Gardeners Beware - Poison Ivy/Oak/Sumac

I hope this does not happen to you! My recent battle to clear weeds from around my back yard oak tree in Missouri has resulted in a bad case of poison ivy/oak/sumac (not sure which) on my arms. I am an intermittent gardener and it did not occur to me that such poisonous plants would grow wild and even flourish around my own backyard patio. (I know, dumb!)

I thought I would add this topic to our forum to remind our community to take precautions and, hopefully, save some of you from the trouble I am now experiencing (I expect you all know better). There are lotions available now you can use similar to sunscreen to protect your skin and of course, wearing long sleeves even on a hot day would have been preferable to what I have now.

If any of you have any good home remedies, I would be glad to hear them. After a week of trying various over-the-counter products I decided to spring for the more expensive solution and tried a generic version of a wash that helps remove the toxin from the skin, and it is definitely helping.

I realize I should go back outside to identify and photograph the culprit(s) and add the photos to our plant database, so I will attempt that soon. This is a photograph of the seemingly harmless area ...



I also am aware I should bag up the plants I pulled to make sure they don't end up in our burn pile but I am wary of going anywhere near them at the moment!