I fell in love with herbs a few years ago. I continue to learn about and experiment with them. With so much increasing (deliberate) instability in the world, I believe understanding how to use herbs is a very important part of living well and self-sufficiently.
The herbal remedy I want to share with you is for treatment
of poison ivy (and similar plants). The following is my anecdotal experience
with poison ivy in particular and how I treated it.
Poison Ivy
Recently, while clearing our land, my husband ended up with a small poison ivy rash on his wrist. It got pretty bad and
after a couple of days of keeping it covered with a bandage, we realized he
should air it out. We had been applying raw apple cider vinegar to dry it out,
which is another recommended remedy, but it wasn’t healing as quickly until we kept
it mostly aired out. It did go away and the ACV apparently did help dry it out and temporarily eased the itching. However…
The following week he got more poison ivy, but this time it
was all over his forearms from cutting down trees and handling branches covered
in the ivy. Of course, he hadn’t realized it was there until it was too late. He
wasn’t looking forward to having an oozing, itching rash up and down his arms.
When the itch got bad, he asked me for a good remedy to give him relief. I did
some quick research and decided to use Bentonite clay.
Bentonite clay absorbs toxins, poisons, and heavy metals
like a champ. To treat the rash, this is what we did:
In a non-metal bowl, with a non-metal spoon, mix: (when wet, the clay will draw metals into it)
¼ cup Water
¼ tsp Sea salt
Approx. 10-15 drops
essential oil (Mint, Lavender, etc.)
Hubby preferred mint
(we happened to have wintergreen) because of its cooling/tingling effect.
Approx. ½ cup
Bentonite clay
Add a little at a time
until you reach a wet, creamy consistency.
I get my bentonite clay from the Bulk Herb Store.
With his fingers, he spread the paste all over his arms and
let it dry for at least 15 minutes, then rinsed it off. He did this every 12 hours for two days. He said it burned, but was much more tolerable than the itching. We
were both thrilled that the itching subsided and the rash went away completely
before it got as bad as the first rash. He was able to work and sleep in peace.
He did wear a long-sleeve shirt to work and sleep to keep it from spreading,
but other than that, we are confident and excited that we have a simple way to
get rid of poison ivy.
What's your experience with treating poison ivy naturally?
