Vicks vapo rub.

genevieve

So I'm terribly ill.
Whenever I'm sick like this I put vicks not only on my chest but all over my feet and then put socks on over them before bed. Might sound weird but I'm tellin ya it really helps! Anyone else do this? Or have a weird home remedy they swear by?

Thoughts_Arrive

It is good stuff.
A bit under the nose to clear it up (not recommended apparently).

Fifthelement

I'm addicted to vapo-rub :shock: :? I swear. I cannot get to sleep if I haven't put some under my nose and on my lips. In my defense, I grew up in a very dry climate and I found that the menthol helped to keep my sinus pathways moist. Not sure I can explain why I still need it now other than addiction :oops:

thefixer9

It does the trick when you are sick!

m0jorisen

Fifthelement wrote:

I'm addicted to vapo-rub :shock: :? I swear. I cannot get to sleep if I haven't put some under my nose and on my lips. In my defense, I grew up in a very dry climate and I found that the menthol helped to keep my sinus pathways moist. Not sure I can explain why I still need it now other than addiction :oops:

Luongo uses vicks to slick back his hair

polaris_x

magic jelly

Thoughts_Arrive

I read on the Vicks site that you are not meant to put it under your nose or near your mouth.

genevieve

Yeah Im pretty sure you arent supposed to put in on or near ANY mucus membranes at all.

A friend of mine told me to get rid of a nasty cold or flu to soak your feet in warm water and then put vicks on your feet and then put a wet pair of sweat sock/sport socks on your feet and then cover that with a pair of wool socks. And then sleep like that all night. Apparently you wake up feeling much better and your socks are dry.

Fifthelement

Thoughts_Arrive wrote:

I read on the Vicks site that you are not meant to put it under your nose or near your mouth.

Probably because it's addictive :? Basically, I'm sniffing petroleum :? OMG, I'm a sniffer :shock:

ShimmyMommy

genevieve wrote:

Yeah Im pretty sure you arent supposed to put in on or near ANY mucus membranes at all.

A friend of mine told me to get rid of a nasty cold or flu to soak your feet in warm water and then put vicks on your feet and then put a wet pair of sweat sock/sport socks on your feet and then cover that with a pair of wool socks. And then sleep like that all night. Apparently you wake up feeling much better and your socks are dry.

My friends do this on their little ones to stop coughing from a cold, and they say it works wonders!

EDIT: I have not done this on my little guy. I think you can't use it on children under a certain age too. :think:

mca47

genevieve wrote:

Yeah Im pretty sure you arent supposed to put in on or near ANY mucus membranes at all.

A friend of mine told me to get rid of a nasty cold or flu to soak your feet in warm water and then put vicks on your feet and then put a wet pair of sweat sock/sport socks on your feet and then cover that with a pair of wool socks. And then sleep like that all night. Apparently you wake up feeling much better and your socks are dry.

That makes no sense whatsoever! How can a foot bath and Vicks destroy a virus? Oh...because it can't.

Ridiculous.


By the way, I have some magic beans for sale...

81

two shots of whiskey does the trick for me.

loveontwolegs

mca47 wrote:

genevieve wrote:

Yeah Im pretty sure you arent supposed to put in on or near ANY mucus membranes at all.

A friend of mine told me to get rid of a nasty cold or flu to soak your feet in warm water and then put vicks on your feet and then put a wet pair of sweat sock/sport socks on your feet and then cover that with a pair of wool socks. And then sleep like that all night. Apparently you wake up feeling much better and your socks are dry.

That makes no sense whatsoever! How can a foot bath and Vicks destroy a virus? Oh...because it can't.

Ridiculous.


By the way, I have some magic beans for sale...

Not really ridiculous. We use the term "cold" to mean that shitty, yucky, snotty, cough that we get. It isn't always caused by a virus, and can often times be a bacterial infection. Our skin is a huge organ (teehee) for healing and our feet are a pretty big surface area for absorption. Even if we don't kill the virus, we can alleviate symptoms by absorbing some good stuff for our bodies while we are being attacked by the shitty stuff.

That being said, my home remedy is to take garlic cloves and crush them slightly and put them in a pair of tight fitting socks and wear to bed. You will stink to high heaven in the morning, but to me it is a sign that the yuck is coming out your pores along with the garlic.

genevieve

I have also heard about the garlic. Many of my friends use Oil of Oregano as well. Thats not just olive oil that got oregano in it. Its an essential oil and is pretty pricey. You take it internally and also put it on your feet. I guess you smell like pasta sauce the whole time but it works.

mca47

loveontwolegs wrote:

Not really ridiculous. We use the term "cold" to mean that shitty, yucky, snotty, cough that we get. It isn't always caused by a virus, and can often times be a bacterial infection. Our skin is a huge organ (teehee) for healing and our feet are a pretty big surface area for absorption. Even if we don't kill the virus, we can alleviate symptoms by absorbing some good stuff for our bodies while we are being attacked by the shitty stuff.

That being said, my home remedy is to take garlic cloves and crush them slightly and put them in a pair of tight fitting socks and wear to bed. You will stink to high heaven in the morning, but to me it is a sign that the yuck is coming out your pores along with the garlic.

