Warm Months Offer More Encounters with Poison Ivy

Warmer months means spending more time outdoors, but spending more time outdoors could increase your chances of running into poison ivy.

Dekalb County Extension Agent Johnny Barnes said the most common misconception people have about the plant is that just being near it can affect you.

“In order for it to kind of have a reaction with you, you do have to touch it, and it’s not the plant itself it’s the oils that are kind of on the outside of the leaves–it kind of has a shiny appearance to it,” Barnes said. “When that oil touches your skin, it can have an itchy or rash-like reaction with your skin.”

Barnes said it doesn’t take much to get the oils on your skin–even brushing against the plant can expose you to the oils. If you are exposed, Barnes said the best thing to do is dry it off as quickly as possible to make sure the oils can’t transfer to any other surface.

Barnes also said that if you have a poison ivy or poison oak issue around your home he strongly advises against burning the plants as the oils can get into the air and you can have a reaction in your airways. To get rid of the plants, Barnes said to simply cut them down and they dry up and die that way.

Barnes said that to avoid the plant, he suggests going with the old adage “leaves of three let it be.”

“Poison ivy has a leaf cluster of three leaves–kind of like two on the outside, one in the center–so the three leaves is the poison ivy,” Barnes said. “Now poison oak also looks like that, but the leaves are kind of different-looking in appearance: poison oak will look more like an oak leaf, where poison ivy will kind of be more pointy–the ends will be pointy–and it will have a group cluster of three leaves.”