When I was growing up, mother had three cures for every problem life might present: Tylenol, cortisone cream, and antihistamine. I could have scarlet fever and my mom would be like, “TAKE AN ANTIHISTAMINE.”
The thing is, she is the daughter of a surgeon and a nurse and her belief in those three things as a cure-all for, well, all problems didn’t come from nowhere. (Still though, I wouldn’t recommend you take an antihistamine if you have scarlet fever.)
As much as I mock my mother for her medicinal holy trinity, friends of mine who are medical professionals have confirmed that, yup, those three things cure an awful lot of problems. And so I always have those three things—Tylenol, cortisone cream, and antihistamine—in my own medicine cabinet as well.
Generally speaking, the Tylenol is for pain relief but also for when I feel a cold coming on. Lots of water+Tylenol.
The antihistamine comes into to play when any sort of allergic reaction begins to flare up, though for seasonal allergies I’ve moved into a nasal spray habit on the advice of my beloved Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor (I have fucked up ears, it’s fun being me!)
The cortisone cream is used to treat anything topical, like a cut or, um, a pair of bruised breasts. I am, as has already been established in this space, an ointment enthusiast and I believe that cortisone cream was my gateway drug.
I’ve told a ton of friends about the Tylenol, cortisone cream, and antihistamine Trinity over the years and I have also told Twitter.
Every time I do, the most fun thing happens: People start telling me their version of my mom’s cure-alls. And it’s fascinating! I’ve heard about the magical healing properties of everything from aloe to “go poop” to Vicks VapoRub to Slavic liqueurs.
And so now I invite you, Dear Reader, to play this real goober-y game with me down in the comments: What are your go-to cure-alls?!?