Oleander Rash??

[Guest guest]

Calling all Texas mom (and dad) detectives. Have you seen this before? Sorry this is so long but I want to give you all the details:

My son got a very weird rash on Thursday night after being outside playing. He had on a cotton, short-sleeve t-shirt on with nylon elastic waist "windbreaker-type" pants. He was playing in our neighborhood and then we went walking by a wooded area. About two hours after we got home, I noticed a rash spreading very quickly on him. When I got him in the bath, he had it all over his back, shoulders and stomach. There was a little on his neck but basically it was wherever the t-shirt hit him. It was NOT on the exposed part of his arms which I thought was very strange. It also was not on his legs or face.

I thought it was poison ivy so I bathed him in vinegar first, and then applied baking soda pastes twice. It was completely gone in the morning - no trace of it whatsoever. So I chalked it up to the wooded area and thought we nipped it quickly enough.

However, the next night we did not go to the wooded area and we only played in the cul-de-sac. Again, he wore a cotton t-shirt and the same type of pants. There is a large oleander bush where the kids like to play for some reason. The rash came again a few hours after coming inside. This time I just bathed him like usual (Epsom salts) and it was gone again in the morning.

The oleander bush is the only thing I can think of. I know they are poisonous and can cause a rash/dermatitis but we've had them all over our yard for years and have never had this issue. Also, why was it only under the shirt and not on the exposed skin? I can understand how the pants could protect his legs but nothing was protecting his forearms. Is the shirt "trapping" it inside? We are always outside with him whenever he is outside so I'd know if he went anywhere else.

To test the theory, he has strict instructions to not even go near the oleander bush now and went riding bikes in the same wooded area last night. No rash appeared.

Have y'all seen this happen?

Thanks,

Sandy H.