Protecting Summer Skin: Sunburn and Poison Ivy

Summer can take a major toll on skin health. Sun damage, sunburns, dehydration, increased environmental pollution, bug bites, and other skin issues all come with the summer season and can turn your dream vacation into a blistering nightmare. But with the right strategies and support, you can keep your skin healthy and nourished, even as the heat rises.  

Two major threats to skin health during the summer are sunburns and poison ivy rashes. Both of these skin and health damaging issues are preventable and treatable with healthy, holistic natural ingredients. With these tips, you can defend your skin and improve recovery time if you find yourself dealing with these common summer skin issues.  

Poison ivy, sunburns and too much sun are obvious threats to our overall health during the summer, and can cause premature aging, wrinkles, and other skin issues. It’s important to protect and prevent health risks from sun exposure and skin irritants as the effects are long-term and can lead to more serious health concerns and diseases from skin cancer to heart-related conditions. 

To prevent skin-damaging sunburns, you need to support and defend your skin externally and internally. Avoiding extended sun exposure, using a minimum SPF 15 sunscreen, wearing protective clothing and a sunhat, and staying cool in the shade can significantly reduce your risk of sunburns and also help prevent other skin irritants, like poison ivy.  

Even if you don’t live in a rural area, poison ivy can still be a threat to your skin. What makes poison ivy so dangerous? The oily resin in the plant, uroshiol, causes an allergic reaction and rash to occur when your skin brushes or comes in contact with the poison ivy. The skin-irritating oil from poison ivy is present in the leaves, stems, and roots of plants that belong to the all plants in the poison ivy family, including poison oak and poison sumac.  

• Itching  
• Swelling  
• Skin rashes 
• Difficulty breathing  
• Redness 
• Blisters 

If you’ve ever had poison ivy, you know how irritating and itchy it can be. It’s important to wash off any oils you may have come into contact with as soon as possible. Washing with cool water can keep skin pores from opening, which will help prevent the oil from further spreading into skin.

For people who are very allergic to poison ivy, reactions can be severe and life-threatening—especially experience trouble breathing. Talk with a health care provider immediately if you have any of the following persistent severe poison ivy symptoms: difficulty breathing, inhaled smoke from burning poison ivy, if your reaction is widespread or getting worse, if it gets in or near your eyes, mouth, or genitals; if your blisters ooze puss, if you develop a fever higher than 100F, or if the rash lasts longer than a few weeks.

• Wear protective clothing including gloves when you’re near poison ivy, and always wash after. 

• If affected, wash the area immediately after exposure. 

• Apply a cool compress to the rash. Adding a few drops of lavender oil to the compress can help calm skin. 

• Apply a soothing cream or anti-histamine to the irritated skin or infected area.

• Take a cool or tepid bath with baking soda, bentonite clay, and Himalayan salt.

• Make a baking soda paste with 1 part water with 3 parts baking soda, and gently dab the affected area. 

• Try applying cooling aloe vera gel to your skin to calm irritation. 

• Avoid scratching!  

PectaSol modified citrus pectin is a super-nutrient supplement that supports healthy inflammation responses, and balanced immune activity to promote healthy skin and skin damage recovery for poison ivy and other skin-related symptoms, including sunburns.* Try eating a tasty chewable or drinking it with a simple scroop for your daily skin support. 

These everyday holistic strategies can help you enjoy the summer without fear, feeling your healthiest self. With healthy doses of vitamin D and natural skin protectants, you set yourself up for aging gracefully, with nourished and healthy skin.