If you’ve ever had an itchy rash before, once you hear this story, you’re going to be able to sympathize with me, and hopefully, you’ll be excited to hear what I have to say to you today!
I’ll be sharing how I treat my families itchy rashes along with an herbal recipe and daily regimen for kicking its behind!
Oh, Hello Poison Ivy!
Okay. So, I’m one of those people who’s seriously allergic to poison ivy or poison oak. When I get it, it spreads everywhere, and I swell up a lot. Before I knew how to manage it with herbs, I’d have to rush to the doctor for some steroid pills or a shot to help it. Yeah, it was often that bad.
If I were to think of one thing that makes me crazy, it would be itching. Uggghh! Just thinking about it makes me start to twitch!
Well, two years ago, I was helping my husband and his dad carry off some branches from a big oak tree that had fallen down after some bad weather. I was working with a couple of my sister-in-laws, and let me tell ya… we were working! We were moving some big branches, it was hot out, and we were sweating!
A few days later, my face was covered in poison oak. COVERED! I guess it was from wiping all that sweat away!
It was around my eyes and in my ears. I had a few places on my arms too, but nothing like my face. You probably wouldn’t have been able to recognize me I was so swollen and red. It was really gross. I think that was the first time my husband had ever really seen me look that rough. Thankfully, he was sympathetic!
Now, normally, I would have gone to the doctor to get some steroid pills to help it dry up, but I was still nursing my son and didn’t want to take anything that wouldn’t be good for him. So, I had to come up with another solution.
I decided to take two herbs that grow abundantly in my area and made a miracle potion for my awful rash.
What were they?
My Go-To Herbs For Itchy Rashes
Let me introduce you to plantain and jewelweed, if you haven’t already met them yet.
Plantain is one of those yard weeds that seems to grow everywhere! It contains a compound called “allantoin” which is is an anti-inflammatory plant chemical that speeds healing, stimulates cell growth, and boosts the immune system. And, with any itchy rash, anything anti-inflammatory is a plus!
Jewelweed is a watery herb that grows near plants that tend to irritate the skin. If you look around and find some poison ivy or stinging nettle, you’re sure to find some jewelweed close by. Isn’t it great how God designed that? He gives you a cure right next to the irritant. It’s amazing!
Jewelweed contains a compound called “lawsone” that acts as an antihistamine and an anti-inflammatory and both are great for itchy rashes.
Making Poison Ivy Goo
Since my rash was pretty bad, I knew that I needed a lot of each of these herbs to make an herbal remedy to help my poison ivy dry up and go away quickly. So I gathered large amounts of each one and got to work.
Below is a video where I make this recipe, so if you’re a visual person, check this out.
Herb Wisdom
Now, here’s the thing with herbs. There seem to be no hard and fast rules when it comes to making or using herbs and every herbalist has their own way of doing things. While there are good practices to go by, the nice thing about herbs is that you really have a lot of freedom with them.
If you want, you can add more herbs into this remedy or you can change up the way you use them. There are a lot of things that will work. However, when you’re new to herbs, it’s good to use recipes until you’re more familiar and confident enough to venture out on your own.
My Herbal Routine For Itchy Rashes
So, I’ve already given you the herbal recipe that I use for my itchy rashes. Now I’m gonna tell you what else I do for them!
Depending upon how bad the rash is, I’ll take an oatmeal bath. In this case, I washed my face in oatmeal water. Oatmeal helps to soothe the irritation and helps to relieve the itch. For me personally, I don’t think it helps stop the itch as well as I’d like so I have another trick I use to help with that!
I’ll also take some Bentonite Clay and make a mud mask for the rash. Bentonite Clay draws toxins to it and it absorbs them. In the case of an itchy rash-like poison oak, it helps to dry it up quickly!
I also use a blow-dryer on high heat setting or hot water to stop the itching. Seriously… it works! The heat affects the nerves by changing the sensation of the skin. It tricks them into feeling the heat instead of the itch, and it’s a huge relief! It gives you that feeling that you get when you sneeze. It’s great!
Here’s how I’d use all of this together:
- Wash my face with oat water and apply herb mix. – AM, NOON, AFTERNOON, PM
- Apply bentonite clay mask followed by herb mix – PM
- Use heat – ALL DAY AS NEEDED
One Last Thing
I hope this has given you a lot of information and helpful tips on how you can treat itchy rashes you and your family may encounter this summer.
If you’re not sure how to go out and find plantain or jewelweed to help with your itchy rashes, just check out the video below. Don’t worry, it’s really easy!
You may have this somewhere on your site already, but since I haven’t seen it, I will share it with you. I take Jewelweed stems & leaves, and after washing thoroughly, cut it into pieces, add some water and cook it down for quite a while. I strain out the greens, then freeze the resulting juice in ice cube trays.
I put the Jewelweed ice cubes into a freezer bag, where they are handy for use on poison ivy itchies in the winter when the firewood is carried in.
Thanks for your awesome website!
What a great idea Teresa! I think I’ll try that this year. Thanks for sharing as I didn’t have it on my site. I do think I mentioned somewhere about blending the jewelweed with a little aloe juice and freezing it that way. Is there a benefit to cooking it down a bit or does it just help pull the juice out more?