Things You'll Need:
- Calamine lotion
- Clean cloth
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Step 1
Determine the effects poison oak is having on your skin. Calamine treats rashes, oozing sores and excessive heat from the skin, all of which appear when poison oak manifests. The lotion works best with milder symptoms or symptoms that recur after the cause has already been treated.
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Step 2
Apply the calamine lotion to the affected areas of your skin. The oil from poison oak causes the blood vessels near the surface of your skin to leak fluids, which creates the itching and blistering. The calamine acts to cool the skin, which shrinks the blood vessels and eliminates the oozing.
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Step 3
Leave the calamine on the skin, even if it starts to dry or form a crust. It's absorbing the fluids from the blisters and rash, and the crust helps protect sensitive skin from being re-inflamed if it brushes against anything. You can wash the residue away once the symptoms are gone for good, but while they persist, it's best to let the lotion do its work.
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Step 4
Reapply calamine lotion to the affected areas three or four times a day--or whenever the symptoms recur. Steady application of the lotion will keep the symptoms at bay and allow you to focus your attention on things besides your itching skin.
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Step 5
Stop applying calamine when the rash shrinks and/or the oozing and swelling diminishes. Keeping it on after the poison oak symptoms have vanished may make the skin excessively dry and cause the rash and itching to return.
