[Melt]

my new stomping grounds is bidwell park which is an awesome, very techincal place to ride, in a canyon East of Chico, CA

So far i have poison oak in my eyes, behind my left knee, on the outside of my left hand, on the top of my left foot and in a spot on my chest.

Im treating it all with calomie lotion and its going down, but what i wanna know is there anything i can like spray on BEFORE rides .... or should i just start wearing long sleeve shirts and long shorts and wash off the minute i get home or something ... cause i love riding at this place, but the oak is getting out of hand it seems like i notice something new every day.

Cause some of the places i have it (like my foot) doesnt make any sense.

 

[beagledadi]

I feel your pain....

I was up in the Cleveland National Forest every summer as a kid visiting my Grandparents. I got into that stuff it seemed like everyday. I remember my Grandmother covering me with stuff out of a pink bottle.

Here's a couple remedies from the internet..."Horse urine. Paint thinner. Acetone. Ammonia. Clear nail polish. Meat tenderizer. Sound appetizing? Don't worry, you don't have to drink them. They've all been used successfully to treat skin exposed to poison ivy or poison oak because that's all people had handy at the time.

http://www.mothernature.com/Library/Bookshelf/Books/47/108.cfm

Don't itch it! LOL!

 

[derekbob]

Theres this stuff called technu that you wash down with after rides or any time you were exposed to oak and itll keep you from getting it 99% of the time. There is some stuff you put on before exposure, but technu works so well for me Ive never bothered with it.

 

[Arkayne]

My bud had to pee on the trail and had the oak on his hands which he transferred over to the 'organ'. Poor guy. Anyway, I don't know of any lotion that you can put on prior to a ride. Just scrub hard once, maybe twice in the shower once you get home.

 

[chuckie108]

my new stomping grounds is bidwell park which is an awesome, very techincal place to ride, in a canyon East of Chico, CA

So far i have poison oak in my eyes, behind my left knee, on the outside of my left hand, on the top of my left foot and in a spot on my chest.

Im treating it all with calomie lotion and its going down, but what i wanna know is there anything i can like spray on BEFORE rides .... or should i just start wearing long sleeve shirts and long shorts and wash off the minute i get home or something ... cause i love riding at this place, but the oak is getting out of hand it seems like i notice something new every day.

Cause some of the places i have it (like my foot) doesnt make any sense.

I'm really sensitive to poison oak/ivy- I use a product called Zenfel. It's a soap that releases the enzyme off your skin. You just take a shower after your ride with cool water and use the stuff and you'll never get again. Also works good when you already haveit. Works for me.

 

[hugh088]

Zenfel works great, a little expensive but worth it. The key is to wash everything that was exposed. The oil that causes the rash can transfer surface to surface. If you have it on the outside of your shoe and get some on your hand when to take off you shoes and socks you can easly transfer it to your foot. Hint: clean bike and equipment then self before hitting the beer.

 

[trailgrinder]

I can catch poison ivy/oak off the wind. Zefal is the best product I've found. Chuckie and Hugh are right on this. It works after exposure and rapidly reduces a rash after its developed. It's not cheap, but no other product works as well.

 

[3034]

http://www.zanfel.com/

 

[Finch Platte]

Poor Melt.

I can catch poison ivy/oak off the wind. Zefal is the best product I've found. Chuckie and Hugh are right on this. It works after exposure and rapidly reduces a rash after its developed. It's not cheap, but no other product works as well.

The guy needs help, and all you guys can do is lead him astray by not spelling the product correctly.

Melt, it's Zanfel, and Rite-Aid carries it. The stuff focking works. They also have a generic version that's a little cheaper, but I've never tried it.

Do what I did- go to a skin doc, and ask if they have samples. They probably don't, since Zanfel doesn't make sample-size tubes. Have them contact Zanfel (Go to Zanfel.com & get the doc the phone #). Zanfel will send them full-sized tubes for you.

Problem solved, for very little scratch. Hardee-har-harrr.

fp

 

[Melt]

thanks for all the help fellas i really appreciate it.

 

[GuruAtma]

It's still winter... wait until spring when the stuff is really everywhere....

 

[jrm]

someone forgot to tell the poison oak..

