I believe in Vicks, so does my 17 year old daughter and 12 year old son. It helps to loosen my congestion so i can pass it out and my nostrils clears up. Whenever I cannot sleep, I rub a bit under my nostrils and immediately, I sleep like a baby through the night. I also rub it under my nostrils whenever I do outdoor barbecue, somehow it stops the smoke from being inhaled. The trick of it is that you have to keep refreshing it every now and then while barbecuing. Before I discovered the magic of Vicks, I could not do outdoor barbecue because I would be sick for days. However, I would not recommend that anyone swallow vicks. Back in the 50's and 60's, Vicks was swallowed orally for colds or coughs. Those folks back then didn't know better, I guess. Vicks is also excellent when you have a stubborn pimple that won't ripen. Just rub vicks on it, and it will ripen so it can be easily relieved of its fluid. Onetime my husband was on a farm and got a tick between his toes, I rubbed a lot if Vicks on the area, and somehow the tick got drowsy and i was able to carefully pull it out with a tweezer so as not to break it and leave some inside.