What has happened to Calamine Lotion? (Calamine Lotion)

Member Name: Stripery77

Product:	Calamine Lotion
Date:	11/06/09 (195 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Everyone knows about it

Disadvantages: It didn't work for my family

Calamine Lotion - the Age old remedy for the soothing of Chicken Pox - or so I thought!

I was quite pleased when my five year old daughter recently caught Chicken Pox - she didn't have it that badly or for that long and apparently her's is the best age to catch it. I was far less pleased that my 40yr old husband and ten year old son have both had such sever cases that for the last 3 weeks all I have looked at are spots and fed up people.

All that aside - the chemist and my mother, and the doctor and all my work colleagues and everyone who is anyone recommended calamine. So off I headed to Sainsburys Pharmacy. 98p for 200ml - yep sold.

Upon application, the problem was apparent rom the start - this was no longer the thick, pasty, gloopy fluid I remember- It certainly didn't coat the pox in thick white films. We tried shaking the bottle, stirring up the bottom, pouring it out into a bowl to settle so we could filter off some of the thinnest liquid - it was all pretty hopeless.

So off I set to Lloyds and bought a bottle of the Care brand calamine - it was the same water weak substance that didn't offer relief or the thick white/pink coating I was expecting.

Both bottles contained Calamine at 15% and 5% Zinc Oxide - or Talc so my doctor told me. They also contain Glycerol, Sodium Citrate, Bentonite, Phenol and Purified Water.

Whatever they contained neither bottle worked and for me that was just not good enough - luckily my Mum had her usual gone off bottle - 5yrs out of date that had almost set solid and gave excellent relief - otherwise I don't know what I would of done.

Summary: It seems to have been weakend