>>686348Also:
>Shit looks scary as fuck, since it looks super generic, like it doesent stand out as a plant at all, doesent have any interesting easy to spot features etc.It's easy to spot and tell apart by the leaves. There's not much else that grows in the same areas that poison ivy does and has a similar leaf shape/structure. The only thing around here would be Virginia Creeper. It has very similar looking leaves, grows in the same shady type areas as poison ivy, and grows in vines on trees so some people confuse the two but Virginia Creeper has leaves in groups of 5 whereas poison ivy has leaves in groups of 3.
Once you've been around it for a while you'll be able to easily tell poison ivy apart from any other plants and you learn to always be on the lookout for it. A lot of times you'll have to trek through patches of it but just be careful to not lean up against a tree that's covered with it, don't grab ANY hairy looking vines that are growing on a tree, and don't sit down in the middle of a patch of it. Try not to touch your shoes or pants legs much because they'll likely have a little bit of the oils on them. You can't tell that the oil is on anything because it's such a small amount, and you'll usually start breaking out in the rash days after exposure so you won't know that you've got it until it's way too late. It's just something that you learn to deal with eventually.
Like
>>686551said, I too have friends that are so sensitive to it that if they notice any sort of rash developing then they just go to the doctor and get a shot instead of waiting it out and seeing how bad it'll get. It takes me around 4 days after exposure to start showing any signs of the rash, and the rash will get progressively worse over the next 3-4 days, and then will take around 2 weeks to fully clear up after it has peaked. I only go get a shot if it's REALLY bad or if I end up with it all over my face or something.
