Topic: Vapor rub on feet suggestion

[quixotic_phantasm]

My 4 year old son has had a very bad cough lately.

I have never heard this before, bu apparently my wife has heard some old wives tale about vapor rub...apparently, there is some belief that rubbing vicks or some other vapor rub on their feet, then covering with socks, is some sort of magical way to reduce their cough.

I was more than skeptical. First, my understanding is that vapor rub is put on the chest to allow for the medicine to be inhaled...so trans-dermal delivery doesn't even seem plausible. Putting the vapor medicine as far as possible from your mouth and nose, and then covering them with socks seems like the typical sort of reverse logic used by "alternative" medicine advocates.

Also, the whole foot thing smacks of pseudoscience, like the toxic foot pads. And the belief that feet somehow absorb better than other skin makes no sense - I would think the opposite would be true, since the feet are probably thicker skinned with callouses as opposed to any other part of the body where skin is probably thinner.

Finally, if there were any validity, I would expect Vicks to market to that possibility. At the very least, a FAQ question on the topic. Frankly I would expect them to fund a study if they felt it was possible.

Anyway, I found this quite funny and thought I would share it as idea for the show. I had never heard of this, and was surprised to find that all the neighborhood mothers seemed to share a common belief in its effectiveness.

http://www.snopes.com/medical/homecure/vaporub.asp

http://ezinearticles.com/?Vicks-Vapor-Rub-On-Your-Childs-Feet-To-Stop-The-Night-Time-Cough&id=824562

[namidim]

I had this same conversation with my mother:
http://sguforums.com/index.php/topic,9137.0.html

[Calinthalus]

I've never heard on the feet.  I have heard other locations.

I have two true stories which are not for the weak of heart.

First, my grandmother rubs Vicks on her cootch.  I don't actually know why.

Secondly, a longer story.

I used to work in a small casino.  In a small shop, you tend to know everyone and all of their business, whether you care or not.  One of our pit bosses had just been through a very rough divorce.  She felt really down on herself, her self-esteem was in the toilet.  She decided to get a boob job.  She made the mistake of not keeping it a secret.

A guy we worked with ragged her kinda hard over the whole thing.  Making quite a lot of jokes at her expense.  Even brought her a cake with Jello boobs on it for a welcome back present.

One night he was in the break room complaining about his hemorrhoids.  This girl tells him, with a straight face, "My grandmother said the old cowboys would rub Vicks Vapo-rub on their hemorrhoids to finish out the trail ride.  She swears by it."

I don't know if she just made that up, or her grandmother actually believed that.  All I know is that guy missed more than a week of work because he had to have surgury after rubbing his asshole with vapo-rub and calling the ER.

[Nacreous]

First, my grandmother rubs Vicks on her cootch.  I don't actually know why.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

Never mind why she does it;  why the hell do you know?   

[Calinthalus]

She told my wife, the nurse.  My wife, unfortunately, shared that knowledge with me.

What is known cannot be unknown.

[pandamonium]

Secondly, a longer story.

I used to work in a small casino.  In a small shop, you tend to know everyone and all of their business, whether you care or not.  One of our pit bosses had just been through a very rough divorce.  She felt really down on herself, her self-esteem was in the toilet.  She decided to get a boob job.  She made the mistake of not keeping it a secret.

A guy we worked with ragged her kinda hard over the whole thing.  Making quite a lot of jokes at her expense.  Even brought her a cake with Jello boobs on it for a welcome back present.

One night he was in the break room complaining about his hemorrhoids.  This girl tells him, with a straight face, "My grandmother said the old cowboys would rub Vicks Vapo-rub on their hemorrhoids to finish out the trail ride.  She swears by it."

I don't know if she just made that up, or her grandmother actually believed that.  All I know is that guy missed more than a week of work because he had to have surgury after rubbing his asshole with vapo-rub and calling the ER.

this has the makings of urban legend. quick, write an email to all your contacts! and the ensure that they pass it along, tell them that if they don't email it to a prescribed number of contacts, they'll feel like they rubbed vapo-rub on their sphincter, too.

[Evil Eye]

Perhaps.... and only perhaps... it's to keep the vapo-rub from the mouth.

As Vick's Vapo-Rub contains eucalyptus, which to humans is poisonous when ingested in high doses. 

[wastrel]

First, my grandmother rubs Vicks on her cootch.  I don't actually know why.

This is the sort of thing I would never, ever, ever want to know about my grandmother.

My ex-GF told me she did that once.  She enjoyed it, but has yet to do it again.