How Long Is Poison Ivy Contagious

“Is poison ivy contagious?” is a tough question to answer. The term contagious leads one to consider that a condition or disease itself could be contracted from another individual, but this method of spreading the rash doesn’t actually portray how poison ivy works. Poison ivy rash is caused by touching the plant but if the plant residue stays on an individual and they touch another person, so you might state that poison ivy is contagious. But the fact is that residue from poison ivy can be spread to someone else but the rash and blisters of poison ivy are harmless if touched by another person.

Urushiol is the chemical in the poison ivy plant that causes an allergic reaction which ends in a rash. About 75% of the human population will have an adverse reaction to contact with urushiol resulting in a rash. Urushiol is also present in other familiar poisonous plants in North America like poison sumac and poison oak. Touching the plant anywhere will put the poisonous plant oil on your skin.

Since it is so easy to contract the rash from just brushing up against the plant and possibly then touching another person makes people ask, “Is poison ivy contagious?”. You could get the poison substance on you if you come into contact with the skin of someone who just came in contact with urushiol because the compound would not yet have soaked into their skin. Poison resin tends to stay on clothing, shoes and even the fur of your pets for much longer then human skin and this is how most indirect poison ivy rashes occur.

Between 24 and 72 hours after touching urushiol is when the poison ivy rash happens. Tiny bumps appear first and grow into a red rash with blisters. The blisters can be rather large and are filled with a clear fluid. The affected patches will itch greatly but it is essential not to scratch so that the skin is not injured further and can heal sooner. Typically rashes heal in about two weeks. Some serious symptoms of poison ivy are swelling in the eyes or face or if the rash begins to cover a larger portion of your body. Serious symptoms should be evaluated by a doctor.

Sometimes individuals are aware that they just came into contact with poison ivy. If this happens to you don’t let your hands touch the affected location and quickly get to a place where you can wash with soap and water. Wash the part of your body exposed as quickly as feasible, every minute the resin remains on your skin, the worse your rash will become. For the most part, people are not aware that they touched poison ivy until a rash happens later.

The best method to handle the rash is to do anything you can to not aggravate it so that it can heal. No simple or overnight night cure for poison ivy is available but there are a number of products in the stores that can help you deal with the discomfort while it heals. Treatments consist of steroid and non-steroid external lotions, antihistamines like Benadryl and products that ease redness. A doctor’s prescription will be necessary to obtain some of these remedies.

So poison ivy is contagious in that touching a person who was just exposed to the plant can give you a rash, but from a medical point of view, poison ivy is not contagious. So that they can not get a poison ivy rash, always make sure to not have skin exposed when in a outdoor setting and always take off clothing and clean up right after coming indoors.