Campho-Phenique, the wonder drug

Well OK “wonder drug” assertion may be a bit too strong, then again….

I don’t expect that a lot of folks reading this, excepting my siblings and possibly my pharmacist friend CJ, will even know what Campho-Phenique Pain Relieving Antiseptic Liquid is. As a kid growing up my Grannie used it for mosquito bites as well as a host of other childhood maladies. As I recall there was practically nothing wrong with us that couldn’t be doctored either by applications of her Campho Phenique or my Dad’s Merthiolate (which, along with mercurochrome, appears to have been taken off of the market due to concerns about mercury). When my sisters and I were together last month we were talking about this wonder drug and the fact that Grannie even used it for the “sick headache” which plagued her (and which we now recognize as migraines). When she had the “sick headache” she would moisten a handkerchief with Campho Phenique and hold it to her nose.

This week a yellow-green pollen has been floating around and gathering on every available surface, even the water. Two days ago I woke up with a horrible headache and sore throat; just as I was about to call my baby sister and rag her out for giving me her cold over the phone (just kidding) I realized that I don’t have a cold it’s allergies. The next day, when I thought my head would explode from the pressure and the Claritin wasn’t even making a dent, I went to the internet to see how long I could expect to suffer before dying of a sinus infection. Can you believe that they aren’t considered fatal; learning that I searched for remedies. One easy thing to do was a steam tent, reading further I learned that some homeopathic practices recommend adding spirits of camphor or lavender oil to the steaming water. Now I am currently located in a very small town where the department store is Dollar General and yes they do have a CVS however I didn’t hold out much hope that I would find lavender oil there. BUT I come from resourceful stock and (you had to know this was coming) I do carry Campho Phenique aboard so I put some in the boiling water, Voila! The headache eased and I got a decent night’s sleep.

Now if my taste buds would just reactivate I would be happy.