Medicine of Years Past

Some things live on deep in our memories--snippets of the past, a scent, an image, a act of kindness.  A few nights ago, Michaela and I had so much fun talking about medicine that we grew up with.  Some of these are still around, most of these are no longer distributed locally.  These were the prevalent remedies that Kongkong and Gwama gave us when we were kids:

• Merthiolate (thiomersal)--this Eli Lilly brand was the leading topical antiseptic for cuts and scrapes.  Now discontinued because of the controversial mercury content, it was a staple of our first aid cabinet in the late sixties.  The bright red coloring agent was evident whenever we'd get wounded and, after alcohol or agua oxigenada, would be the second line of defense against infection.
• Mercurochrome--similar to Merthiolate, and also discontinued being another mercury based antiseptic.
• Agua Oxigenada (hydrogen peroxide)--the first line of defense in cleaning cuts and wounds.  The liquid would foam and was effective in killing the germs.  Reportedly also used for bleaching hair, would you believe?
• Aspilet--kiddie aspirin, maybe only 30mg.  Nowadays, aspirin is no longer used as it was discovered that could lead to unnecessary bleeding in some patients.
• Diromo--the all around tummy medicine manufactured by Farmitalia, of which our Uncle Tom carried locally under the Filifarma distributorship in the early seventies.  Any tummy pain warranted a tablet of this, and we were immediately healed!
• Pontocaine (tetracaine)--this was the second line of defense against skin itch (the first line was a good scratching!).  Anything with the "caine" suffix denotes that the product is an anesthetic agent, and pontocaine was a topical cream that numbed the senses and therefore deadened the itch.
• Sodium bicarbonate--Impatso (bloated sensation from overeating) was another big headache specially for me.  This medicine was traditionally my refuge, as it is supposed to be good for indigestion and acid reflux.
• Erythrocin (erythromycin)--was the pink antibiotic tablet that tasted so bad, but was the first antibiotic line that the doctor would give when our tonsils would flare up.  Funny aftertaste, I swear!  I guess that with all the tablet that I must have taken (my tonsils acted up so often that the doctors then decided to cut it off), my body has probably developed some form of resistance to this medicine already!
• Molint--was an early brand of menthol liniments that you could apply to backaches and other body aches.  Today the equivalent would be Ben Gay or Omega Pain Killer.
• Salonpas--this Japanese version of adhesive menthol padding was probably the first of its kind.  Today, you can still see this in drug stores and groceries, and the scent is still the same after all these years!  If you smell it, it's a dead give-away that someone around you is using it.
• Desenex (miconazole)--this was the favorite anti-fungal cream of Kong Kong for athlete's foot.  Today people use either Nizoral (ketoconazole) or Canesten (clotrimazole).
• Tiger Balm--Chinese version of the mentholated cream.  This was a brown balm, thick and almost hard.  You could wipe this topically thus soothing a variety of pain.  Distinctive smell, akin to Salonpas, yet very Oriental.  One of the oldest half sisters of Kong Kong married into the family that produced this product, which is widely sold around Asia.
• White Flower Oil--another mentholated medicine, this time in oil form.  We used to wipe this around our temples for headache relief.  Again a distinctive scent, different from Salonpas or Tiger Balm.
• Mandel's Solution--although my mom never tried this on me, she would tell me of how my Lola Segunda would give her an oral swab with Mandel's Solution to kill the germs causing sore throat.  She says this was very effective.

All these medicines were easily available in drugstores around Metro Manila, and if you opened Gwammy's cabinet, it was a sure thing to find these in abundant supply.

* Legal disclaimer--Note that this piece is not intended to dispense medical advice.  The purpose of this piece it to reminisce about old times, and not to suggest a cure.  If you are sick or have medical problems, consult your doctor instead.