As we all know that prevention is better than cure. It applies in the case of plant allergies also. Actually it is the best way to avoid the painful effects of the poison plants.
Precautions for Plant Allergies
You need to take some preventive measures to protect yourself from the poison plant allergies.
- You need to learn about their external features like how they actually look and in which areas they usually live. So you need to pay attention to the plants around you when you have gone outside. Give some special attention in wooded or overgrown areas.
- You need to wash your clothes in warm water if you come after a walk through a wood.
- You need to scrub out your boots if you have seen any of the poison plants while you are outside. Please remember that the poisonous oil can remain on the surfaces for a many days.
- If you find any of these plants in your home yard then remove it carefully. You need to wear full sleeves shirts and long pants, gloves, and of course closed boots or shoes. You can dig out the entire plant but make it sure that you have pulled the entire root out. Never touch any part of the plant. Keep your kids and pets away from the place until you are done.
- You should never burn the plants instead you can keep them in tightly sealed plastic bag and dispose them at far away place.
- If you find your pet near an area infested with poison ivy, oak, or sumac, then you need to wash your pet in warm, soapy water. While washing you need to wear rubber gloves and long sleeves to avoid getting the poisonous oil on your skin.
- You are living in a rural area, and then you can control the growth of the poison plants including poison ivy, oak, and sumac along with livestock grazing. Goats and cows can eat these plants with no ill effects. The grazing needs to be continued for several years to be effective.
