Between the ages of about 8 to 13 I had poison ivy episodes each summer. (They got progressively worse each year, suggesting that my sensitivity was increasing.) That was in the 1940s and '50s, so we didn't have antihistamines and cortisone and other antiitch creams available. I recall that a very weak solution of chlorine bleach was used on my feet and felt good at least temporarily, and caused no scarring. But the skin on my feet was probably thicker and tougher than skin on other parts of my body. |