vicks on feet for cough reviews

There is no evidence that using Vicks VapoRub

on your feet will help ease a cough. This product may seem to help because menthol vapors make you feel as if you are breathing more easily. VapoRub is not safe for children under 2.

Full Answer

Why does putting Vicks on your feet stop coughing?

Precautions when using Vicks VapoRub

• Won’t cure cold symptoms if used on feet. Using Vicks VapoRub on your feet may soothe tired, achy feet, but it won’t help with cold symptoms like a stuffy nose ...
• Don’t use on under your nose or in your nostrils. ...
• Keep out of reach of children. ...
• Avoid getting into eyes. ...
• See a doctor if ingested or if you have an allergic reaction. ...

Can putting Vicks VapoRub on your feet help your cough?

Surprising Uses for Vicks

• It kills the nasty fungus on your nails.
• Applying a small amount of it on doors, walls, windows as well as your body can prevent cats from scratching them.
• The smell of Vicks discourages unpotty trained dogs and cats from peeing.
• Its mentholated scent relieves headaches.
• Applying Vicks on a tick bite can relieve the itching.

More items...

Where to put Vicks to stop coughing?

What stops coughing at night?

• Incline the head of your bed.
• Use a humidifier.
• Try honey.
• Tackle your GERD.
• Use air filters and allergy-proof your bedroom.
• Prevent cockroaches.
• Seek treatment for a sinus infection.
• Rest and take decongestants for a cold.

Does putting Vicks on your feet do anything?

Vicks is a popular product for treating the symptoms of a cold, such as a blocked nose. Putting Vicks on the feet is unlikely to help with cold symptoms, though it may possibly have a cooling effect on this part of the body. There is little research into how well Vicks actually treats cold symptoms.

Why does putting Vicks on your feet stop coughing?

Using Vicks VapoRub on Your Feet A popular theory you may have seen online says VapoRub may stimulate the nerves in your feet. According to the theory, this stimulation is passed up the spinal cord to the medulla oblongata in the brain. The medulla oblongata is the part of your brain that regulates coughing.

What are the benefits of putting Vicks on your feet?

Menthol and camphor, two of the active ingredients in VapoRub, may help soothe your muscles by acting as a topic anesthetic, according to the NIH. Applying Vicks to your feet may help soothe sore muscles.

Is Vicks effective for cough?

Vicks VapoRub contains 2.6% menthol to help stop constant coughing fast. Vicks VapoDrops are also an effective remedy for coughs. Allow 2 drops to dissolve slowly in your mouth to help stop constant coughing. Although Vicks products cannot cure a cough, they can help stop constant coughing.

Where do you put Vicks for a cough?

A: For cough suppression, rub a thick layer of Vicks VapoRub on your chest and throat. Cover with a warm, dry cloth, if desired. Keep clothing loose about your throat and chest to help the vapors to reach the nose and mouth.

Can Vicks VapoRub cause pneumonia?

Unfortunately, besides being extremely uncomfortable, using VapoRub in your nostrils puts you at risk of developing an extremely ominous-sounding illness called exogenous lipoid pneumonia (ELP), which results from the aspiration or inhalation of fat-like material of animal, vegetable or mineral origin.

How do I stop a Covid cough?

Other techniques to help with reducing your cough:Close your mouth and swallow.Gently breathe in and out through your nose, until the urge to cough goes away.Sip drinks regularly (hot or cold).Suck boiled sweets or lozenges.

What is the fastest way to cure a cough?

Twelve natural cough remediesHoney tea. According to some research, honey may relieve coughs. ... Ginger. Ginger may ease a dry or asthmatic cough, as it has anti-inflammatory properties. ... Fluids. Staying hydrated is vital for those with a cough or cold. ... Steam. ... Marshmallow root. ... Salt-water gargle. ... Bromelain. ... Thyme.More items...

How do you get rid of a cough overnight?

How to Quell a Nighttime CoughConsider a Cough Medicine Formulated for Nighttime Use. These versions often include an antihistamine, which can make you drowsy. ... Have Some Honey. ... Zap Your Cough With a Vaporizer. ... Use an Extra Pillow — or Two. ... Gargle With Salt Water.

What is Vicks oil?

