Poison Ivy Health Video

Video Transcript

DR. LORETTA CIRALDO: Hi, I'm Dr. Loretta Ciraldo, a board-certified dermatologist, professor of dermatology in University of Miami School of Medicine and author of "6 Weeks to Sensational Skin." And one topic I'm often asked about is poison ivy. And basically poison ivy comes from typically being outdoors, so it's common after a camping trip, maybe a little hike or some kind of outdoor activity. And it's interesting also that poison ivy represents something called delayed hypersensitivity, meaning that when our skin brushes up against the poison ivy, we'll most commonly not see the rash come out for about 24 to 48 hours. And how we should be suspicious that we do in fact have poison ivy is if we see a rash that comes out that looks like a scratch or it's in a pattern that would correlate to how we rubbed up against the shrub to which we were allergic. And what you need to remember about poison ivy is it can be exceedingly itchy rash and one huge tip I want to give you is that, of course, if we get it, the first thing we love to do is to start to scratch. But believe it or not, sometimes in scratching, we get that allergen, that thing that we're allergic to that was in the poison ivy, underneath our fingernails. So if you have any suspicion that you have poison ivy, besides treating yourself with things like oatmeal and Cortizone-10, please be sure to take a toothbrush and scrub under your fingernails so you'll get rid of any of that excess ivy that you may have gotten into your nails and throw out that toothbrush, just one extra tip to help you with your case of poison ivy.