Yesterday, Zach came over with the forewarning that he was covered in poison ivy (I think his exact words were “my poison ivy cauliflower ear is worse than any wrestler’s you ever seen.”  He wasn’t kidding.)  Of course I avoided him like the plague when was over as I have done my entire life around poison ivy, for fear that I would get it from him.  I’m sure he it was pretty annoying having me stay at a 5 foot perimeter from him and having me wash everything he touched. 

Today, Zach gave me proof that poison ivy rashes and ooze is not contagious, only completely sick looking.  You can apparently only get rashes from the urushiol oil on the actual plant.  Once this oil is cleansed from your skin, the poison ivy won’t spread anymore.

From WebMD

Many people think a poison plant rash can be spread from one part of the body to another or from person to person. In general, this is not true. You can spread the rash only if you have urushiol on your hands. Also, it can take longer for the rash to appear on certain areas of the body, especially areas such as the soles of the feet where the skin is thicker. This may give the appearance that the rash has spread from one part of the body to another. You can also be re-exposed to the urushiol by touching gardening tools, sports equipment, or other items that were not cleaned after being in contact with the plants. Scratching or touching the rash and fluid from blisters will not cause the rash to spread because urushiol is not present in the blister fluid.

Alright, so that’s 20 years of fearing poison ivy rashes for nothing.  However, if I had to do it all over again, I’d probably still avoid the people with poison ivy; it’s just sick.