Vicks contains three active ingredients that are responsible for its effects: camphor 4.7%. eucalyptus oil 1.2%. menthol 2.6%. Camphor comes from the wood of Cinnamomum camphora trees, and it is an ingredient in many oils and ointments. One of its main properties is to relieve congestion and coughing.

What are the ingredients in Vicks?

Several inactive ingredients make up the rest of Vicks. These include: cedarleaf oil. lemon fragrance. nutmeg oil. special petrolatum. thymol.

How to get rid of colds?

taking honey-based drinks. using a humidifier or cool mist vaporizer. Several over-the-counter (OTC) medications are also available for reducing cold symptoms. For example, decongestants can relieve stuffy and blocked noses. They can come in the form of a tablet, a nasal spray, nasal droplets, or a syrup.

Can you use Vicks to treat a cold?

For babies. Alternatives. Summary. Vicks VapoR ub is a popular product for helping with the symptoms of a cold. Applying Vicks to the throat and chest can help with symptoms such as a blocked nose. Applying Vicks to the feet, however, is unlikely to have any effect. It is possible to apply Vicks to other areas of the body, such as the feet, ...

Can you use Vicks rub on babies?

Vicks for babies. Vicks recommend not using their rub products on children under 2 years of age. Some of the ingredients in Vicks could be harmful. For example, menthol can cause skin irritation. It is best to keep this product out of reach of any younger children. If a child swallows Vicks, it can have toxic effects.

Does Vicks work on feet?

Does it work? Share on Pinterest. There is no clear evidence that applying Vicks to the feet will help with symptoms of a cold. It is unlikely that applying Vicks to the feet would have any effect on cold symptoms . However, there has been no direct research into this.

Does Vicks lower body temperature?

Vicks can also create a cooling sensation, which may help with hot flushes from a cold. However, Vicks does not actually lower body temperature.

What is Vicks aporub?

Even if someday VapoRub on the feet is studied and shown to alleviate a cough, it's important to be aware of the following: 1 It contains a poisonous ingredient: Vicks VapoRub is made of camphor, eucalyptus oil, and menthol. Camphor is poisonous when ingested. 2  It can cause seizures, coma, or death even when a small amount is swallowed or when too much is inhaled or absorbed through the skin. 2 It's not for small children: The Vicks VapoRub packaging clearly states that the product shouldn't be used on children under 2 years of age, but many people ignore the warning. (This goes for anywhere on the body.) 3 It shouldn't be put under the nose: In adults and children older than 2, the product should only be used on the chest.

How does Vicks Vaporub work?

It works by creating menthol vapors that feel cooling to your nasal passages when you inhale them, which tricks your brain into thinking you're breathing more easily . It does not actually relieve congestion or a cough—your brain just thinks ...

Is camphor poisonous?

Camphor is poisonous when ingested. 2  It can cause seizures, coma, or death even when a small amount is swallowed or when too much is inhaled or absorbed through the skin. It's not for small children: The Vicks VapoRub packaging clearly states that the product shouldn't be used on children under 2 years of age, but many people ignore the warning.

Does Vicks Vaporub help with cough?

No scientific studies have been performed on whether Vicks VapoRub on your feet eases a cough. As such, it's not certain whether it does or doesn't, despite what some proponents of this home remedy may say.

Is Vicks vaporub safe for kids?

While the product has been available and popular for many years, you should know that Vicks is not completely safe for kids.

Does Vicks cough medicine calm the nervous system?

If that's true, they say it's possible that the Vicks product might have a similar impact on the nervous system that's completely separate from its aromatherapy properties. Therefore, it might be able to calm a cough, even though it is applied so far away from the nose. It's important to remember, though, that a popular idea ...

Does Vicks Vaporub cause breathing problems?

It's proven, through studies and real-world incidents, that putting Vicks VapoRub directly under the nose can lead to respiratory distress or difficulty breathing. 2 . Vicks VapoRub for Muscle Aches.

The Cough Center

The part of the brain that controls coughing is down at the bottom of the brainstem in an area called the medulla oblongata. It is that part of the brain that manages automatic functions such as breathing, heart rate, vomiting, swallowing and sneezing. The medulla borders on the spinal column.

Feet to Brain

We initially wondered whether there could be absorption of the active and or inactive ingredients in Vicks VapoRub through the skin.

