Mountain climbing or nature exploration is a fun activity. However, if you accidentally touch poison oak, your skin will experience itching and a blistering rash. As long as the characteristics are known, the leaves of this plant actually have an easily recognizable appearance. If you've never seen them before, here's how to identify them to prevent yourself from accidentally touching them.
Step
Part 1 of 2: Finding Poison Oak
Step 1. Study poison oak
This plant resembles other closely related species: the upas and poison sumac, both of which belong to the same botanical family. The most common type of poison oak, the Western poison oak, grows on Pacific coasts such as Oregon, Washington, and California. They can vary in size, from bushes in the open to tendrils climbing in densely titled forest areas.
Another example of a poison oak variety is the Atlantic poison oak, grown in the Southeastern United States. This variety is less common than Western poison oak
Step 2. Be careful when examining this tree
One way to avoid getting a poison oak rash is to avoid touching a plant that you think resembles poison oak. To get close enough to the plant to identify it, use a stick or wear gloves to examine it.
If you identify it as poison oak, make sure everything that has touched the plant is thoroughly washed with soap and water
Step 3. Observe the leaves
Poison oak, in the form of shrubs and vines, has leaves with a trifoliate structure. That is, the leaves grow in multiples of three from the stem. Leaf margins have a wavy or toothed appearance.
True to its name, the leaves look like oak leaves
Step 4. Check the color
The upper surface of the leaves is usually glossy green. As the seasons change and the health of the plant, the color can also change to yellowish, reddish, brown. The underside of the leaves is not as shiny as the top, the green color is less bright, and the appearance looks like hairy.
Step 5. Check the trunk
Poison oak trunk is grayish in color. However, due to the lack of lighting in heavily forested areas, this characteristic may be difficult to see. The stems are also covered with tiny hairs or thorn-like structures.
Step 6. Observe the flower or fruit
Poison oak has small yellowish-green flowers in spring. This plant also produces small green buni fruit throughout the summer and early fall.
This feature will help you eliminate other types of plants by knowing the traits they don't have. If the plant you identified does not have spiky leaves and spines, then it is not poison oak
Step 7. Learn other forms of the poison oak plant
- In winter, this plant sheds its leaves and looks like red-brown woody stalks (sometimes sticking out of the ground, sometimes piling withered) with blunt ends.
- You can also find them as vines on tree trunks, sometimes (depending on the season) with small poison oak leaves growing from the stems.
Part 2 of 2: Recognizing the Poison Oak Rash
Step 1. Learn the cause of the rash
Poison oak leaves and stems contain urushiol, an oily plant substance that triggers an allergic reaction in the form of a poison oak rash. Urushiol can also be found in the roots and, even, in dead plants.
- Urushiol can also infect through the air when the plant is burned and can be easily transferred from one object to another.
- Rashes from poison oak are not contagious; however, if the urushiol gets on a person's hand and the person touches another person, the person touched may also develop a rash.
- All parts of the poison oak plant contain toxic urushiol. Even after the leaves have fallen in winter, the plant remains unsafe to touch.
Step 2. Recognize the rash
The rash that results from touching poison oak will look different from person to person. This is because some people have a higher sensitivity to urushiol. In general, a rash from poison oak will be very itchy and very red, with red bumps that may scald the fluid. The rash can appear as stripes or patches and can range from mild to severe.
Step 3. Wash your clothes and skin
If you touch poison oak, the first thing to do is to wash the exposed area with soap and warm water as soon as possible-if possible, within thirty minutes of touching it. Also wash clothes or objects that have been exposed to the plant.
Step 4. Treat the itching caused
To treat itching caused by a rash, apply calamine lotion to the exposed points. You can also use local steroids such as clobetasol or systemic steroids and antihistamines. In addition, also try to give a cold compress or a concoction of oat flour.
- To make a bath concoction from oat flour, pour two cups of oat flour into a nylon sock or stocking, then tie it to the faucet. Warm water running into the tub will seep through the oat flour. Soak the affected body part for at least thirty minutes.
- You can also mix baking soda in a warm water bath.
Step 5. Keep the rash from spreading
Urushiol can transfer to other objects, animals, or people. Therefore, make sure that anyone or anything that has come into contact with poison oak is thoroughly washed with soap and water.
Most rashes will heal within five to twelve days. However, some rashes can also last up to a month or more
Step 6. Get medical help
Call the Emergency Department (ER) service in case of a very severe reaction to poison oak. You should also call the emergency room if you or a person exposed to poison oak has trouble swallowing, breathing, or has severe swelling of the part of the body that has touched poison oak or other parts of the body.
Tips
- The best way to avoid contact with poison oak is to wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt when walking outdoors.
- Dishwashing liquid is an excellent ingredient for washing off toxic oak residue, especially if you can access it directly. Always carry dish soap, water and paper towels with you if you plan to go places where you may touch or come into contact with poison oak before you can identify it.
