Jewelweed: Nature's Answer for Poison Ivy
About 2 years ago, I had the worst battle with poison ivy I've ever experienced. This was my 3rd or 4th time with the itchy and irritating skin reaction. To complicate matters, the dubious plant shared its wealth 2 days before my wedding - there is an entire story to share some other time there.
As @mustardseed and I were making our way to Kentucky, we met some new friends in Virginia who introduced us to Jewelweed. This green plant grows along the moist banks of streams from Southern Canada to the northern part of Florida.
The picture to our right is from a hiking trail near our home in Kentucky. Needless to say I am thankful to have so much Jewelweed within a 5 minute drive.
Before
I know, it is not a pretty picture. My left arm was the main spot of difficulty and it swelled to nearly 3 times its original size at the worst stage.
There were boil like spots the entire length of my left arm, and a few across my chest. It was terribly uncomfortable. The first couple days I used a blend of essentail oils and 100 ppm colloidal silver directly on the skin, and consumed 200-250 mg a day of calcium lactate (it helps to dry out the poison ivy from within the body).
Even with all that firepower, the best we seemed to be doing was slowing down the spread of the reaction. Sweat is not your best friend when you have poison ivy, and this started in the middle of June.
When we met our friends in Virginia, my reaction had been going on for over a week. When they saw my arm and confirmed that it was poison ivy, they immediately asked if I knew about Jewelweed. When I said no, Andrew proceeded out the door and drove to the nearest stream to find Jewelweed for us.
After
This after picture is only 2 days into my Jewelweed treatment. The plant stem breaks open revealing a gel with the consistency of Aloe Vera. You can rub it on directly.
The fresh Jewelweed counteracted the effects of the poison ivy better than anything I have ever seen or heard of. Fun fact, Jewelweed grows alongside poison ivy in the moist parts of the woods. Some people point to it as the remedy growing alongside of the irritant.
Someday I'll tell you the full story of how my wife and I had our wedding, moved to Kentucky in two vehicles, and dealt with this poison ivy in a two week span - it is quite the tale.
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Woah what an experience. I bet it felt horrible...
It was not pleasant, haha.
wow! That's quite a testimony. So, why don't they sell it like aloe vera gel in Walgreens?
Thank you! I guess it works too well? Haha, the few jewelweed products I have seen are on alternative medicine sites.
Ah, so they haven't done all the laboratory testing
Haha, that sounds about right.
Thank you for sharing this valuable information! I hope I never need it.....
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Haha, that is one way of looking at it. I hope you never need it either my friend.
👍😁
Wow, the poison ivy did a number on you! Amazing how quickly the jewelweed cleared it up. I had no idea the colloidal silver would help would help too. Thank goodness I'm not allergic to poison ivy, because that looks painful. Glad you were able to have a friend around that knew a remedy and I will keep this tip in my pocket for a friend in need one day.
Yes it did! We were amazed how quickly the jewelweed worked as well, and quite thankful our friends introduced us to it.
That's quite terrible to get a poison ivy contact with the skin. I am glad we do not have those here in my place here.
An aloe vera leaf can also be of help when you apply it to the blisters but he colloidal silver really helps to killl germs too.
You are quite right. Aloe Vera is also great for skin healing. You sound knowledgeable on these things.
No Sir I just learned things here and there.
And may I add, Vitamin C makes wounds heal faster. It is a wonder vitamin.
As we all do.
Yes, vitamin c is great for wound healing. It is a must have in our household.
Wow, never heard of Jewel Weed. I have had some rough battles with poison ivy as well. I go immediately to the doctor now if it happens...but whatever they give is pretty slow compared to this stuff.
Straight from nature's cupboard this gem is.
Do you know if any grows in indiana. Ive been highly allergic to poison ivy all my life and have really just dealt with it all my life for lack of any alternatives. Just pink calamine lotion to deal with the itching.
That's rough man. Hopefully, you can find some in your area, as far as I can tell it is in Indiana.
I did find this website that has some Jewelweed products.
https://altnature.com/jewelweed.htm
oh that's horrible to imagine after seeing that.
I tried to keep the gross pictures to a minimum. Haha
Btw, thanks for stopping by to chat and saving your voting power. I appreciate your vote but I'd rather your VP increase right now. :)
yes i am saving that sorry for that i wanted to vote but you said the rest.
Oh, you're fine. I would rather you have greater success with your vote.
finally i checked today and it says i have 0.1M vest
Woohoo! That's exciting.
all thanks to you :D heheh
Haha, I believe your comments have earned you some followers and upvotes. You are sincere and work hard. That 0.1M vests will double in no time. :)
How do you apply the jewelweed? I'm making notes and looking this plant up for my notebook on wildcraft. I'm not allergic to poison oak or ivy but my daughter is! Tons of data on the net! http://customers.hbci.com/~wenonah/hydro/jewelwed.htm
There is lots of info out there!
My application consisted of cracking open the stem of the plant and rubbing the inside cover directly onto my skin. Think of it as a banana peel for minor irritations or a lemon peel for cleaning.
Hope that helps! Thank you for asking. :)
that would have hurt a lot :(
Oh it did. I received lots of sympathy from anyone who saw me, haha.