I once had a severe case of poisen ivy when I was ten. I actually saw my head balloon up as I looked in the mirror and was rushed to a doctor who gave me some kind of shot.

Smokyboy: "Alcohol kills them" - the ticks. If so, can't I just douse them with alcohol in their skin burrows and kill them?

Or better yet, can't I just drink some alcohol and breathe on them?

No you have to dehydrate them to kill 'em by keeping them in alcohol. Another note on ticks, if you think your clothes may have ticks, do NOT wash, put clothes in dryer for 15 minutes. Better a dead tick in dryer than live tick in washer.