I always wanted to be the Bactine mom. You know the one. The mom that was always there with the can of Bactine ready and available if you fell off your bike. Jason, my friend down the street, had the Bactine mom. She was always there for the neighborhood kids. She would spray us up and send us back out to play. It was only a few houses down from mine, but I always preferred the cool, Bactine treatment. We didn't have anything like that at my house. We used old home remedies from the 1900's. It's so weird, isn't it? No one questions what your parents do to you. For example, every year I would get strep throat at least once a year. I would go to my mother with a raging sore throat, and here she would come with the Merthiolate and some long cotton swabs. I would lay down in front of the sliding glass doors so she could see, and she would swab my throat with Merthiolate. After a miserable night, she would take me to the doctor the next day for antibiotics. If your home treatment doesn't EVER work, why do you keep trying it? The doctor would look in my throat and always comment how red it was. Well, that could be the dye from the Merthiolate because if you got that stuff anywhere, it was pink forever. Fast forward for 2009 and what do we now know about Merthiolate? Here are a few fun facts:
- Merthiolate is a mercury-containing substance
- It was used as a preservative in many different products, including vaccines
- It is very easy to get Merthiolate poisoning. This occurs:
- When large amounts of the substance are swallowed or come in contact with your skin
- Poisoning may also occur if you are exposed to small amounts of Merthiolate constantly over a long period of time
- The FDA banned the use of Merthiolate in over-the-counter products in the late 1990s, although I'm sure you could still find some in Maxine's medicine cabinet
How in the hell did we all survive? Our parents were constantly trying to kill us with their crazy home remedies, front seat no seatbelt car riding, back of pickup truck riding, etc.
When my kids were born, I made sure I had a can of Bactine ready to go when they started to get the inevitable knee scrapes. Reality set in, and I know I own some, but I can never find it. My "medicine cabinet" is a series of drawers and cabinets that have all prescriptions, sunscreen, gauze, and all kinds of crap that probably expired 10 years ago. There are so many locations of all this stuff, there is no way you could ever find what you needed for your particular ailment. I know I have Bactine, but I don't know where it is. I have also replaced the Bactine with my favorite, Neosporin, which is my go-to cream. Oh yes, the Maxine gene again. I put Neosporin on everything. Slash a three inch gash in your forehead? Spread some Neosporin in it. Athlete's Foot? You guessed it, Neosporin. First degree sunburn? Neosporin. Insect bites? Neosporin. Now, I know that Neosporin doesn't work on all these things, but I can't find the right cream and it makes everyone feel better to smear something on your boo boo. Someday Taylor will be blogging about her crazy mother and the Neosporin.
I see that ad on TV where the Mom's are all at the playground with their to-go Bactine spinning around on their fingers and feel a sense of guilt. Where did I go so terribly wrong in my child-rearing? Why, oh why, couldn't she blog about my obsession with Bactine? I really did want one.
4 comments:
I, too, am a Neosporin Mom. Being that Sofia is borderline Hyperchondriac (sp?) and daily/hourly hurts herself, I schmear Neo almost daily as it satisfies her pain, knowing that she has received some kind of treatment. I prefer a more placebo type of treatment like Witch Hazel or an Alcohol swab, but she likes the salve treatment. I have tried using Vaseline but she knows it is not the same when it comes out of the jar and not the all solving 'tube'. My Mom, however, was totally a Merthiolate user, and boy does it sting/stain all at once! And she was a nurse! That was definitly her 'go to' solution for all skin abrasions and I too, wanted the Bactine Mom, which if I would have known Jason's Mom had that on the menu, I would have preferred to run up the street to her house for treatment rather than settling for the 'stain'. Thanks for sharing about Jason's Mom when I am 40+--would have been more useful info. at around 10 or so.--Krys
Can i buy Bactine in the u.k
Bactine is safer than neosporin. Neosporin should not be used on large areas because it can be absorbed and cause kidney problems.
Also, there can be allergic reactions to it. I suggest sticking with the bactine and then using aloe after it starts to heal.
Nice....... nice data also.... thanks for share. Home remedies are also preferred by many because of a belief that the pharmaceutical companies are not interested in your health.
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