Child Care - How To Protect Your Child From Poison Ivy
Posted by ccare | Filed under ChildCare
Playing in wooded areas, camping and hiking can lead to the cause of itchy rashes on children. The blame can be laid upon poison ivy, poison sumac or poison oak. All of which grow freely in wooded areas, nature areas and in our back yards.
Each of these plants produce a substance or an oil; when it makes contact with the skin, can cause ichy rashes. This oily substance is refered to as urushiol. It is colorless, often oderless and usually extracted from the leaves.
The best way to monitor outdoor activities; to limit the occurance of poison ivy, is to start in your back yard. keep your yard weeded. Make regular checks around bushes and trees; to ensure there is no poison vines trying to attach themselves to your landscape. Taking precaution for the sake of your family, will be a rewarding rash free season.
Steps to take, besides keeping your landscape finely trimmed; teach children to recognize the difference between poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac right down to the vines. Avoid areas of high possibilities of the spread of these plants. When campiing and hiking be prepared to wear long pants and shirts to protect the skin from brushing these infectious plants.
No matter what care you take, chances are, sometime in your child’s life they will come into contact with poison ivy. Washing and disinfectant will help in controlling possible rashes. It’s best to take cloths off and wash them, your child should shower and pets also should be showered after outdoor expeditions. This will help control the risk of contracting poison ivy.
The condition and what to look for.
First, we find the cause in an allergic reaction from the contact of the urushiol from the leaves. Not everyone will have an allergic reaction, about eighty persons who come into contact with urushiol will develope a skin irritation. Things to look for would be ichy rashes, slightly swellen skin. Symptoms will appear within a few hours up to five days after first contact. Blisters can develope as a result of rubbing or scratching the irriatated area. Over a period of a few weeks the blisters will crust over and flake off. Most often the conditions will be completely healed after one to two weeks.
By far, some children will experience more severe symptoms; such as fever or rash and blisters close to eyes and mouth. In cases such as these your pediatrician should be consulted. Depending upon the severity of your child’s rash, simple home remedies can be taken by the use of cold showers and application of calamine lotion to the infected area. The more severe rashes may need fluid medication and pills to help clear it up. Antihistamine and steroids are the most popular prescriptions administered.
Above all follow your pediatrician’s recommendations on how to care for your child’s rash.
By: Abhishek Agarwal
About the Author:
Each of these plants produce a substance or an oil; when it makes contact with the skin, can cause ichy rashes. This oily substance is refered to as urushiol. It is colorless, often oderless and usually extracted from the leaves.
The best way to monitor outdoor activities; to limit the occurance of poison ivy, is to start in your back yard. keep your yard weeded. Make regular checks around bushes and trees; to ensure there is no poison vines trying to attach themselves to your landscape. Taking precaution for the sake of your family, will be a rewarding rash free season.
Steps to take, besides keeping your landscape finely trimmed; teach children to recognize the difference between poison ivy, poison oak and poison sumac right down to the vines. Avoid areas of high possibilities of the spread of these plants. When campiing and hiking be prepared to wear long pants and shirts to protect the skin from brushing these infectious plants.
No matter what care you take, chances are, sometime in your child’s life they will come into contact with poison ivy. Washing and disinfectant will help in controlling possible rashes. It’s best to take cloths off and wash them, your child should shower and pets also should be showered after outdoor expeditions. This will help control the risk of contracting poison ivy.
The condition and what to look for.
First, we find the cause in an allergic reaction from the contact of the urushiol from the leaves. Not everyone will have an allergic reaction, about eighty persons who come into contact with urushiol will develope a skin irritation. Things to look for would be ichy rashes, slightly swellen skin. Symptoms will appear within a few hours up to five days after first contact. Blisters can develope as a result of rubbing or scratching the irriatated area. Over a period of a few weeks the blisters will crust over and flake off. Most often the conditions will be completely healed after one to two weeks.
By far, some children will experience more severe symptoms; such as fever or rash and blisters close to eyes and mouth. In cases such as these your pediatrician should be consulted. Depending upon the severity of your child’s rash, simple home remedies can be taken by the use of cold showers and application of calamine lotion to the infected area. The more severe rashes may need fluid medication and pills to help clear it up. Antihistamine and steroids are the most popular prescriptions administered.
Above all follow your pediatrician’s recommendations on how to care for your child’s rash.
By: Abhishek Agarwal
About the Author:
Abhishek is an expert Baby Shower organizer and he has got some great Baby Shower Secrets up his sleeve! Download his FREE 117 Pages Ebook, “How To Have A Roaringly Successful Baby Shower!” from his website http://www.Childbirth-Guru.com/121/index.htm . Only limited Free Copies available.
