Little Scarry

What does poison ivy look like

poison ivy is a rash that comes when you touch the poison ivy plant. I am sure you've had the experience before, probably as a kid, when you played with your kids outside. The poison ivy plant is green and has big, thick hairy leaves. I mean, they are not huge like those of a water lilly but they are not tiny either.

I described the plant, just so that you can identify it in your mind, but we'll not talk about the plant very much anymore. Instead we'll focus on the rash that I've mentioned before, which, incidentally, has the exact same name.

So, what does poison ivy look like?
In most cases, when you have the rash, you'll not notice any swelling or raising at all. Your skin will get a little red where the contact with the plant was made and that's about it. In some, rare cases, you'll notice little bubbles forming with a bit of a discharge, which, even though they look a little scarry are pretty harmless.

When you first touch poison ivy, it burns a lot, although it's not unbearable. Then your skin gets a little red and then it itches for some time. You don't want to scratch that, obviously, but unless you're allergic to it, nothing serious will happen.

How to treat poison ivy?The first thing you have to do is make sure you don't scratch it, as I mentioned above. That's the very first step. Then, a good idea is to take some rubbing alcohol and clean your skin off before the substance that causes the rash, which is called urushiol, by the way, gets into your skin. You have approximately ten minutes to do that.

Then, rinse the skin off well, remembering to use cold water for this instead of hot. If you use hot water, you'll make it a little easier for urushiol to enter your skin pores as warm water opens them up.

Washing the clothes is the very next step to take. See, when you get in contact with poison ivy, that nasty urushiol will stay on your clothes and even if you get back home, you can still get new rashes because of that. Just toss your clothes in the wash and you'll be fine.

Seeing a doctor would also be useful just to make sure that what looks like a normal ivy rash is not anything serious. If it is just poison ivy, then the last thing you could try is waiting it out. It will pass pretty soon.

Poison ivy can be really annoying. It burns and itches, but if you follow the tips above, you'll be ok.

What do blisters look like

Everyone has had blisters at one time or another. You can probably remember what they look like, but let's talk about that in case you don't.

The area where blisters usually form is usually red and raised. Then a small bubble forms which is usually filled with liquid. After some time, that liquid is going to discharge and the blister is going to scab. Usually, after the scab is gone, you'll see no scars or anything that will remind you of the blister.

Now, of course, different blisters look a little differently. For instance, when you have a cold sore, it may seem that you get one big blister, but in fact, that big bump that usually burns and itches is formed by lots of tiny little bubbles packed close to each other.

Again, if you have a blister that comes from getting burnt, you'll see that it's a little bigger, more white and a lot firmer than a regular blister. All of the blisters usually have some kind of a watery looking substance inside them that will sooner or later discharge, unless it gets absorbed.

Most of the small blisters don't leave scars, but obviously, if you mess with it too much and try to pop it or pick it, you might end up with a little scarry souvenir that will not go away on it's own.

Most scars that come from blisters do pale away, but they never actually disappear. The reason you don't see them after a few months is that they absorb a little pigment and look a lot like your skin.

How do you treat blisters?
Well, again, it depends on the blister itself. Some of them you can treat with toothpaste (the cold sore blisters) and other blisters will require professional care (for instance the ones you get after you spill water on yourself).

It's generally a good idea not to cover your blisters with anything. The more air they get, the easier they will heal. Some of the less dangerous ones you can treat with mixtures that are readily available at a local drug store or with band aids that will help them to heal.

Whatever you do, if your blister looks a bit more scarry than what you usually see (like when it's super big for some reason) make sure that someone takes a serious look at it.

Again, if you don't take care of your blisters properly, you'll get scars and you'll have to deal with them for the rest of your life. Not worth it, if you ask me.

Blisters are not very fun to deal with. Generally speaking, if you wait them out, you'll be just fine, but if you pop them, then you can expect scars. Use the tips from this article to learn how to spot and treat a blister.

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