How can I tell if my baby'south rash is poison ivy?

If your baby has swollen, red patches of peel on his face, arms, or legs, at that place'due south a chance it's poison ivy, poison oak, or poisonous substance sumac – particularly if yous've taken him to an expanse where one of those plants may exist growing.

The rash, known every bit contact dermatitis, sometimes first appears in streaks or lines where the skin touched the poisonous plant. It normally shows upwardly 12 to 48 hours after contact, though it tin take up to a week to appear. Blisters follow and become crusty within a few days.

In the United States, poisonous substance ivy is most mutual in the Midwest and the E just can exist constitute throughout the country except in the Southwest, Alaska, and Hawaii. Poison oak is about often plant in the Westward and Southeast. Poison sumac prefers continuing h2o, especially along the Mississippi River and in the eastern parts of the country.

Is the rash dangerous?

No, but it's very itchy. And because the rash can become infected, information technology's important to keep an eye on information technology.

skin with dry, red, cracked lesions

© Scott Camazine / Scientific discipline Source

Why do these plants cause rashes?

They contain a potent, irritating oil called urushiol. About 85 per centum of the population is allergic to urushiol, making it the most common allergy in the country.

While no i's built-in with the allergy, exposure to the plant produces sensitivity to information technology. In other words, your body responds only subsequently repeated exposure. So your baby may brush against the constitute several times without problem, merely to intermission out in a rash the side by side time he meets up with it.

The oil's contained in the sap of the constitute'southward leaves, stems, and roots, and it takes only i-billionth of a gram of urushiol to cause a reaction. Most cases show up in the spring and summer, when sap'due south plentiful and the plants trample easily, but information technology's possible to get poison ivy, oak, or sumac any time of yr.

How did my infant go poison ivy?

Your infant either touched the found oil or something with the oil on it – for example, a ball, a gardening tool, or a pet that had come in contact with the institute.

How should I treat the rash?

Toxicant plant rash has no cure. You just have to permit it run its course, which takes xiv to 20 days. In the meantime, effort some of the following remedies to help salve the itch and prevent infection:

  • Soothe your baby'south pare with absurd compresses or a absurd bath with a little baking soda, Epsom salts, or oatmeal (use a colloidal oatmeal bath treatment, sold at most drugstores).
  • Rub the affected surface area gently with an ice cube for ten to 20 minutes several times a mean solar day.
  • Blot your babe'due south skin with cotton assurance soaked in calamine balm or a paste of blistering soda and water three or four times a twenty-four hours.

Don't employ any lotions, creams, or sprays that contain antihistamines, though, as these tin can trigger allergic reactions.

Should I telephone call the doctor?

It's a adept idea to telephone call your baby's doctor about a rash, specially if you lot aren't sure what caused it. If you lot know the culprit was poison ivy, oak, or sumac and decide not to telephone call right away, continue an heart on information technology and phone the dr. if:

  • the rash is severe or looks infected (you see pus or an increasing redness)
  • the rash is on your infant's face up or genitals
  • your baby runs a fever
  • the rash lasts longer than two weeks

If your baby'due south rash is severe, his doctor may give him an oral antihistamine or oral steroids to terminate the inflammation and help relieve the itching.

Is information technology contagious?

No, your baby can get the rash only from touching something with the oil on it. And the liquid in the blisters doesn't contain urushiol, so the rash tin't be spread by scratching or popping them.

If yous notice a new patch of rash on your baby a few days after the beginning one appears, information technology's not because the rash has spread. It's considering the irritation can take longer to show up on certain parts of the body (areas with thicker skin take longer to absorb the urushiol). New rashes tin crop up, though, if your baby continues to be exposed to the oil, which can linger under his fingernails, on clothing, or on a pet's fur.

Is there any mode to foreclose the rash?

The only way to prevent information technology is to avert making contact with the plant and its sap. But that can be tough, every bit the plants aren't always easy to recognize.

The old axiom is "Leaves of 3, let information technology be." And while poisonous substance ivy and poison oak do tend to have three-leaf clusters, toxicant ivy can have as many as nine leaves per cluster, poison oak tin take up to five, and poison sumac ordinarily has seven to thirteen pocket-size leaves.

The plants can take the form of bushes or vines and abound in the forest, near the water, and even in the backyard. Sometimes they air current effectually other plants, making them even harder to spot.

If you're going to be hiking in a wooded surface area or playing nigh bushes or shrubs with your infant, dress him in long pants, socks, and a long-sleeved shirt. Ask the md well-nigh using a barrier ointment to protect your baby'southward peel against contact with the institute oil. This ointment is rubbed on the skin, much similar sunscreen. It tin be rubbed off, though, and then don't assume it provides complete protection.

Equally soon every bit you return dwelling from an outing in an expanse that may take poisonous plants, alter your baby'southward wearing apparel, and always wash them before putting them on him over again.

What should I practise if I remember my baby's been exposed only he doesn't take a rash yet?

If you call up your baby'due south been exposed to poison ivy, oak, or sumac, immediately rinse the area with cool running h2o – a lot of information technology. If y'all use likewise little water, or even a minor amount of soap and water, you may just spread the oil on the skin. So rinse his skin thoroughly to eliminate the oil.

The sooner you exercise this the better – within five minutes is best, but within xxx minutes will help. And then give your baby a bathroom with soap and h2o.

Wash your baby's apparel and toys and even the family unit pet if they've been exposed to the plant oil. (Habiliment safe gloves when washing things by hand, and and then throw away the gloves.)

What happens if my baby breathes urushiol in the air?

If plants containing the oil are burned, information technology'south possible for the smoke to carry the irritating substance. In that case, the poisoned smoke irritates the airway and lungs, but it doesn't bear upon the skin. (Firefighters working in forests thick with poison oak or ivy sometimes develop serious lung irritation from inhaling urushiol.)

Information technology's extremely unlikely your baby will accidentally breathe air that contains urushiol, but if y'all recall he has, have him to the medico. And if you discover poison ivy, oak, or sumac in your yard, don't burn it.