urushiol: just say no

I continue to be amazed by the amount of damage a little urushiol (best guess) inflicted on me. Urushiol is the oil in poison ivy/oak and I'm guessing this found its way onto my face when I innocently wiped a bit-o-sweat from my brow, while weeding the flower beds. But, I could have just as easily gotten this from my dog (according to one web site) which says the dog could rub against it, pass along the urushiol oil to you and not be affected itself. I suspect this didn't get on my hands because I washed the dirt when I came indoors, and the urushiol went down the same drain.

While my face doesn't look awful, it feels awful. I don't have a huge urge to scratch, but I've noticed sharp, unpredictable stabs of pain in the affected area in the past couple days. Then there's the weird stuff: I feel as if a drunken insect is crawling under my skin. Or the sharp pains I get from just touching my eyebrow.

I'm still waiting for this to run its course, having decided it's much like the common cold: if you treat it, it lasts for 3 days. If you don't treat it, it'll last for 3 days. Caveat: most web sites predict 1-2 weeks of joy re: a poison oak rash.

From what I understand by nosing around the web, if you get this stuff on you, you have between 10 minutes and 2 hours to wash it off. Cold water is recommended since it doesn't open the pores the way hot water does.