Not by Menthol Alone

Menthol is not the only ingredient in Vicks VapoRub that may be working through transient receptor potential channels. We mentioned eucalyptol, which also triggers TRPM8 ( British Journal of Pharmacology, May 2017 ).

Learn More About Vicks

Share your own Vicks VapoRub story below in the comment section. You may also want to read our eGuide to Colds, Coughs & the Flu. It contains information on many other approaches for easing symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections.

When did Vicks Vaporub start?

Vicks VapoRub has been around since 1919, when a Spanish flu epidemic solidified its place in American medicine cabinets, but only in relatively recent history have consumers begun using it on their feet instead of its intended application on the chest and neck.

Where is the brain's cough center?

Given that feet contains lots of nerves, Graedon speculates that sensory nerves in the soles of the feet may respond to stimulation with Vicks VapoRub: The [brain's] cough center is right next to the spinal cord.

Does menthol open up airways?

The ointment's active ingredient is menthol, which Rutgers University pediatrician Satya D. Narisety, M.D., tells Parents.com, "doesn't actually open up airways or break up mucous, but...trick [s] your brain into thinking your airways are opening up and you're not so congested.".

What is Vicks Vaporub?

Vicks VapoRub contains menthol, eucalyptus and camphor, which stimulate blood flow to the skin causing counter irritation. Folk medicines worked in similar ways — applying poultices and liniments containing mild irritants such as garlic and mustard to the soles of the feet and the chest — to relieve cough and colds.

Why does a baby inhale a vick?

Another explanation could be because the menthol in the VapoRub dilates the blood vessels in the feet, causing reflexes that soothe the cough.

How to stop nighttime coughing?

And it works every time. To stop night time coughing, you put Vicks VapoRub generously on the bottom of both feet at bedtime, then cover with socks. Even persistent, heavy, deep coughing will stop in about 5 minutes and will stay suppressed ...

Does the NRC have a Vicks Vaporub study?

The National Research Council (NRC) of Canada, which does exist, came forward with a statement soon after saying that no such study involving Vicks VapoRub had ever been conducted by the NRC. In retrospect, it seems a little odd that we’d accept such a strange rumour to begin with.

Can coughing keep you awake?

Having a cough that keeps you awake at night is terrible, especially when you are already feeling lousy. But what can you do to calm that cough? One reader in Australia tried an American home remedy, though he was quite doubtful that it would help. A US pharmacist says Vicks eased his nasal congestion!

Does Vicks Vaporub help with cough?

We have heard from many other readers, including some even more skeptical than you, that applying Vicks VapoRub to the soles of the feet and then putting on warm socks to protect the sheets helps ease a nighttime cough. Thanks for sharing your personal experiment.

Does putting Vicks on your feet stop coughing?

No scientific studies have been performed on whether Vicks VapoRub on your feet eases a cough. As such, it’s not certain whether it does or doesn’t, despite what some proponents of this home remedy may say.

Is Vick good for your feet?

Vicks VapoRub will likely not work to help ease cold symptoms when used on the feet. Adults can safely use this vapor rub on the feet to ease muscle aches or pain.

Can Vicks hurt your lungs?

Vicks has been reported to cause inflammation in the eyes, mental status changes, lung inflammation, liver damage, constriction of airways and allergic reactions.

Where do you rub Vicks for a cough?

Vicks VapoRub is an ointment that you can use on your skin. The manufacturer recommends rubbing it on your chest or throat to relieve congestion from colds.

Does Vicks grow hair?

The Vicks VapoRub ingredients that stimulate hair growth are camphor, lavender, eucalyptus and menthol. Eucalyptus also improves hair elasticity and keeps it strong. Menthol – Gets rid of irritants thus giving room for hair to grow easily.

Why do the bottoms of my feet hurt so bad?

Plantar fasciitis is an inflammation of the fibrous tissue (plantar fascia) along the bottom of your foot that connects your heel bone to your toes. Plantar fasciitis can cause intense heel pain. Plantar fasciitis (PLAN-tur fas-e-I-tis) is one of the most common causes of heel pain.

Is it OK to put Vicks in your nose?

It’s not safe to use Vicks VapoRub inside your nose as it can be absorbed into your body through the mucus membranes lining your nostrils. VVR contains camphor, which can have toxic effects if absorbed into your body. It can be especially dangerous for children if it’s used inside their nasal passages.