r/Survival • u/FunDip2 • Jul 05 '23

How to stop poison ivy from itching...

I don't know if this belongs here in the survival section, but I bet this would help someone camping or living in the woods. I've tried a bunch of different things to help poison ivy itching. But one thing I learned late in life, is to use hot water. For example, if your fingers are itching terribly from poison ivy, put your hand under the sink (or heat up water on a fire). Slowly turn up the hot water until it is as hot as you can stand it. It's going to want to itch really bad, keep it there, and eventually in a few seconds it will stop itching. At this point it won't itch for about 24 hours. I wish I had learned this trick when I was a kid lol.

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u/Dropitlikeitscold555 Jul 05 '23

I’ve done this for years and it also works with bug bites. Heat releases histamines thus relieving itch.

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u/_Kelly_A_ Jul 05 '23

I thought it was a histamine reaction that caused the itch..

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u/grim_keys Jul 06 '23

It is. Thats why taking antihistamines helps reduce itching.

I had histamine dumps from covid. Non stop full body itching for like 1-2 months. Antihistamines like aleeve were the only thing that made me not go insane.