I just turned sixty-six the thirteenth of October and, other than an off-and-on dance with Rheumatic Fever between 2nd and 7th Grade, the only occasion I can recall for putting myself into a doctor’s care is a tonsillectomy somewhere around the age of seven. Aspirin, for the most part, are the only medication kept on hand; that, and a jar of either Polish or garlic dill pickles, mainly refrigerated for an every-now-and-then glass of the juice therein. The brine is guaranteed to kill any intestinal bug one might encounter. Then, again, being raised with a huge finger full of Vick’s salve being shoved down my throat every time I complained of sore throat or suffered a cold probably has my insides well greased and petrified by now. It even got so it didn’t taste all that bad and I was well into adulthood before a perusal of the label enlightened me of its “not to be taken internally!”……….
Just three days ago, then, my wife added to my education of the product. A doctor on the radio claimed the best way to take advantage of the rub is to smear it on the soles of your feet before retiring. Wearing wool socks will complete the treatment, holding in the medication and preventing it from staining the sheets. Supposedly, that part of your body where “the rubber meets the road” has the greatest potential to absorb the menthol, deliver it to your blood stream, and indeed accomplish that which it was created to accomplish. Does it work? I can only testify to two of the best night’s sleep I’ve had in awhile, no coughing due to nasal drainage, and with no need to “dose myself up” on Nyquil. Whether merely a mental placebo or not may be debatable; but, of a truth, I’ve certainly felt better of a day and have been less stressed at school. I hope I’m not addicted……….
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
9 comments:
I missed your birthday, so:
Happy Belated Birthday!
Pickle juice, huh? I'll have to give that a try. ;) Why not! I love pickles. I have a jar of them sitting on the counter this very minute.
I know I SHOULD be a fan of pickled foods, however, I am not. There are plenty of meds in this house, but what works best for me is a bit of awareness that I am feeling "off" then giving myself a good batch of sleep. glad you survived those childhood treatments.
Happy belated birthday, Jim!
Boy, this puts a whole new spin on "getting pickled"! It's funny that you should mention swallowing Vick's as, yesterday, I was thinking about a childhood friend who used to do that. And the reason I was thinking about that is that I have a whopper of a coughing cold. Cough, cough, cough alllllll night long. AAaaaaarrrrggghhh! I will definitely try the Vicks on the soles and wool socks thing. I'm pretty sure that I would be the ultimate test case for that.
Come to think of it.... pickle juice and Vicks sounds like it could very well be the secret ingredients for Buckley's cough syrop... (shudder).
Mich
Happy belated birthday Jim!
Yuck to pickle juice! The local skating rink freezes the leftover pickle juice from the pickles they sell and markets it as picklesicles. It is quite popular with the young skaters.
My father was/is a great believer in the miraculous nature of Vick's. I will have to pass this information on to him! I might even try it myself.
All: I hope all who are brave enought to eperiment with the Vicks experience success. There are no "warm fuzzies" floating up from below, no tingling in the tootsies, but I did sleep very well those two nights. As far as the pickle juice, I swear by it and am definitely not adverse to trying a picklesicle, Annie...
Just last night I purposely poured the pickle juice down the drain so I wouldn't drink it. It's what I miss most about being on a low sodium diet. All the women in my family drink dill pickle juice straight from the jar. Gotta stop typing, my mouth is in saliva overload just thinking about it.
Happy belated birthday.
Don't worry, Jim! I won't forget the Vicks advice. When I get sick, I'll give it a try and see what I think--well, you know, that kind of sick.
Annie
Hope & Annie: I tried the "salved feet" treatment again last night. It's no cure for the common cold, but it does seem to somehow induce a good night's rest.....
A belated happy birthday! I hope it was wonderful.
As for the Vicks, my mom just sent me an article about the vicks on the feet thing.
The pickle juice? Both my children make dill pickle juice popsicles. Guess they got that honestly because I used to drink the juice. LOL
Post a Comment