7 Vicks Vaporub Uses That Might Make Your Life a Bit Easier

One of my favorite things about the internet is the endless list of life hacks that surfaced around the early 2010s.

There are so many uses for so many household items that I would never have thought about.

And one of them is Vicks Vaporub. There is real scientific evidence for some of these Vicks Vaporub uses, but some of them are also anecdotal claims. Some people believe it can help with a lot more than coughing, but the only way to find out is to try it yourself!

So scroll, read over these uses for Vicks Vaporub, and see if you’d like to use it for more than your cold symptoms.

So What is Vicks Vaporub?

After being around for more than 125 years, this topical mentholated ointment consists mainly of camphor, menthol, and eucalyptus. 

It’s a salve with a jell-like texture and a very strong smell of menthol.

Uses for the Ointment

There are plenty of ways people use Vicks Vaporub, some of them with studies and some not scientifically backed.

So it’s gonna be up to you to try out some of these Vaporub uses to see if they work for you and your personal care.

1. Eases Coughing

Got a persistent cough? Vicks might be able to help.

All three of the ingredients listed above have been shown to help relieve coughing. But just make sure to use it on your neck and chest only, not on your face. Also, it’s not recommended for people with asthma, emphysema, or those coughing up a lot of phlegm.

2. May Help With Soothing Blemishes

The cedar oil in Vicks Vaoporub has been shown to help with blemishes, while the eucalyptus can be antimicrobial. So with ingredients like these, I think it makes for a good experiment when it comes to getting rid of pimples and soothing your skin.

Just make sure to test on a small area of your skin in case it has the reverse effect.

3. Relieves Congestion

In a 2017 study, Vicks Vaporub was shown to have helped adults dealing with a cold. They reported to having a higher sleep quality since it helped relieve congestion and other cold symptoms.

However, it’s important to note that it’s not a decongestant, but creates a cooling sensation in your nose that helps your brain to think you’re breathing more easily.

4. Soothes Sore Muscles

Camphor and menthol have both been shown to help with relieving muscle pain. So if you’ve just come back from a workout, and you want to sooth your sore muscles, then this might be a good method!

5. Repels Mosquitoes

Camphor oil has also been shown to help repel insects such as mosquitoes. And since Vicks Vaporub has this as one of its main ingredients, then it might be good to place it in a few areas before you take a night walk.

Again, this is an anecdotal use, but if you want to repel mosquitoes, then I think it’s worth giving it a shot.

6. May Relieve Headaches

Small studies show that menthol may have headache-relieving properties when applied to the base of the skull. However, these studies were done with products that contained more menthol than Vicks.

This isn’t to say that it would prove ineffective for headaches, but there just haven’t been any studies done on it yet. So it’ll be up to you to test this out yourself.

7. May Help With Stretch Marks

While this is unstudied, this might be worth testing out if you have stretch marks. Just know that there hasn’t been any evidence found from researchers that topical creams or lotions help with reducing the appearance of stretch marks in general.

But, some people have said that they’ve seen improvement in their stretch marks when using Vicks, so I think it’s worth testing out. Just make sure to do it for longer than a month as many topical treatments take a lot longer to show up.