Another painful experience for many people is contact with poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, or some other poisonous plant. The irritant in poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac is urushiol oil. It takes only 1 nanogram (one billionth of a gram) to cause a rash. One quarter of an ounce of urushiol is all that is needed to cause a rash in every person on earth. Five hundred people could itch from the amount covering the head of a pin. Specimens of urushiol several centuries old have found to cause dermatitis in sensitive people. Poison ivy, oak, and sumac add up to the most common allergy in America, claiming half the population. Sensitivity to urushiol can develop at any time. A successful cure is anything that eliminates or destroys urushiol. Activated charcoal does effectively neutralize urushiol by adsorbing the poison.

Dr. Agatha Thrash writes in her book: a 38-year old sergeant was given a medical discharge from the Army because of an intense sensitivity to poison ivy. His sensitivity was so severe that one particular bout with the problem had resulted in a painful 5-week stay at Ft. Benning's Martin Army Hospital complete with IV fluids, cortisone and a struggle just getting back to normal.

His wife called us early one morning asking us if we would see her husband. He had taken a walk in the country the day before and now his hands, feet, face, and other areas were swollen tight. His eyelids were swollen shut and his fingers were so stiff he could not bend them. We were reluctant to treat him as they insisted – without hospitalization and with simpler remedies than cortisone (which gave him wildly distressing thoughts). When we saw him he was feeling faint and nauseated. We showed his wife how to make charcoal compresses and instructed her on how to mix charcoal for oral administration. With these treatments he gradually improved during the day and could open his eyes by the next morning and close his fingers enough to grasp a steering wheel. After five days he was entirely well. We were all impressed.” Rx Charcoal – Startling New Facts About The World’s Most Powerful Clinical Adsorbent page 81

Esther related this story from her friend Mr. Choi. “After returning from picking some plants in the forest, one of the ladies that was with us developed inflammation and itchiness on both her arms. I gave her one large spoonful of charcoal powder to swollow and applied charcoal poultices on the affected areas. One hour after the application, she said that the area felt hot and painful. But the next day she wanted to apply more charcoal on her arms because the inflammation was gone. She applied charcoal poultices for a week and had no more problem.” CharcoalRemedies.com page 117

To find out more how charcoal can help you treat poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac, and other common ailments, simply and naturally, right in your home, order the book CharcoalRemedies.com now.