The symptoms that we try to alleviate are those that derive from the bodies reaction to the pathogen that invades it. While you are most certainly right about a bacteria infection causing similar symptoms as a cold virus, they are considerably different and the term "cold" therefore gets used far too frequently.
I'm not really sure what you mean by "absorbing some good stuff". Vics isn't absorbed as its not a systemic therapy.

Anyways, do you really put garlic in your socks? Are you married? I mean...does someone have to sleep next to that?

Also, you really can't alleviate anything systemic through things coming out of your pores.
As someone who works in medical research (specifically cancer research), I will say that 95% of holistic therapies are complete nonsense.
But, you got to do what makes you feel better. There is a huge psychological effect on people's determination of feeling better once actually sick.

loveontwolegs

mca47 wrote:

But, you got to do what makes you feel better. There is a huge psychological effect on people's determination of feeling better once actually sick.

This Mr. Smartypants.

I have a strong science background (bio degree, work in cancer diagnostics, neuroscience research), but almost always choose to treat myself holistically. Our minds are a lot more powerful than we give them credit for. Not saying that some positive thinking is going to cure everything that ails us, but it certainly aids in healing. Also, we have been healing ourselves with plants long before Abbott and Pfizer cornered the market on "healing."

mca47

loveontwolegs wrote:

mca47 wrote:

But, you got to do what makes you feel better. There is a huge psychological effect on people's determination of feeling better once actually sick.

This Mr. Smartypants.

I have a strong science background (bio degree, work in cancer diagnostics, neuroscience research), but almost always choose to treat myself holistically. Our minds are a lot more powerful than we give them credit for. Not saying that some positive thinking is going to cure everything that ails us, but it certainly aids in healing. Also, we have been healing ourselves with plants long before Abbott and Pfizer cornered the market on "healing."

Like I said, you gotta do what makes you feel better.
I'm kinda the same as you, except not to the "garlic in the socks" level. While I work for a pharmaceutical company, I haven't personally taken a pharmaceutical product in probably 5 years...not even an aspirin or ibuprofen. While I"ve had some nasty colds over the years, I just let my own immune response take care of it.
But there does come a time when the science of medicine comes into the picture, and I'm constantly amazed at how holistic-types are in utter misery due to their refusal to take anything that came from big-pharma.
Like I said before, I work in cancer research (clinical), and it amazes me at how you can't beat some things into people's heads. The holistic types not only die much faster, but it's usually more painful and miserable as well.
Oh well.

acoustic guy

On the feet is very true. They are a great way to absorb things into your body.
I have been putting it under my nose for years when i am sick. Same for my kids. It does say not to but what the hell. I am not supposed to drink on vicodin either. :twisted:

mfc2006

acoustic guy wrote:

On the feet is very true. They are a great way to absorb things into your body.
I have been putting it under my nose for years when i am sick. Same for my kids. It does say not to but what the hell. I am not supposed to drink on vicodin either. :twisted:

i do that as well & it really works for me. i never knew that you weren't supposed to do it, though. :?

genevieve

Ive been living off Neo Citron and NyQuil and DayQuil.

ShimmyMommy

genevieve wrote:

Ive been living off Neo Citron and NyQuil and DayQuil.

you wanna know something funny...when I had a cold a few years back, I was taking NyQuil & DayQuil...I got to my doctor and say, "I don't think this stuff is working."...he laughs and says, "You know that stuff has the chemical that is used to make meth?" Then he proceeds to examine me and give me the proper antibiotic for sinusitis...and never says anything about it again... :shock:

mikalina

Great stuff.... use it on my kids whenever they get sick.

The Nightquil/Dayquil is for me - but that crap never seems to work.

Yellow Ledbelly

I never use it but mom always put it on me as a lad. Folks around here swear by it.

But i do have a vicks story.....
My cousin and I always spent our summers riding our bikes all over the ponderosa. Somehow my seat had gotten a dent in it and on one particular day we rode and rode and I developed a rather nasty raw spot near my...um...boyhood we'll say.
So, i stop by the grandparents' house that evening before going home, mention my ailment to gramps and he says – straight-faced as ever – "Go home and put you some vicks on it, that'll do the trick."
Being an idiot, I did just that without hesitation and needless to say my boyhood burst into flames.
The next day I informed gramps of my rather unpleasant experience with his suggested cure and, again, straight-faced as ever, he said: "Oh, did I say vicks? I meant vaseline."

PilateOfTheStorm

i've never heard of any of these feet remedies being mentioned here, i would not be able to sleep with socks full of garlic or vicks
i haven't used vicks in ages, used to when i was younger but not since
when i feel ill i have three friends - paracetomol, ibuprofen, beechams syrup
oooh and a 4th - sleep.

Thoughts_Arrive

A couple of teaspoons in a bowl of boiling hot water with a towel over your head, clears you up

Dissidentman

The 81 wrote:

two shots of whiskey does the trick for me.

In your socks? I'll have to try that.

Bathgate66

best sleeping aide ever !

shadowcast

My mom used to put it on my and my sisters eye lids to make us sleep if we were being bad at bed time. So if we opened our eyes it would burn, burn, burn.

of.the.girl

Something that works for me is taking garlic pills in the morning and at night and by the next day voila! Feeling much better. There's a scentless and odorless brand. It's called Kyolic. I swear by this.