Photos of Poison Ivy Rashes
Poison Ivy Cures, Help and Information

It appears that I got the initial exposure to poison ivy oil on 4/17/05 - when I was out scouting a location for an Earth Day cleanup. Over the next few days, I thought I had little spider bites on me. I had 2 spots on my nose which quickly cleared up.

Then, all of a sudden on 4/19, I had stripes on my stomach. Stripes are not spider bites, and I realized that I was in trouble. Here are photos of how the poison ivy progressed. It's not that the rash turns bubbly and nasty. If you treat the rash well and do not scratch at it, it merely looks like a red welt. The issue is that it is SUPER itchy which can drive you insane.

Note that I did an experiment. My right half of my body was treated with thick, white Aveeno paste. My left half of my body was treated with clear Caladryl-like lotion.

Apr 19 (day 3) - Photos & Info

Apr 22 (day 6) - Photos & Info

Apr 24 (day 8) - Photos & Info

You can see by now how the rash has 'developed' - and how my right half / the left side of the photo (Aveeno) is doing much better than my left half (clear Caladryl).

Apr 27 (day 11) - Photos & Info

Apr 29 (day 13) - Photos & Info

Note that after this point I didn't need to use the lotions any more - the rashes were there, but not itchy. They slowly faded from view. I really meant to keep taking photos but on the 30th I came down with a really nasty flu and was curled up in bed for the next week straight. Even as of May 10th - almost a month later - they were still visible though. I can see faint brownish marks exactly where each rash was. I don't know that you could see them in a photo.

Poison Ivy Cures, Help and Information