Scourge Of The Aftermath
Poison Oak Ravages Ramona After Wildfires
by Jim Evans

Yes, Toxicodendron diversilobum (aka poison oak) is alive and well in Ramona. I know, because I have recently survived a rash from this irritating shrub so common to our region.

I have never been particularly sensitive to dermatological problems from plants of any kind, but my experience with poison oak has quickly dispelled any sense of natural immunity I thought I might have had.

As many as 50 million people — that’s MILLION in capital letters — (American Academy of Dermatology, 1999) develop a rash from exposure to poison oak, poison ivy or poison sumac every year in this country, so I know that I am in good company. These plants don’t discriminate against anyone.

Poison oak along the Pacific Coast is usually identified in the form of a shrub or a climbing plant with three-leaflet tooted or lobed leaves, sometimes standing up to 8 feet high, with white, berry-like fruits.

Spread By Smoke And Ash

Poison oak is widespread throughout California and regenerates quickly after fires like the recent Cedar Fire. Even worse, the smoke and ash from the fire have inadvertently exposed many people to the effects of poison oak — this is apparently how my wife and I were exposed. We should probably feel fortunate, because many people who breathe the smoke and ash develop serious inflammation of the respiratory mucous membranes.

Many firefighters who fought so valiantly to save our community have been afflicted with poison oak — some so severely that they are unable to work. Poison oak is so prevalent in California that it is even covered by workers’ compensation insurance, accounting for almost one percent of the entire state workers’ comp budget (Epstein, 1994). An estimated 10 percent of lost work time in the U.S. Forest Service is attributed to poison oak or poison ivy each year.

It started as just a small rash on my wife’s face the day before we were to leave on a three-day cruise to Mexico — our first "vacation" in several years. By the end of our first day on the cruise, the rash had spread to her legs and torso and was seeping through her clothing. The ship’s doctor was at a loss to explain what it was — after all, poison oak is clearly not a common occurrence in the middle of the ocean — and prescribed a topical ointment to ease the itching.

It was only after we returned from the cruise that it was diagnosed as poison oak, but by then the rash had spread even more, and all of the anti-itch cream in the world wasn’t working. To add insult to injury, I began to show signs of the rash after our return, and soon, I was itching and scratching as much as my wife.

My first thought was that I had picked up the rash from my wife, but the rash from poison oak is NOT spread from person to person, and it is NOT spread by scratching. In fact, the "seeping" that we both experienced from the blisters is secreted by the body as a natural reaction by the immune system and is NOT the urushiol that causes the rash.

Cause Of The Rash

The rash from poison oak is an allergic-contact dermatitis caused by contact with urushiol oil contained in the plant. Urushiol refers to the toxic substance in the sap and is found on the plant surfaces It may be carried in ash and dust particles in smoke from burning foliage (Wayne’s Word, Volume 8, Number 2, Summer 1999). It can be transmitted by contaminated clothing, pets and even garden tools. Almost 80 to 90 percent of adults will experience a rash from as little as 50 micrograms of purified urushiol — less than a grain of salt and smaller than the head of a pin.

Recommended Treatments

Drugstore shelves are filled with anti-itch creams for temporary relief from rashes caused by insects and plants, and the Internet has countless "cures" for poison oak and poison ivy, but don’t count on any of them working for very long or healing the rash, despite all testimonials to the contrary.

Some topical ointments will help relieve itching, but generally the rash needs to just run its course — usually between two and six weeks. We both ended up going to the doctor for a series of four different prescriptions, including descending doses of Prednisone, to finally get rid of the insidious stuff once and for all.

However, having recently survived poison oak, I am compelled to offer at least some rudimentary advice to readers who may experience it in the future. You see, there are only two kinds of people: Those who get poison oak and those who are going to get it (Poison Oak FAQ/www.knowledge.org/oak). In other words, if you haven’t already experienced poison oak, your time will come.

Anyway, without turning this article into an infomercial, let me just say that very hot showers helped to relieve the itching as much as anything — especially before going to bed at night. (Cold water is, apparently, the best immediate treatment after exposure to poison oak as it closes your pores to the urushiol). And, no, the rash does not spread when it gets wet.

Two cleansing or "wash" products — Zanfel and CalaGel — also helped to ease the symptoms dramatically prior to a hot shower. Zanfel is expensive — almost $40 for a small 1-ounce tube — but does provide for several applications. It is mixed in the hand in the form of grainy, sandlike paste and rubbed on the affected areas for several minutes until the itching goes away, before rinsing it off. It allegedly works by binding with the urushiol, unlocking it from the affected areas. The rash appears even redder — almost raw — after application, but the itching usually subsides for several hours.

CalaGel Oak-n-Ivy is a clear liquid also rubbed on the affected areas for several minutes before rinsing and leaves the skin feeling particularly clean and refreshed after application. It, too, apparently works by removing the offending urushiol oil from the skin so that it can be rinsed away.

Still another product, Techno Oak-n-Ivy, is produced by the same company as CalaGel and is now marketed through forestry supply catalogs to remove urushiol from the skin. However, I found that even simple rubbing alcohol worked as well as anything to remove the urushiol.

Ivy Block has recently been developed for the U.S. Forest Service as a spray or lotion to create a barrier to prevent the urushiol from touching the skin in the first place, and StokoGard Outdoor Cream is a similar protective cream.

Good old-fashioned Calamine lotion seemed to be the most effective treatment overall for relieving itching during the day, if you don’t mind looking to the whole world as if you have the "cooties." Caladryn is somewhat less effective, but invisible, if you really care about what other people think about how you look. Benadryl Cream is very soothing and will give some temporary relief from the itching but doesn’t provide the more permanent protective coating of either Calamine lotion or Caladryn.

We both wore pajamas from head to toe to absorb the seeping (a major adjustment for a guy who prefers to sleep á la natural) or applied anti-itch ointment and wrapped our limbs in Ace bandages. The rash has now subsided with some slight redness in some areas, but we now are itching from the dry skin caused by the drying effect of the prescription medications.

There was a rather original solution to poison oak that I found on the Internet that might intrigue some readers: "It helps to pee on it." (Poison Oak FAQ) I don’t know if it means on the plant or the rash, but whatever works is alright by me.