According to the new studies, the very popular Vicks Vaporub may possibly cause airway inflammation that can restrict breathing in infants as well as toddlers. The research started at the Wake Forest University when an 18 months old girl had developed major respiratory problems once exposed directly to the salve placed under her nose in order to help her with the cold symptoms.

In accordance to the manufacturers, they have clearly mentioned that they do not put the rub into the nose as well as is not used for kids below the age of 2. It was obvious that the child started getting much better as soon as the medicine was stopped.

Such an experience in led to see if there were other such cases and a lot of cases appeared that had problems after using the Vicks VapoRub. The result of such a research was published in the January issue of the medical journal called “The Chest”. To test whether the rub actually gave problems or not, it was tested on ferrets. Animals were used for this study as their respiratory airway is similar to the humans. As a result, it was found out that Vicks VapoRub increased the mucus production by 59% and the capability to clear this mucus was decreased by 36%.

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