Best to lay in the direct sun for an hour or so - dries it up and eases the itching.

 

Dont think thats what im supposed to do!!

 

Is the parsnip still green? I assumed most of it had dried up by now... it is the sap that gets ya so if it was dry you shouldn't have picked any up?

PS try wearing pants next time.

 

Well it was 2 weeks ago when i apparently got it! Seems to be getting worse!

 

Wild parsnip has a chemical in the leaves that once it gets in contact with your skin will increase the response of light on your skin. Basically it will give you a terrible sun burn. If you go inside directly after getting into it or imediatly wash the area it will go right away.

 

If you go to walgreens and check out the poison ivy treatment. There is a cream/rub that is available. It is somewhat gritty and costs about twenty bucks but it works wonders. I got into wild parsnip once and what was originally one blister turned into two and then four and then jumped over to the other leg. I rubbed this stuff on it and it dried out and stopped spreading. Parsnip can be pretty nasty stuff if you don't get it stopped. A couple of the blisters left scars but cleared up eventually. I wish i could remember the name of it but I'm sure if you ask someone for a cream for poison ivy that is kind of gritty they will know what your talking about. Best of luck hope it helps.

 

Was it called technu? its used for poison ivy and various other things. I'm sure it would work for parsnip

 

i had it a couple years back and i just went to the walk in clinic and they gave me a steriod and a cream to put on it 3 times a day. took like 2 weeks for it all to finally go away. not fun at all

 

Yeah I think I got into it last year, somehow. Nasty shit. Laid on a rug while workin on a deck and apparently the things was covered in it. My whole side was covered in blisters.

I saw some last week that was still fairly green Belle. Most of it is pretty much dried out though

 

I got into it last season so bad I had to go into doctor and get meds some sort of steroid and another medicine I can't recall what it was called thoughI can still see you in my arms were I had itdefinitely painful stuff you don't want to mess with

 

thoughI can still see you in my arms

Umm gaydar alarm on high.

 

Ah, I just wanted to make sure it was actually parsnip since I haven't seen much lately. Treat it like any burn - a cool wet cloth will help, don't pop the blisters, cortizone steroids can help.

The technu relief might help (as would any anti itch/analgesic) but the cleanser (most common) won't do anything because it is made to break down the oils in poison ivy and parsnip doesn't have the oil based sap that poison ivy does.

Parsnip won't spread unless you're spreading the sap on your skin AND you get sun so don't worry too much about it spreading. The sap from broken leaves and stems makes you more sensitive to the sun... photophyto dermititis I think is the official name. You could rub the plant all over your body and sit inside and you'd never get a rash. I usually know when I've been in it and I've found if you wash with water only it will spread the sap around so you get a worse sunburn.. still much better than the big blisters. Wash with soap AND water if you can but I know that isn't always possible in the field.

Good luck!