How are reactions from poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac treated?

How are reactions from poison oak, poison ivy and poison sumac treated?

Harold Kaiser (Practicing Allergist and Clinical Professor of Medicine, University of Minnesota Medical School) gives expert video advice on: How are insect allergies treated?; What are "food allergies"?; What are "hives"? and more...

One treats poison oak and poison ivy in different ways. Before the new powerful cortisone type medications were available, people would typically treat them with soap and water, wash off whatever you can, which is still good treatment, to get rid of the stuff that's left on the skin, and then they would apply calamine lotion or drugstore type creams. They would provide modest relief and they would be ok in the mild cases but patients who have typical moderate to severe allergic rhinitis require cortisone or pregnisone, which is a form of cortisone, in significant doses for a week or two to knock it out. It's a little bit like coming into the room and finding a fire in a wastebasket. You can either dribble a little water on it or you can take a bucket of water and put out the fire. The approach to treat poison ivy or poison oak is to put out the fire with the bucket of water. Strong medication to break the cycle, prevent the spread, to relive itching and suffering is the way to do it. And this is usually a cortisone type medication.