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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Monday, March 22, 2010
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NetWellness provides the highest quality health information and education services created and evaluated by faculty of our partner universities.
Monday, March 22, 2010
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Skin Care and Diseases |
Poison ivy07/11/1999 |
Is poison ivy supposed to spread after you`ve contracted it? Is it true that it only spreads by repeatedly coming into contact with oil from the plant? I have a nasty case of poison ivy that is slowly spreading across my body. I can`t figure out how it`s happening. I`ve washed almost all my clothes, changed bed linens. I`m at my wits end. The last time I had poison ivy it didn`t spread like this!
Unfortunately, poison ivy appears to "spread" across the body. However, once you contact the oil from the plant and your skin has had a chance to react, the removal of the oil does not stop the reaction. The spreading effect is due to the differences in time for the various parts of the body to manifest the reaction. Washing clothes and linens initially removes any excess plant material that may have existed, but subsequent washing is not needed. The severity could be due to an increased amount of plant material at this exposure or it could be an increased sensitivity to the plant. In any case, you should take care not to become exposed in the future since reactions tend to be worse each time, compared to the previous exposure.
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Marty O. Visscher, PhD Executive Director and Scientific Investigator The Skin Sciences Institute Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center University of Cincinnati |
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