At first glance, they may look like some sort of ornamental plant. But it isn’t until you have suffered from a terrible rash when you come in contact with them that you know they are not a friendly plant. And if you have a lot of them surrounding your premises, it is about time you get the experts to come in.
Wonder which plant I’m talking about? You may already know it, and it is no other than poison ivy. Need tips on finding the best poison ivy removal service? You will find expert advice from professionals in the business. But before I get into the details, let me first share a personal story of my encounter with the plant.
What is Poison Ivy?
Before you set out to eliminate it from your space, you should be able to identify it. The green allergenic plant grows as a shrub and usually has three leaves pointing in different directions— one to the left, the other to the right, and another in the middle. You could also distinguish by the berries that you find close to the leaves with the description above. This link https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-identify-poison-ivy has more on the description of the poison ivy plant.
My first encounter with the plant was while growing up. One summer vacation, I visited my grandparents and remembered going out with the kids in the area to the lake not too far from home. I had stripped down to my boxers and tossed my clothes in the bush just close by. And after hours of playing in the water, it was time to go home. I got dressed hurriedly, and as expected of my naivety, I was fully immersed in the leaves with my wet skin. And I hadn’t gotten halfway home when I began to feel uncomfortable.
I thought it must be the water, but it wasn’t until my cousin also complained of itching that I knew that I wasn’t the only one. Fast forward to when I got home and was screaming on the top of my voice, my skin looking like it had been dipped in ketchup. The same for my cousin, who was now rolling in the sand outside, trying to put out the burning sensation on the skin. It wasn’t until Grandma got back from the shop that she quickly sprang into action. That was when I learned about poison ivy and that I shouldn’t leave my clothes in the bushes when next I go swimming in the lake.
Common Symptoms
The skin irritation is brought about by the oil secreted from the plant known as urushiol. You can get it on your person by simply touching the leaves, touching objects that have come in contact with the plant, as in the case of my clothes, and even by inhaling the smoke of the burning plant. But how do you know that you have come in contact with poison ivy? You surely can’t ignore the symptoms, and they include
- You start to itch your skin uncontrollably (itching)
- Your skin begins to swell along itch sites (swelling)
- The area appears reddish (redness of the skin)
- Blisters appear due to uncontrollable itching (blisters)
- You could suffer from difficulty breathing if you inhale the smoke from the burning plant (shortness of breath). You can find more here on common symptoms of contact with poison ivy.
Remedy for Contact with Poison Ivy
“Stop itching it,” I can remember my granny telling my cousin and I as she prepared a homemade skin lotion to help us with our predicament when I was little. But at the end of the day, she had to put us to sleep by giving us sleeping pills after giving us a thorough bath and applying aloe Vera to our skin. And if you happen to come in contact with poison ivy, you want to act quickly to remedy the situation by
- Take an antihistamine to quickly counteracts some of the symptoms, such as uncontrolled itching.
- If you come in complete contact with poison ivy, take a full bath with hot water to eliminate the oil from your skin and lessen the reaction if you happen only to have your arms around the leaves. Wash only your hands, so the reaction doesn’t come in contact with other parts of your body.
- Toss your clothes in the washing machine and wash them immediately. Don’t add any other clothing when doing this laundry.
- After the shower, apply a soothing lotion to the skin, such as calamine lotion or hydrocortisone cream, to dry the skin.
- Another form of organic skin treatment could help quickly put you at ease. For some powerful skin treatment for poison ivy, you can try applying apple cider vinegar, witch hazel, colloidal oatmeal, Aloe Vera, and menthol-containing creams to help soothe the skin.
How to Find the Best Poison Ivy Removal Service?
If you happen to notice poison ivy growing around your premises, you surely want to get rid of them. It is of no use leaving them around even if there are a hundred meters away from your doorsteps. The kids, pets, or visitors could suffer severe dermal irritation if you have them growing nearby. And as you imagined, you don’t want to take the risk of getting rid of it yourself. So you want to leave it entirely to the professionals.
You can start by searching the web for poison ivy removal services in your area and checking with them to know their rates and how soon they can swing into action. More than likely, you will find a handful of options to choose from. And while it may seem right to opt for the one with the lowest fees, you want to ensure that they are equipped with the best techniques of eliminating poison ivy from the environment. On no account should you work with a service that engages in setting the plant ablaze. You could also suffer from complications when you inhale the smoke from the burning plant.
The best way of eliminating poison ivy from your yard is with the use of herbicides. The best options are those containing glyphosate as they will burn the plant from the inside, thereby drying the oils that are known to cause irritations on the skin. You can also find experts who use special protective gears to uproot the plant from the ground and dispose of them off correctly.
Final Note
Whichever way you choose; you want to ensure that the dead plants are entirely disposed of from your premises. You should also keep pets and kids inside the house throughout the period. You don’t want them coming in contact with any toxic herbicides that could put them in harm’s way.
