Tiger Bomb

While picking up a few things at the co-op today I walked past the Tiger Balm rack. For some reason I always forget about Tiger Balm. Even though it works, I've always felt that it falls into the classification of Things That Trick You Into Thinking You're Not In Pain. But then, I guess that's really okay in some circumstances. Certainly, all of us would have the root cause of the pain go away rather than mask it if we had the choice. But -- if that's not really an option -- I feel better about slathering a bunch of natural-type stuff on my skin than taking addictive pills, if all either is going to do is cover up the pain.

I tried the Tiger Balm patch, which I've never really done before. They're like $1 each, so maybe it's just my innate cheapness that has kept me from trying them. Or -- and this is more likely -- I probably bought a pack and kept them around for something special, and finally tossed them when they expired 3 years later.

Right now I have one on my leg (just over the femur-break that has been troubling me so much) and one on the back. The back area is tougher to treat, because at this point I'd need one that's about 1 foot by 2 feet square to get the entire affected area. The leg is easier to cover.

Are they working? I think so. I'll leave them on for about 12 hours and see how long they last and what they do.

Meanwhile, I can't think of Tiger Balm without thinking of this clip from one of my favorite shows, The Venture Brothers. (The clip is work-safe, assuming you're allowed to stream stuff from cartoon network.)

http://video.adultswim.com/the-venture-bros/tiger-balm.html


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