By jim of ann arbor on Saturday, April 23, 2005 - 11:05 am:
May I suggest something as a wash after being bitten? A
surprising treatment for the swelling of poison ivy, sumac?,
elder? is to scrub with "IVORY LUIQI-JEL", a clear gel pump soap.
The sooner the better. My wife was really reactive and it worked
when "offical medical" treatment didn't do squat.I think it seems
to have something to do with DMDM-Hydantoin, an ingredient
that isn't in many other hand gels. Interesting enough I read
some time ago about another interesting property of DMDM:
neutralizing (and maybe protecting against?) chemical warfare
residues on clothing with just a simple washing. It would be
good to find out if the Ivory helps with fly bites, Lord knows I
shuld have thought of this a long time ago, having suffered
through too many decades of at least 7 types of flies. The worst
of course is the Ghost Fly, the one on your arm that you swat
vigorously and then discover that you imagined it. Eventually
your arm gets real sore.