Kids Ask Dr. Lisa:
How Did I Get Poison Ivy?

Aired on Lifetime Television
Sunday, May 6 and June 17, 2007
Show 412

Gabby Marx:

Help Dr. Lisa! I have a very itchy problem. I haven't even left for my camping trip yet and I think I've been poison ivy-fied.

Dr. Lisa Thornton:

Poison ivy is just the worst and the best way to deal with it is not to get it at all. So how do you avoid it?  Do you know what it looks like? Most people know it's green, it grows in the ground, and it's a plant, but do you know the saying that helps you remember what to look for? When I was a girl scout, we learned, "leaves of three let them be." So keep that in mind and hopefully you'll never come in contact with it. But if you do happen to come in contact with the leaves, there's a chemical in them that you have an allergic reaction to and that's what causes your skin to break out. So what you want to do is wash your skin right away. Now if you're out camping or hiking, there are products your parents can carry with them that can wipe that oil off quickly.