“Some people may see the blisters in lines or streaks on the skin where they touched broken [or] damaged branches or leaves,” Melissa A. Levoska, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and assistant professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, tells SELF. These blisters will eventually break, ooze, and get crusty as the rash runs its course and heals.
“Many people who have had the reaction before know they have been exposed to the plant and are able to diagnose themselves,” Dr. Levoska says. But if you’re in doubt, make an appointment with a primary care doctor or a dermatologist to be sure, she adds.
There are some more serious symptoms that mean you need to seek immediate medical care for a poison ivy rash, including:
- Difficulty breathing or swallowing
- Rash on the eyes, lips, or genitals
- Severe swelling of the face, lips, or eyes
- Pain and itching that interferes with sleep
- Fever
- Thick, milky drainage from the blisters
- Rash that covers most of your body
These symptoms can indicate an allergic reaction or a gnarly infection. That’s why it’s important to resist the urge to scratch a poison ivy rash (or any type of rash, for that matter), as hard as it may be. Scratching opens up the skin and exposes it to bacteria and other pathogens from under your fingernails, which can lead to infection.
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The rash and blisters caused by poison ivy are directly linked to coming into contact with urushiol. According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD), it might seem like your rash is spreading or worsening over time, but these areas are actually just places where you likely also came into contact with oil—but just less of it. The spots on your body that get a rash first are the places that were hit with the most concentrated amounts of urushiol. And what part of your body touched the plant matters too. “In areas of thicker skin or thicker epidermis (e.g., palms and soles), the rash may be delayed, or may not develop as quickly,” Dr. Gupta says.
If you’ve just come back from being outdoors and think you touched poison ivy, washing your skin with a degreasing soap (like dish soap) and water can help remove urushiol and prevent or lessen your reaction, Dr. Levoska says. The skin absorbs oil relatively fast, according to the AAD, so you don’t need to worry about spreading it to yourself or others days later. And once a poison ivy rash develops, it’s not contagious. The fluid that comes out of the blisters (yuck, we know, sorry!) can’t spread the rash to other people, since these are caused by your body’s reaction and don’t contain urushiol, Dr. Levoska says, so you can rest easy about that at least.
While a poison ivy rash won’t spread elsewhere on your body and you can’t give it to other people, the oil can linger in other places—like on clothing, on a pet, or under your fingernails. The same tactic of washing with degreasing soap goes for clothes or pets that may have been exposed. Just be sure to protect your hands and skin before you do it: “The [oil] can seep through clothing, but the use of certain protective clothing can decrease the amount and direct contact. The [oil] can penetrate rubber or latex gloves, but not heavy-duty vinyl gloves or leather gloves,” Dr. Gupta says.