What were you treated with as a poorly child at home?

Syrup of Figs for goodness knows what. Vick for anything related to a sniffle.

Milk of mags, germolene, Lucozade, Vicks. I was OK with all those, but hated the iron liquid, can't remember its name, that my grandmother made us have as she thought we were all too pale!

My first memory of envy was when my best friend always got a bottle of Lucazade when she was poorly and I never did. I remember that wonderful orange paper and looking through it at her bedroom window. We occasionally had pop from the Corona man but I made my own fizzy drink from the Andrews Liver Salts! That could be why I never needed the syrup of figs!

Had all the other usuals. Germelene from a tin, Beecham’s powder, Milk of Magnesia, cod liver oil, Buttercup syrup, warm oil and cotton wool for earache, butter on bumped heads, Fennings little healers, golden eye ointment etc.

My treat, if I was lucky, was a barley sugar stick from the chemist shop. The nearest I got to sweets from a big jar. I remember the rack of jars near the counter.

Did anyone have soap and sugar plasters to draw out boils?

Syrup of figs, senna pods, cod liver oil, olive oil warmed in a hot spoon then poured in ear for earache, milk of magnesia, buttercup syrup or linctus ) chemists own), TCP, vicks, grandad had frequent bronchitis so he had mustard plasters on his back, zinc ointment, friars balsam to inhale until your eyes streamed, green ointment for chilblains, iodine for cuts, lint & gauze bandages that had to be soaked off, Virol (malt), wounds bathed in salty water, golden eye ointment, germolene (hated the smell), calamine lotion for bites, stings & chickenpox, witch hazel for sprains but grandad preferred horse linament & we had an ancient bottle in the pantry! If you got Lucozade then you really were poorly- loved the orange cellophane wrapper.

Halibut liver oil and Virol malt extract. Camphor bag worn around neck.

Runny boiled eggs and soft bread and butter. If we were really ill we got Lucozade!!! Junior disprin which tasted foul!!!

The horrible iron tonic was Minadex. It made your teeth feel funny!

Indian brandy for tummy aches. It really worked. I wish it was still available! My mum used to take things called "little liver pills" that were herbal, i think, made by de Witts.

The gold standard of children’s illness... lucozade ! Tomato soup and for a cold hot milk with whiskey! Yes I was a child but it was the sixties and we did that sort of thing back then .?

My nan used to make her own version of Liquarfruta (sp). I loved it!!

Adding to my previous post on this. Does anyone remember the name of those crystals that turned bright violet in water?. Tasted vile, we used to have to gargle our throats with these when we had a a sore throat. As I f got older I started to use TCP for this purpose instead of those crystals. When I had warts on my fingers (very young child), my Dad tied them off with cotton - very tightly -until they fell off. Chilblains were painted with some bright orangy stuff - again no idea of its name.

I remember having oil of cloves on a piece of cotton wool shoved in my mouth once when I had toothache. I hate the taste and smell of cloves now. Then it was syrups of figs every Friday night!!!! Vick spread on my chest and a thick liberty bodice over it even if I just coughed a bit. My mam was a nurse so she had all sorts of potions back in the 1950's. How I survived I don't know. The bit I did like though was hot lemonade made by my dad and tucked into bed.

Oh and Beechams pills and powders for just about everything from constipation to headaches or both. Haha those were the days!

I too was a very sickly child and was treated with oceans of penicillin for ear infections. I can remember lots of lucozade, hot water bottles and in the winter a real fire in the bedroom!

Did not like getting a sore throat as usually could not swallow anything and had a fever, even though I was packed off to bed I did not want the soup as felt too poorly
Once the sore throat was easing then usually a cold and coughing would start, that was better then I had the orange junior aspirins, always offered hot milk but did not want it preferred the Lucozade. Lots of Vick rubbed on chest and back and occasionally half a Beechams powder.
The best of all was the boiled egg and soldiers, or scrambled egg and toast brought up on a tray. Before I started getting too used to this laying in bed my mum would say you are better now so you can get up and get yourself back to school.

Lucozade yuk,yuk,yuk. It used to make me sick.
Can't stand the stuff even today.
Camphorated oil in a burner to aid breathing - I much preferred the vick.

This thread really has brought back memories!
However, I don't think anybody has yet mentioned the most foul medicine of all, which I was given as a cure all for everything, including bad behaviour!! Gregory's powder - a ghastly orangey powder mixed with water. I think it was rhubarb and ginger based, but I used to have to stand at the sink to take it lest it came straight back up.

Syrup of figs - constipation I think! Egg white and milk (for the opposite, Glycerin, hiney, lemon and ipececuana for coughs, malt for strength building.

Germolene - I can still smell it! MIL used to put this on DH's spots when he was a teenager until Auntie Alice told her to stop as it was full of grease and would worsen them.
Orange toned Valderma was used in our house for the same affliction - haven't seen that for ages.
I recall Mum using oil of cloves for toothache and wrapping one of Dad's socks round her neck.
It's a wonder we survived to adulthood when I think of some of the 'cures' which were used.

Gee’s Linctus for a cough and Collis Brown’s for anything “inside”

Oh God yes my mum had indian brandy for stomach upsets,and milk of magnesia(which they still sell dont they?) And she used to give me a daily dose of 'malt viral' a huge jar of thick brown malty stuff that tasted absolutely disgusting- ive never liked malt since.in fact it didn't even taste of malt it was awful.and the bread in milk thing,i got that made every time i went to my grans house,even when i was well,its called milk pobs,or pobs,they had it a lot in the war apparently (minus the butter) to fill you up because of course food was scarce.i hated it as gran made it with sterilized milk. Awful. & the T.C.P. was used for gargling(sore throats,tasted disgusting also) or for dabbing on cuts,grazes,etc,stung like the devil..im beginning to think all these were 'punishments' not cures...

Beecham pills for constipation, we were given them if we had been in contact with anything contagious to ‘flush out the germs.’ We were never I’ll, so maybe it worked! We were permitted to get German measles. Bright pink germalene, not the woosy white stuff you get now. TCP and Andrews liver salts, maybe aspirin. Dig the garden for period pains. That was our medicine cabinet. Oh and virol which we loved but not with cod liver oil.

Could the violet stuff be Gentian violet? I dont remember that though,im 56,and a lot of 'commercial' stuff was replacing 'old remedies' then in the 60's.i had the junior aspirins though when i got fevers,( thank God they eventually realised kids shouldnt take aspirin) and some stuff called 'teething powders' cant remember whole name,but they gave them for headaches,fevers,toothaches,& when babies were teething& in pain.

Virol (I actually loved the taste!)
Milk of Magnesia
Bicarbonate of Soda (I use that now instead of Alkaseltzer)
Dr Collis Brown
Vick
Towel over my head over a steaming bowl of menthol
Lucozade...the world looked cheerful through the yellow wrapper

Yes virol,that was the disgusting stuff,malt virol.(forgive my previous spelling