What is the Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment?
Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment relieves the symptoms of a cold such as coughing, hoarseness and a stuffy nose. It contains various active ingredients, including eucalyptus oil and camphor. It is intended for external application to the chest and back.
It is available in pharmacies, but you do not need a doctor’s prescription to buy it. Vicks VapoRub® can be used on children over the age of two, teenagers and adults. In addition to the ointment form, Vicks VapoRub® is also available as a spray or inhaler stick.
What are the indications for Vicks VapoRub® Cold Ointment
The term “indication” comes from the medical terminology and means: “reason for a therapy”. If an indication is given, there are good reasons to use the appropriate medication or therapy to improve the disease. Indications for the use of Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment are cough, hoarseness, blocked sinuses, rhinitis and mucous respiratory tract.
Especially at night, when the mucus in the airways of the lungs and the sinuses of the nose gets stuck because the upper body is in a horizontal and not in a vertical position, Vicks VapoRub® makes breathing easier. The Vicks VapoRub® nasal spray and inhaler stick are particularly suitable when the symptoms of the cold are mainly confined to the nose. The cold ointment, which can be applied to the chest and/or back, helps when the respiratory tract to and in the lungs is also affected by the cold.
How does Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment work?
The Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment initially contains the four actual active ingredients. The eucalyptus oil, camphor, levomenthol and turpentine oil. The additives white vaseline, juniper wood oil and thymol are added to these.
Eucalyptus oil helps to dilute tough and stuck mucus, making it easier to cough it up. Camphor also dissolves and dilutes the mucus and additionally stimulates the blood circulation. Levomenthol has a cooling, analgesic, antispasmodic and antimicrobial effect in low concentrations.
The fourth active ingredient, purified turpentine oil, also helps to dissolve mucus and also prevents the formation of new mucus. All of these active ingredients work primarily by evaporating after application to the skin. The essential vapor can then be inhaled through the nose and mouth.
In this way, the substances reach their actual sites of action, the sinuses of the nose and the bronchi in the lungs. The additives also contribute to the effect of the cold ointment. The white vaseline binds the various active ingredients and ensures that they can be rubbed onto the skin as an ointment.
At the same time it protects the skin from drying out. Juniper wood oil provides a pleasant smell and is said to have disinfecting properties. It is therefore able to kill bacteria and viruses to a certain degree. Thymol is a component of thyme oil and has an antiseptic effect, killing pathogens and dissolving mucus. The Vicks VapoRub® cold ointment therefore contains active ingredients that have a combined expectorant and antiseptic effect.
