 34 years, just retired, the best thing I have found to work for me is to do exactly what they tell you not to do.
As soon as I start itching and getting blisters from poison oak exposure, I grab my bag with a bottle of Tecneu and scrub sponge, jump in a hot shower and start with putting on a very liberal amount of Tecneu on the effected area. I then take the scrub side of the sponge and scrub the area until all the blisters have opened up and also scrub the entire area until it is red with small skin abrasions.  I then apply another dose of Tecneu and let it soak for a few minutes rinse with hot water to break down the oils and repeat this with one more dose and another rinse. 
Yes, I end up with some scabs and it doesn't look good for a few days but, I would have had to deal with the scabs and ugly skin anyway but now I don't itch anymore. 
I've been doing this for over 20 years and it works quite well for me.

Terry

Sent from my iPhone

> On Mar 22, 2014, at 8:07 PM, Carol <museumgirl at me.com> wrote:
> 
> Ouch. I hate that stuff. 
> 
> The Prednisone will help a lot. And the nurse was right about cooling the affected areas. You can even go as far as using blue gel packs to cool the rash. I also used the green minty facial mask by Queen Helene (I'm completely serious) to get rid of some horrible, weepy poison oak that I once got when playing disc golf. It cooled the rash and dried it up at the same time. It rocked. You can buy it at Walgreens. 
> 
> Carol
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Mar 22, 2014, at 4:40 PM, Marion Davison <mardav at charter.net> wrote:
>> 
>> I'm hoping to find some experts-due-to-experience here.
>> Two weeks ago I attended PCTA chain saw certification class at Mt. 
>> Palomar.  I was wearing full personal protection clothing, but managed 
>> to come in contact with poison oak.  Apparently it hadn't leafed out yet 
>> so I didn't see it when I was out grubbing out the areas where we were 
>> cutting logs.
>> I ended up with large areas of blistered rash, mostly on my legs.
>> It has been two weeks now, and I am left with a large area (about 6" by 
>> 8" on the back of one leg that is scabbed where all the blisters were. 
>> The skin is very dry and the crease on the back/inside of my knee is 
>> extremely sore.  The doctor says I should only wash with betadine and 
>> not use any lotions or soaps on it. He prescibed a course of oral 
>> medications--motrin, claritin, an antibiotic and prednisone. A nurse 
>> suggested I apply cold wet cloths to it several times a day to hydrate 
>> the skin.
>> I am having a very hard time walking because of this.  My leg does not 
>> want to bend because of all the dry, cracked, scabbed skin.
>> Can anyone suggest anything I can do to promote healing and improve my 
>> recovery?  I also have large areas of red rash without blisters and 
>> other large areas of  pink, itchy dry skin.
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