Knowing what to look for can help you avoid these toxic plants. The sooner you can wash it off, the less severe your symptoms will be.Ī rash will likely appear anywhere from a few hours to a few days after you’ve been exposed.Summertime usually means more time outdoors, where there is an increased risk of experiencing a brush with poison ivy ( Toxicodendron radicans), poison oak ( T. “You have about 30 minutes to wash off the plant resin, which is in the leaves, stems, and bark of these plants,” she says. Day recommends trying to wash off the area with soap and water ASAP. If you happen to touch poison oak and realize your goof right after, Dr. However, once the oil dries on your skin, it can’t be transferred from person to person.
Rodney says that “there could be a rare occasion” where you might come into contact with poison oak and then someone else immediately touches your skin and gets the oil on themselves. In fact, the FDA says the oil will stay on “virtually any surface” until it’s washed off with water or rubbing alcohol. There is a big caveat here, though: Urushiol can transfer onto clothes, pets, gardening tools, and other things that came into contact with the poison oak and linger there, sometimes for years, says Doris Day, M.D., a board-certified dermatologist based in New York City. “It’s not contagious or an infection,” Dr. It’s actually a myth that poison oak can spread from person to person. Both will usually present with the following symptoms, which often take at least six weeks to completely clear up, depending on the severity: The only way your doctor can tell exactly which plant is behind your rash is if you happened to take a photo of it or you recognized the poison oak as you interacted with it, says Gary Goldenberg, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City.Ī poison oak rash “looks very similar or even identical” to a poison ivy rash, he says. What does a poison oak rash look like? And how long do the symptoms last? Poison ivy may even have greenish-white flowers and whitish-yellow berries. The leaves are reddish in spring, green in summer, and yellow, orange, or red in fall. Poison ivy also has leaves clustered in three, but they are glossy with smooth or toothed edges, the FDA says. It can grow as a vine or a small shrub trailing along the ground or be found climbing on low plants, trees, and poles. It’s found throughout the United States except in Alaska, Hawaii, and parts of the West Coast, per the FDA. Poison ivy also contains urushiol, but is slightly different due to its appearance. The plant may also grow yellow-white berries. Poison oak usually has fuzzy green leaves in clusters of three that have scalloped edges with rounded tips. Poison oak grows as a low shrub in eastern and southern regions of the United States, and in tall clumps or long vines on the West Coast, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Here, dermatologists break down what a poison oak rash looks like, plus how to treat it if you’re unlucky enough to be exposed. Luckily, treatment for poison oak and poison ivy is similar, but it only makes sense that you’d want to know what caused your skin to freak out in the first place. Rodney, M.D., founding director of Eternal Dermatology + Aesthetics in Maryland. “Urushiol, when touched, binds irreversibly to your skin cells, causing allergic contact dermatitis,” says board-certified dermatologist Ife J. Most people are allergic to urushiol, and nearly everyone who touches it develops a rash, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). Poison oak is a poisonous plant that can spur a reaction in people who have come into contact with urushiol, which is an oil it contains. But poison oak also causes an intense, itchy red rash, making it tough to know what is actually behind your misery. When you develop a rash on your body after spending time on the trails, it’s easy to point the finger at poison ivy.