Poison Ivy
Poison Oak
Poison Sumac
Information about poison ivy, oak, sumac and the skin rashes they cause
Information about poison ivy, oak, sumac and the skin rashes they cause
One morning I quickly threw on some loose-legged shorts, sans underwear, and went out to pull some weeds. Unbeknownst to me, I was receiving multiple mosquito bites in anatomical locations unmentionable.
I came across some very tiny young sprigs of poison ivy, almost too small and innocent-looking to seem like much of a threat. Every time I tried to grab the tiny poison ivy sprigs to pull them out with my gloved fingers the stems just slipped right through my bulky gloves. I rationalized that I was nearly finished with my weed pulling and therefore I could risk taking off my gloves and grasping these tiny stems of poison ivy with my bare fingers as long as I quickly washed my hands afterward. Well, those little sprigs were still too slick to get a grip on, but I could solve that by digging my fingernails into the stems and then yanking. I absolutely knew I had Poison Ivy sap under my fingernails, but I was almost done and would go in and wash.
Absentmindedly, I must have reached down to scratch a strategically located mosquito bite ... resulting in the worst case of Poison Ivy rash in the worst imaginable unmentionable anatomical location.
(Editors note: scratching the tender skin of the face and elsewhere is a primary way that people give themselves a bad rash in a bad place.)