Vicks Vapor Rub Remedies

My son is playing basketball for his first time, and we had an interesting conversation coming out of practice a few nights ago.  It’s been really cold outside, and he was hot from practice.  I told him to pull his hood up, at which point, he informed me that the whole bit about getting sick from being cold was “…only a myth…”  Now, how many 8 year olds would pull a line like that?  I went on to explain that I was more worried about him getting a headache than getting a cold.  I was reciting this story to some friends, and it led into a discussion about colds, myths, and the use of Vicks Vapor Rub remedies.

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Vicks Vapor Rub Home Remedies

Did your parents use Vicks Vapor Rub in home remedies?  Mine did.  It was a standard treatment for colds, cough, and sinus congestion.  As we talked about this, I discovered a whole host of natural remedies, ranging from tea tree oil and rose hips to Vicks for ailments.  I found it interesting how different families used the stuff when they were kids growing up, and how they use it today.

When I was a kid, the standard treatment in our house was to smear it liberally on our chest and put on a t-shirt, just before bed.  The t-shirt helped keep it from making a mess, and trapped the vapor, creating a “cloud” of menthol and camphor that would help open up the sinuses.  Naturally, if you’ve ever used the stuff, you know that it smells just awful, but it seemed to get the job done.  If you want to get even more extreme, I recall my Dad telling me stories about how his mother had him eat a tablespoon of the stuff when he was sick.  Not only yuck!, but makes me wonder how he survived the ordeal.  I guess that’s where the original kids and gross tasting medicine came from…

As we compared stories and uses, these were some of the ways folks I know have used Vick’s Vapor Rub.  Mostly, it sounded like they used it it home remedies for a cold, but not entirely.  Here’s some of the ways we came up with…

• Dabbed around the nose and upper lip, open to air.
• Spread evenly behind the ears, open to air.
• Rubbed on the bottom of your feet (with and without socks).
• Rubbed on toenails as a treatment for toenail fungus.
• Smeared on the throat and covered with a dirty sock???

That pretty much sums up the list that I collected from a half dozen people.  I don’t know how many of these are old wives tales, but everybody pretty much swears that it helped them, and most still use it one their kids.  We rarely use it these days, because of the documented rebound effect that can happen with menthol use.  There was also a recent press release, citing a study that shows Vick’s Vapor Rub could increase mucus production in children under the age of 2.  This is, of course, a huge concern for asthmatics.

So, I’m curious.  Are there other ways that people use Vick’s Vapor Rub, bizarre or otherwise?  How convinced are you that these things work?