Quote:
Originally Posted by masraum
A way to kill the itch, run the hottest water you can stand over the rash (really hot). It'll itch like mad. After several minutes of insanity inducing itch, it'll stop. Then it won't itch for several hours.
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+1 Never scratch it.
This is the best advice by far. If you want to get some relief in areas that you can't get under the tap you can also try using a hair dryer on hot. Leave it on as long as you can stand it without burning yourself and you're back to normal.
I believe, the heat causes the histamines to rise to the surface of your skin giving you relief for hours at a time.
I used rub all the pharmacy crap on poison ivy and bites, but now I just run a hot tap or grab the hair dryer and in less than a minute I feel completely fine.
***Note if you were just exposed to poison ivy use cold water and soap. If you can shower within 20 minutes you can minimize or reverse the effect, but once you've really got it then go hot hot hot.