Husband's poison ivy keeps getting worse over the last 9 days.
My husband was weed-eating on 5/10/26 and developed a poison ivy rash right over where he had a previous scratch on his right leg. Soon after, we noticed it on the left leg too.
Each day, it's been progressively worse. Calamine, topical Benadryl, and hydrocortisone haven't helped much.
It was progressively getting worse and looking like it was getting infected. It was red, swollen, and painful on his right leg. We went to urgent care yesterday, and the doctor said he did not think there was an infection, but he would prescribe oral antibiotics and antibiotic cream to put only on the right leg. He prescribed oral prednisone and steroid cream to put on the left leg. He specified to only do each cream on specific legs, so that's what my husband has done since yesterday afternoon.
Today, he had bright red spots all over his shins that had developed. We don't think it's an allergic reaction because, like I said, he used different creams on each leg, and hasn't let them touch. He said it was very painful all day at work, and now he's taking tomorrow off because it's painful. He has no fever. He's somehow resisted the urge to scratch any of it, so it's not painful due to itching the skin and irritating it.
Has anyone had poison ivy getting worse by the day, or had it be painful? I've had my share of poison ivy over the years, and it's never been painful. Usually when you're nearing two weeks out, it's starting to get better.