Munra Point / Poison Oak

[ghosting]

Hey y'all.

I went up Munra Point on Sunday and it was beautiful. Unfortunately on the way down, I slipped on the trail, rolled, heard a pop in my thighs and luckily ended up in the bushes (fortunately, not off a cliff). Fortunately, it's just a sprain and I didn't get cut up or even that beat up. It appears that those bushes which saved me turned out to be Poison Oak (The universe is hilarious)

Anyway, watch out up there - I was going slow and was really careful - I've never fallen anywhere in the gorge.

Also,

Let's open this wormhole.....

Poison Oak: how best to deal with it, what's real, what's a myth and best remedies.

Thanks,

- Jason

[BigBear]

Never fallen anywhere in the Gorge previous to this? Either you must have very few miles logged on your hiking boots or you walk on air . Sorry to say, I can not make that claim. Nevertheless, you made it out with minimal damage.

Myth about poison oak: you can spread it to others when it oozes. Reality: whatever the poison oak oil touched (car seat, bedspread when you got home to take off your boots, etc) can give the oils for the next 30 days.

Myth: I have a sure-fire cure that will stop the itching now and forever. Reality: It takes two weeks, but various over-the-counter lotions will reduce the itchy feeling.

Another changing reality is that 1/3rd of the population is immune to poison oak on 1st contact. Sadly this immunity disappears with multiple contacts and frequency between contacts. Think of it as roulette: eventually your number will come up.

[ghosting]

Thanks for the myth debunking.

It's true man, I've logged plenty of hours, all seasons and all types of trails. I'm not bragging and obviously, every streak has to end.

[sprengers4jc]

Dang PO always adds insult to injury! My wife had a horrible bout with it after a massive fall a couple of years ago. It took a solid two weeks to dissipate. She found that the Technu over the counter stuff worked well, but if it looks even remotely infected, the doctor can give you an antibiotic for it.

[kmcdade]

I'm an immune. I used to show off by picking the stuff when I was young and foolish. Then my dad told me that he USED to be immune.

[CampinCarl]

splintercat has a nice write-up on his blog in this thread:

http://www.portlandhikers.org/forum/vie ... 18&t=11824

blog:

http://wyeastblog.org/2012/05/28/10-com ... oak-myths/

[payslee]

Warning: When you get poison oak, everyone tells you their disgusting poison oak stories, including me.

More important warning: Now that you've had it this year, you are likely to be especially sensitive to it.

For example - I was immune for quite a while. I never deliberately provoked it, but I know I'd gone through the stuff while hiking or backpacking and it never gave me trouble.

Then I had an outdoor summer job one year and got it on my work gloves. So I reexposed my hands to it day after day until they developed big disgusting blisters, which eventually became weepy, pus-filled blisters. Ever wonder why old books call infections "septic"? - I found out!

Then the blisters started to spread...

Because I wasn't sure when I'd first gotten it or how many things I'd contaminated in the meanwhile, it took me literally six weeks of scrubbing everything I owned until the skin reaction subsided.

Extra bonus - for the next three years I got poison oak four or five times every single year, even like, in winter, when there are no leaves, and maybe a breeze carried it over to where I was standing.

Eventually my sensitivity decreased. If I know there's poison oak where I'm going I'll pre-apply technu, completely change clothes ASAP, and scrub, rinse, repeat. Then I'll just get a tiny little spot or two rather than weeks of blisters and pus.

So - consider washing all your gear, your boots, poles, and pack. Everything in the car or trunk that might have touched you that day, and all the doorknobs etc. in your house that you might have touched before getting clean that day. Normally that would be overkill, but you'll be extra sensitive for a while if this is a bad outbreak.

Good luck. If it gets *really* bad, like a whole-body outbreak, you can go get a cortisone shot from your doctor - it's like a miracle.

-payslee

[adamschneider]

Warning: When you get poison oak, everyone tells you their disgusting poison oak stories, including me.

Ooh, ooh, my turn!

When I was in college, a girl in my dorm went camping with some friends in Big Sur, and they unknowingly put poison-oak branches in their campfire, creating a frighteningly efficient urushiol dispersal system. Her face was swollen up and blistered so badly you could barely recognize her; I'm frankly surprised they let her go home from the ER.

It was the sort of thing you'd think was an urban legend, except I saw it myself.

[retired jerry]

I've heard that too - burning Poison Oak can cause horrible case

And can turn someone from being not sensitive to super sensitive

If you'r not sensitive, try to avoid exposure anyway to remain that way

[kepPNW]

Yeah, I got a nasty case this spring, before the leaves even came out. Didn't realize anything was even up until a few days later. (But I knew precisely where/when the exposure occurred, due to where the rash was forming.) Caladryl helped a bit, but it just kept getting worse and worse. After nearly two weeks, with no improvement in sight, and it actually starting to appear infected, I emailed the doc a photo of it and he slung a steroid (prednisone?) prescription to the pharmacy. That took it right down.