When I was growing up, we didn't have a whole lot of medicines on hand like people do today. We had Vicks Salve, Castor Oil, Iodine (called Mercurochrome or something) and if you had a mosquito or ant bite....we used spit to stop the itching. What were some of the home remedies you grew up with? Did they seem to work? Ahhh......found it:
Those old home remedies worked. I once read, and I truly believe, that given a chance, the body will heal itself of 95% of the ailments it will encounter. Of the other 5%, a doctor can help cure 2 ½%. The other 2½ % cannot be cured.
I agree. At the end of summer, we were given castor oil to rid us of any possible pin worms picked up from being around animals (farm and domestic). Pin worms were said to make kids fidgety. I wonder how many kids today are labeled ADD, when maybe they just have pin worms from house pets. I'm not sure doctors even check for them any longer.
As kids, when we got a leg cramp during the night, we were told to stand on it, which worked every time. For back of the thigh cramps (never got those as a kid), you lay on the bed and place a belt or towel around your foot, holding each end, then pull back toward you.
I seem to remember my grandma talking about a "mustard plaster," but I have no idea what it is or what it was treatment for. (And I'm not interested enough to look it up.) Not a home remedy, but my mother took "headache powders", which came in an envelope style packet with little sleeves of mysterious white powder inside. I think they were called "Goodys". Vicks salve and Mercurochrome were her go-to cures for what ailed us.
My father also took "Goody's," pretty often. There were 4 kids and we almost never got sick. Very few injuries and no bone fractures. I sprained my ankle once. Frozen peas in a bag now work great for applying ice. Not sure what they used back then.
At first I was wondering just where that story was going. Perhaps your mom was WAY ahead of her time.
We have a joke in the family not to call my mom for health advice because she reverts to the Vicks nine times out of ten. Not just for colds, it's for any sore muscles, headache, restless leg syndrome, swelling......just get the Vicks out.
Haha. When I was a kid spending the night at my grandma's, somehow I got a bug in my ear. I was quite hysterical, crying and carrying on like only 7 year old girls can do. I could hear the bug "buzzing" in my ear, so grandma whipped out the Vicks salve (not "vaporub" in those days), melted a bit of it in a spoon, and poured it in my ear. Well... it worked. I guess it coated the bug and did him in; I found the little bugger on my pillow the next morning. I'm sure a bit of water would have drowned the bug but grandma whipped out the Vicks and saved the day.