- Outdoor columnist Ben Smith reminds us to be on the lookout for poison ivy as we enter summer.
I don’t really care what the calendar says, summer is officially here. The temperature tells me it’s summer. And for all of you that griped about the three cold days of winter that we had, I hope you’re happy. I’m a self-proclaimed “summer guy” but I’m nowhere close to being ready for the heat we are already experiencing. And y’all, the mosquitoes. You can’t go outside without bug spray around my house. I don’t care what anyone says, those little orange canisters don’t work. I’m pretty sure I had one hit bone the other day in my backyard.
And it’s not just the heat, the humidity, or the mosquitoes that you’ve got to watch out for in a South Mississippi summer. We’ve got every kind of insect and snake known to man down here. And we’ve even got plants that are trying to kill you, too. There is some kind of unidentifiable weed in my yard that wreaks havoc on my skin. It grows in clumps around moist areas and has a tiny white flower. If I weed eat this stuff and get it on my legs I will itch for two weeks. It doesn’t produce a rash, but there will be a little dot here and there and I haven’t found any kind of cream to get rid of it. I just gut it out.
Now, I’m not allergic to poison ivy, fortunately, but I know plenty of people who are. I’ve had friends get it so bad they ended up having to get shots to get rid of it. That blows my mind to think that just brushing up against a particular plant can inflict that much suffering. I’ve even known people have a poison ivy breakout from petting a dog that had been in it. That said, I’ve had a couple of different questions pop in my head. One being, there has to be some use for poison ivy, right? I mean, can’t we somehow come up with a way to use it against our enemies? Can you imagine an army trying to go into battle, but they can’t stop itching long enough to aim a rifle straight? Seems like that would be an effective use of weaponry to me. The second question I have is what is in the plant that makes you break out and itch so much?
I think it’s best if before I attempt to answer my second question that we go over some pedigree information on this plant from hell. The safest method of deciding whether, or not, you should touch it is asking yourself a few questions: (1) Does it have three leaves? (2) Is the middle leaf noticeably longer than the other two leaves? (3) Does it have a hairy vine? If the answer is “yes” to those three questions and you are allergic to poison ivy, you should probably go inside and make a napalm concoction and get rid of it. Or at the very least, leave it alone.
But what is it in poison ivy that makes it poisonous? Poison ivy, along with poison oak and poison sumac, all produce an oil called “urushiol” that causes your skin to itch or break out into a nasty rash. Now, let’s get scientific for a minute. Urushiol is a chemical compound that is actually found in several foods that you might eat. Raw cashews are one of them. It doesn’t have an odor, and it doesn’t have a color. Therefore, to me, it’s invisible. There are some studies that suggest urushiol could have potential as a chemotherapy agent as well as being explored for treatment for some fungal infections due to its ability to kill cells. You hear that? It kills cells.
Now, I’m not a scientist, or a doctor, or even a self-proclaimed smart person, so when you start talking about a substance that kills cells my mind immediately goes back to that person that comes to speak to your high school to talk about how many brain cells you kill with one sip of alcohol. Apparently this isn’t the same thing. Back to chemistry. The molecules in urushiol are called catechols. Catechols are organic compounds naturally found in traces of fruits, vegetables, and certain trees. They can be irritating to the eyes, skin, and respiratory system which explains why poison ivy does what it does to you. I’ve heard of people burning poison ivy, inhaling the smoke from it, and having to go to the hospital for it getting in their lungs. So yeah, don’t burn poison ivy.
The bad thing about urushiol is how quickly it absorbs into your skin. If you brush up against poison ivy and the sap from the plant gets on you it can absorb into your skin quicker than twenty minutes after contact. Within eight hours it’s fully bound and you’re going to have a problem for the next few days. It may not show up for twelve or so hours, but you’ll know within a day. And those blisters that form on your skin – yeah, they are full of urushiol too. If you scratch them and touch any other part of your body, you just spread it.
So, what’s the good news about poison ivy. Well, you’ll probably have some really itchy skin and potentially have some nasty blisters pop up, but it probably won’t kill you. If you do contract a case of poison ivy, there are plenty of over-the-counter medications that will probably take care of it. Zanfel cream seems to be the best bet for drying it out quickly. It’s a little on the pricey side, but does money really matter when you’re scratching so much you can’t sleep? And if you can pull poison ivy off of trees and never break out, congratulations. You are in the elite crowd of ten to fifteen percent of the population that are simply superior beings. Ain’t no three-leaf plant holding us down!
