Nix the Itch of Summer

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Mosquitoes and ticks can carry seriously debilitating diseases, such as West Nile virus and Lyme disease. Mosquitoes are most active at dawn and dusk; ticks tend to be most active in the heat of the day in locations where animals, such as deer, cattle and even lizards, roam. Adjust the timing and location of your gardening activities to limit exposure. When you come in from the outdoors, use a doubled-over piece of wide masking tape and run it up and down your legs and arms to trap any ticks that might be on you. Be familiar with the symptoms associated with tick- and mosquito-borne diseases: Rashes (sometimes, but not always, a “bull’s-eye” rash with a clear center); swelling; fever; chills; sweats; joint pain; fatigue; or sore throat. When you get bites, treat them aggressively and seek prompt medical attention if any of these disease symptoms occur.

Poison Ivy and Poison Oak

First of all, learn the rule, “leaves of three, let it be” to identify poison ivy and poison oak. Wear gloves in the garden as much as possible and wear boots and long pants when going into the woods. If you discover you have been walking or working in a poison ivy or poison oak patch, it is essential to remove the plant’s oily, poisonous (urushiol) from the skin as soon as possible. Wash with a strongly detergent bar soap as soon as you get back to the house. Wash all the way up your arms and down again with cold water. If you have been wearing flip-flops or are barefoot, then scrub up to your knees and back down. Pat dry, don’t rub. Wash tools, gloves, shoes and all clothing, and then wash your hands again.

Next, immediately use one of the following to get rid of any remaining urushiol on the skin: alcohol, jewelweed vinegar or witch hazel. We’ve tried using all of them and this extra step really does seem to help prevent getting poison ivy.

Healing the Rash

If you develop poison ivy rash, take these steps to heal quickly: Dry the blisters, soothe the inflammation and kill microbes that cause secondary infections. Drying agents include alcohol, witch hazel, vinegar, oatmeal and green clay. The very best remedy for drying poison ivy is going to the beach and swimming in the salty ocean; it really does wonders.

For those of us without an ocean handy, take a tepid shower or soak in a bath with oatmeal or baking soda. (Put a handful of oatmeal in a cheesecloth bag or the cut-off toe of a pair of stockings, then swish in the water.) After patting dry, apply jewelweed vinegar or antimicrobial washes, such as alcohol or witch hazel, as well as antiseptic and anti-inflammatory herbal infusions.

If all preventive measures fail and you end up in poison ivy’s itchy throes, try adding herbal infusions to oatmeal or green clay to make a paste to slather on the rash. Make infusions of mucilage-containing, anti-inflammatory astringent herbs — such as calendula, jewelweed, comfrey, flax seed, aloe, oatmeal, mullein, yarrow or plantain – by soaking them for about an hour in water or vinegar. Also, you may add additional antiseptic herbs or oils (click here for Antiseptic Essential Oils and Herbs) to your infusions to boost their germ-killing properties. Add your herbal infusion to oatmeal or green clay and slather on your rash repeatedly. Once paste has dried, you can rinse off and rub gently to remove residue.

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