My post today isn't going to be about breast cancer. I know some of you will find that as a relief :-)!
It's almost hunting season here in the south and that means all the male species in these parts are preparing for it by getting their hunting licenses, guns, deer stands, and the like ready!
My husband and son recently went out to do just that. It's not uncommon that while they are in the woods my son would contract some type of rash. He's prone to be allergic and they come across poison ivy, oak, sumac and other rash causing things a lot.
Like most people, we have a variety of things in the medicine cabinet to treat such rashes. We have sprays and ointments and creams and lotions that are supposed to dry up the rash and help with the itching. It seems to me like most of those things take a long time to actually clear up the rash but they will help with the symptoms for a time.
My son's rash was on his arm (and spreading to his legs a little) so it was exposed (being as it's still short sleeve and shorts weather here), and I wanted to clear it up quickly so it didn't become an issue for others catching it and so school didn't become an issue.
this is not my son's arm, but similar rash
I did what any savvy mom would do, I googled the best remedies for poison ivy rash. (That is what ya'll do right???) I came across several things, of course, that claimed to work, but decided on trying a particular method because the claim was so strong, the products were on hand, and it was easy.
And guess what???? It worked, like MAGIC!!! Now, I don't believe in magic, but you know what I mean! It worked REALLY well!! Like nothing I had ever used before. After following the directions, which I will list for you below, the rash quit bothering my son and started drying up overnight. The next morning there was such a huge difference! It never itched again and cleared up quickly.
Here's what you need:
coconut oil (the kind I used you buy in a jar on the baking aisle where other oils are - any kind should be fine)
Here's what you do:
1. apply some coconut oil to the affected area (if you aren't familiar with using coconut oil, then know that it will 'melt' when you rub it in)
2. allow it to pull the 'pus' from the rash area for a few minutes (10-15)
3. scrub the area with Gojo to remove the oils and any remaining 'pus' from the rash. rinse well. pat dry.
4. apply a thin layer of coconut oil to moisturize area after it is completely dry.
5. can repeat once or twice a day while needed, but you should see a big difference within a day.
Some additional notes:
- after the first application we quit putting the coconut oil on first and letting it sit. we just washed the area once a day with the gojo and applied coconut oil after for a couple more days.
-then we switched to just coconut oil for a few days to moisturize the area since the gojo will dry the area out so well.
Here's how it works:
The coconut oil has a 'pulling' quality and that first application when the rash is at it's worst is when it pulls to the surface the 'pus' (or whatever you want to call it) that is causing all the trouble. (it's actually an 'oil' from the plant that causes the problem but don't want to get it mixed up with the coconut oil so calling it 'pus')
Cleaning with the gojo removes what the coconut oil pulls out and any remaining irritants.
Applying the coconut oil after the gojo cleaning helps to moisturize the area and continue to work on the rash.
I hope if any of you try this you will have the same success we did. I will be using this process from now on whenever we get a rash such as this. It worked so fast and so well. My son had a friend over the night we did this and when he saw his arm the next day he was amazed at how different it looked.
Thanks for reading and stay away from poison!
