How to Treat Poison Oak With Tecnu
Poison oak is a harmful plant found in rural areas on the West Coast and southern areas of the United States. Brushing up against it can cause horrible itching and blisters that last for days. A medicine called Tecnu is a strong remedy for poison oak, allowing you to treat it quickly and effectively with a few basic steps.
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Instructions
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Determine if you have come into contact with poison oak. The symptoms may not arise for some time after you have brushed against it with your skin, but you want to treat it as quickly as possible (within 2 to 8 hours of exposure).
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Apply the Tecnu to any unexposed skin.
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Rub the Tecnu into the skin vigorously for several minutes. The medicine removes the urushiol from the skin--the substance secreted by poison oak that causes all of the itching and irritation.
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Rinse treated areas of the skin with cool water for several minutes.
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Towel the exposed areas gently.
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Soak any clothes that have been exposed to poison oak with Tecnu. This prevents the clothes from spreading poison oak's toxin. Allow the Tecnu to remain for several minutes.
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Wash the clothes as normal. Use hot water if possible and plenty of strong detergent.
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Rub any tools or pieces of equipment with a clean cloth treated with Tecnu to remove the poison oak from their surfaces.
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Wipe the equipment clean of Tecnu with cool running water.
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Reapply the Tecnu to your hands and any other part of the body that may have touched the exposed clothes and equipment. This will prevent the poison oak from re-infecting your skin.
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Treat the irritated area with Tecnu again if itching develops in the next few hours or days.
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Take a warm shower without soap to clean the Tecnu (and the urushiol it has treated) from your body.
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Tips & Warnings
Tecnu is available over the counter at many pharmacies, so you don't need a prescription or a doctor's visit to pick some up. You can also find it for sale in forestry service catalogs.
Wash your entire body with Tecnu if you believe you are particularly sensitive to poison oak or if you do not know the extent of the exposure.
Do not swallow any Tecnu or get any into your eyes. It can cause irritation and sickness. Similarly, don't treat any cuts or scraped areas of the skin with Tecnu. It should be used on unbroken skin only. A sister product, CalaGel, can be used to treat cuts and scrapes infected with poison oak.
