Do it yourself

Quote: kenarman

Electrical or duck tape works just fine.

I use nothing but automobile duct tape, I have a piece on my arm right now covering up a wound I got yesterday. You can get it soaking wet for 2 days in a row and it won't come off. It will never come off until you take it off. I use automotive duct tape for everything, I probably have five rolls of it around here. It works really well on bug bites in the summer. Get a mosquito bite put a piece of automotive duct tape on it and the itch goes away almost immediately. What happens is the tape brings your brains attention to the entire area surrounding the bite and lessons the itch of it by tenfold. It really works, try it.

It's the same principle used with Icy Hot. You put Icy Hot on your arm for relief of muscle pain, it does not penetrate the skin. What it does is it draws your brains attention to that whole area because it gets cold and then kind of hot and takes your brains attention away from the pain in your muscle. In other words the pain relief is an illusion and a really good one.

Quote: Evenbob

What happens is the tape brings your brains attention to the entire area surrounding the bite and lessons the itch of it by tenfold. It really works, try it.

Sounds like smashing your thumb with a sledge to get your mind off a splinter.

Quote: AZDuffman

Sounds like smashing your thumb with a sledge to get your mind off a splinter.

That's how it works, basically. I was really surprised at how Icy Hot works, I really thought it was penetrating doing healing when it's actually doing no healing at all. All liniments work that way.

“Liniments work by causing a mild chemical burn of the skin. This does nothing to treat the underlying problem but merely “distracts” the nervous system from sensing the pain due to tissue damage.'

Quack medicine liniments date back to the 1800's the most famous is Sloan's liniment which was advertised in every magazine since the late eighteen hundreds. It started out as horse liniment. Works the same way that modern sports creams work. Contains capsaicin which chemically burns the skin drawing your brains attention away from the actual cause of the pain. For a hundred years people thought they were actually healing their rheumatism and arthritis because it sure feels that way.

They use the same principle in burn units when they need to do debriding of wounds and rebandaging, which is always extremely painful on 2nd degree burns or less. They, of course, use drugs also. But it can help cut down the dosage or at least improve the perception of the patient.

Quote: Evenbob

Quack medicine liniments date back to the 1800's the most famous is Sloan's liniment which was advertised in every magazine since the late eighteen hundreds. It started out as horse liniment. Works the same way that modern sports creams work. Contains capsaicin which chemically burns the skin drawing your brains attention away from the actual cause of the pain. For a hundred years people thought they were actually healing their rheumatism and arthritis because it sure feels that way.

I know when I get kidney stones I have to use lots of heat to get short relief. Never thought of the why but it does make sense. I figured it numbed the nerves.

One of my in-laws keeps this giant kidney stone in a jar and tells the awful story of passing it.

(Stock pic) It would be bad enough if they were just round like a pond stone. Ain't nothing you want to pee out.

Quote: rxwine

One of my in-laws keeps this giant kidney stone in a jar and tells the awful story of passing it.

I have gotten to where some the size of a BB or so just pop out. Annoying before as it is like a check-valve keeping you from emptying so you live near the bathroom. OTOH the pain factor far lower then the first ones I ever had.

I have to go back in twice this year, my urologist says I have a stones 1cm in size and explained no way I will pass them. Told me about a guy passed one huge stone from each kidney at the exact same time. I forget the exact results but they were not good.

Once at the office two women were gabbing and one said something about how men deserve kidney stones to see what giving birth feels like. If I had opened my mouth I for sure would have been fired. Having to work in a pod of gabbing women makes you think how prison might be relaxing once you get used to it, federal system at least.

I don't seem to be prone to them. And I'm not missing anything, thankfully. Unfortunately for people who get them they seem to recur. I think you can get treatments to dissolve or blast them with ultrasonic, but never had to check into it.

Quote: rxwine

I don't seem to be prone to them. And I'm not missing anything, thankfully. Unfortunately for people who get them they seem to recur. I think you can get treatments to dissolve or blast them with ultrasonic, but never had to check into it.

Going for that next month.

Tent camping isn't new to me, but this is. Wouldn't a big tent like that be vulnerable to a decent storm trying to live long term?