poison ivy (or oak) is caused by exposure to the olioresin (oil) of the plant. it does not come back in the same place two months later unless you were re-exposed to the oil again. the oil can remain stable on an object for years so you don't have to come in contact with plant. just an object that still has the oil on it. please be sure you actually have poison ivy. many skin eruptions can mimic this allergic disorder and some can even show up in the same place (like eczema shingles etc. ). so i see that some people insist poison ivy cannot return months later and others say it can. and who is right? absolutely the people who say it can return are right. last summer i had poison ivy around my ankles. many months later in the winter a milder version of the rash returned. i was not wearing the same clothes not sleeping on the same sheets and not touching anything i had used outdoors. i was not working outdoors at all! moreover even now a year later though i don't have the rash around my ankles if i scratch my skin in that area the red bumps and the itching will return. currently i am recovering from poison ivy rash primarily on my face and neck--unrelated to last year's episode. i have taken prednizone for a week (and never again will i take a stereoid! no wonder all those nfl players are killing people). i have washed all my clothes sheets etc. in hot water twice. the rash on my face has almost disappeared but i have little outbreaks here and there in odd places like a bump on my arm or on my back. but i have not worked outdoors in more than 2 weeks. the poison ivy--as someone else said--is surely in my system. i wish i could prove it so that people like me tormented by this vicious plant wouldn't look for answers and receive erroneous ones from so-called professionals. what has worked better for me than anything is white vinegar. it stings on the bumps and openings in the skin but the stinging is not worse than the itching. i apply it liberally with drenched cottonballs until my skin is dripping and i wait for it to dry naturally. then i rub "itch" all over the now-dry area. there may be better methods but the vinegar dries it out makes thick scabs (hideous but effective) the scabs fall off fairly soon (so thick they make a plopping sound when they fall! ugh! gross! ). i've been able to sleep with this method maybe having to get up once in the night to reapply the vinegar or just grope for the itch and rub some in--whereas last year using other treatments i could not sleep. other "treatments"--vick's vapo-rub clorox (so good for your liver) cortizone creams and other over-the-counter meds have not done so well. haven't tried tobacco but i'm an x-smoker and if there's anything that makes me want to smoke it's lying awake all night scratching--so i had to forget that. a pox take the next creep who writes that "the best treatment is avoidance. " (i hope you get to dance to the tune of poison ivy at least once. the plant is everywhere! ) i hope this helps some other poor sufferer! itchy-scratchy yes the rash can return to same area months later. once you have been exposed to this plant and even thought the rash itself may have long since healed or faded away the underlying skin proteins remain sensitized to urushiol for quite some time in some cases several years hence the slightest newest recent exposure to urushiol in certain individuals will cause you to experience for a second or third time a newer rash. breathing in the flower pollen also in certain individuals will cause them to develop a rash. exposure frequency and time interval duration between each successive pi exposure to a large extent will determine how severe your rash outbreak will not only be but how long it will last. "it's in the blood" is what i have grown up hearing about poison oak once you have gotten it on you. always thought that statement was crazy until 6 years ago i accidently got it on me. the rash has come up every year without fail in the same exact spot even when i have avoided the outdoors pets and all clothing and bedding washed repeatedly. tried just about every home grown or over the counter cure possible. usually just have to keep the area clean and wait it out. the most horrid plant in the universe! i have had symptoms of poison ivy rash which was initially on undersides of arms and on front of shins. now over most of my body. after two 5 day treatments of 12 steroids a day and steroid cream it is worse than ever (during steroid treatments it started to fade but came back with a vengence when the pills stopped). desperate now with itching awful looking skin. have left the gym (which had helped me lose 2 stone in 4 months). hate going as whether you are working out or swimming people quite naturally look at your skin. i am now to see a dermatologist on tuesday so can only hope something can be improved. best cooling lotions i have used for relief of itching have been aloe vera and (one i got in the us) called caladryl clear (topical analgesic skin protectant). coated in this after cold water or ice to skin seems to make me more comfortable. i got this in june and it is now nearly september. worst thing i have ever managed to get. deeply regret doing all that gardening now and still haven't found the pouson ivy.
can poison ivy rash return same place after 2 months? . rash returned same places on arms after 2 months since had first rash. . haven't been any where near any plants no pets to come in contact with poison ivy. any one ever hear of this happening?