The inventor of Vaseline, Robert Chesebrough, was such a firm believer in its medicinal properties that he claimed to have eaten a spoonful of it a day. During a bout of pleurisy in his 50s, he ordered his nurse to cover him from head to toe in the substance, and soon recovered. He lived to be 96.

[u/JennyFromTheBlockJok]

[u/MushinZero]

Isn't neosporin basically just Vaseline with antibacterial agents in it?

[u/bobpaul → u/MushinZero]

You betcha. Vaseline infused with bacitracin and a couple of other antibiotics. But there's drug resistant bacteria now. And people tend to leave these little bottles in the medicine cabinet for years and years. By the expiration date it's not "expired" in a dangerous sense, but it's not quite as effective. Leave it there another few years and it's a lot less effective.

This was one of the things people found out when they switched from pseudophedrine (which can be used to make meth) to phenylephrine (which can't). People would leave the boxes on the shelf for too long and then found out that phenylephrine never worked as a decongestant in the first place, even before the "expiration" date.

[u/Hawaii5G → u/bobpaul]

then found out that phenylephrine never worked as a decongestant in the first place

Everyone who actually needed decongestant has known this forever.

[u/indignant_halitosis → u/Hawaii5G]

Double the dose. That usually works for me. Not great, but it works.