It's still winter... wait until spring when the stuff is really everywhere....

good luck with that melt. Ow and dont foget not to spread it otherwise its coming right back..

 

[gordon]

ivy block before rides, plus what other's have said. i used to be able to get ivy block at long's, but they don't seem to carry it anymore. i now have to order it form local pharmacy.

 

[Jayem]

I'm not as optimistic about this as others based on my experience with getting poison oak and using zenfal/technu.

I've gotten poison oak plenty of times before due to hiking, riding, doing yard work, etc.

Unless you get it within a few minutes (~30) of exposure (not the ride, but the exposure) you're screwed, and no product short of something INTERNAL like cortizone will help much, if at all.

Poison oak doesn't get on your skin, it gets IN your skin. Think about how liquid mercury gets absorbed INTO your skin, and then tell me that scrubbing the outside of your skin is somehow going to "remove" it. It's not going to remove it, or think about it like an old stain in a rag that no matter how many times you put through the washer, it persists. There's no way to get INTO your skin and remove the poison oak once it's set, and I've tried this and that and never found anything that stems the effects once it's set in (because you blew that exposure time).

You're skin is usually a pretty good barrier, but poison oak gets INTO that barrier. There isn't much else that you can get INTO your skin to break it down, it's physically very difficult due to the nature of your skin acting as a barrier, it's not like a peice of cloth that you can innindate with soap and water and have it "pass" out the other side.

Most of the time it's spread due to contaminated clothes and accessories, so scratch the living crap out of it when it really starts to piss you off (like FP suggests), or see the doc and get a shot.

 

[Lawson Raider]

I hear ya. I, too, am highly susceptible to the lovely effects of the poison ivy,oak,sumac. It seems all I have to do is think or look at it and then there I go getting blisters and such.

I was in Ft Hood TX for my last 6 months in the Army and I was in the field about 1 month of that. I was on OPFOR and had poison ivy all up both my arms and chest. Sucked like a some 'gun because it itched horribly and could not get any relief from it. The Army just gives ya a bottle of calamine and sends ya back to work.

 

[singl_trakr]

Bidwell muy bueno, 'cept for the two awesome trails out back (one of which was aptly named named "Oak", now "B" or ?) which are both covered in the stuff. Technu works very well, if ya follow the directions to the letter, and time is of the essence; don't wait longer than two hours. By then you need to spend the bug bucks on Zanfel 'cuz you're just a few hours from scratchin'...

I hear ya melt, PO is no fun at all. But's it better than an overlooked tick-in-the-crotch...another story.

 

[Jorgemonkey]

I get PO really easily too, and which sucks since I love riding Saratoga Gap which has it all over.

I started using Technu after each ride, and I didn't get it, or I would get a small patch. One day after a ride I was showing down, and my bottle ran out while washing. The arm that got washed was fine, the other arm swelled up pretty bad though

I also started wearing a long sleeve shirt like this:
http://www.performancebike.com/shop/profile.cfm?SKU=21908&subcategory_ID=1123

and I haven't had any problems with PO. Well I didn't until I endoed into a bush.

 

[gobike]

Best advice I can give:

Don't scratch your sack until the PO is long gone...

 

[Wherewolf]

Technu

I'm super allergic and I used to wash down with Technu right at end of any poison oak infested ride. Buy a 1-2 gallon pesticide dispenser, fill it with water, and use it to wash off the Technu. Also carefully remove all your clothes and put them in a plastic bag. You may get PO on your clothes or equipment, not even know it, and keep re-infecting yourself. Or worse you may bring it into the house. My washer is in my garage so my clothes never went any farther. I'd even carry paper towels to handle my shoes and even my front tire while putting it in the truck (no doubt you run over PO leaves on the trail).

When it gets really bad I go nuclear and ask the doctor for prescription Prednisone. It works like a Biblical miracle for me within a few hours!

 

[Andy aka Rut]

I too get the oak really bad. In fact, I got it so bad last year, I got 9 days off work-per the doctor. :eekster: I go to Mexico and get Hydrocortizone 2.5%. I also get some 25mg Diphenhydramine. Between the two, I can sleep at night.
Another thing to do is wash your clothes; all of them after the ride. Even your camelback! I add some SimpleGreen into the washer. I also use regular soap in the washer.