dirty underwear a cure for a crick?

kellytijer · Sep 23, 2007

when my daughter was 6, she had a crick in her neck so severe that she walked around with her head cocked to one side for a few days. my hispanic husband's aunt saw my daughter's obvious stiffness one evening and asked what was wrong. when i told her my daughter was suffering from a crick, she said "put a dirty underwear around her neck when she goes to sleep."

now, i've been exposed to many "hispanic home remedies" during my years of marriage into my husband's hispanic family, but this remedy seemed, well, ridiculous.

i have to add that my husband is a stand up comedian. i was in attendance at one of his shows when he mentioned the "dirty underwar around the neck" cure for cricks, and was shocked to see a few hispanic audience members nodding in agreement. one lady even whispered, "it really works."

i have never tried this cure, but was wondering if anybody out there has. i have a few questions regarding the proper "application" of the underwear.

1. does the underwear have to be your own, or can it be someone else's?

2. how dirty does the underwear have to be?

any comments appreciated, thanks.

A. Hamilton · Sep 23, 2007

oh this one made me giggle. never heard of it, but maybe the theory is that if you spend the night moving your head trying to get your nose away from the smell, that would loosen up the neck.
but- ewwww.

brokenfingers · Sep 23, 2007

Wow - I'm half Hispanic as well as half Italian, and I ain't ever heard of that one!

Good luck!

Lyra Jean · Sep 23, 2007

Ask Carlos Mencia?

kellytijer · Sep 23, 2007

well P.H.Delarran, your theory matches mine.

i was talking to my husband after i posted this morning and he said, "Kelly, Mexicans aren't the only ones who know about the dirty underwear. A black lady approached me after one of my shows and said, 'That isn't just for Mexicans, my family has been using the dirty underwear cure for years.'"

rosemerry - alas, my husband doesn't allow Carlos Mencia to be viewed in our home. he doesn't have a problem with any other comedians, but Carlos Mencia, he's a big no-no for some reason. (i've heard he's wonderful, though

).

smallthunder · Sep 27, 2007

I have to say, I learn the most AMAZING things here ... now, how can I find a way to fit this dirty-underwear 'gem' into my WIP?
Hmmm ....

III · Sep 27, 2007

Best. Research thread. Ever.

Ed Rogers · Sep 27, 2007

Rub a dirty wash rag on a wart. Then throw the rag uner the back steps and a week later the wart will be gone. Something else about a dead cat and a full full moon; I can't remember that one, but I believe there was a cemetery involved. They used warm cow pee for ear drops at one time. Some of these things had to have worked or why were they passed down?

Rich · Sep 27, 2007

Dirty underwear might get rid of a crick, but e coli is a bit more serious.

scarletpeaches · Sep 27, 2007

Hmm...I'm just glad that when I had a trapped nerve in my back, I stuck to a surgical collar and painkillers rather than sticking to...well, dirty undercrackers.

TrainofThought · Sep 27, 2007

I don’t have any advice or anything to add, yet felt compelled to tell you it made me laugh. This cure isn’t something I will try but if I ever have a crick in the neck, I’ll think of you and reach for a heating pad instead.

melaniehoo · Sep 27, 2007

Thanks for the warning! I've heard some weirdo things since I've been down here with my husbands' family so now I can keep a straight face if this happens. I was lucky - my sister-in-law is a masseuse so she fixed my crick that way. But don't EVER drink something cold if you have a sore throat!

Haggis · Sep 27, 2007

Ed Rogers said:
Rub a dirty wash rag on a wart. Then throw the rag uner the back steps and a week later the wart will be gone. Something else about a dead cat and a full full moon; I can't remember that one, but I believe there was a cemetery involved. They used warm cow pee for ear drops at one time. Some of these things had to have worked or why were they passed down?

Ed, I'm all for anything that involves a dead cat.

PastMidnight · Sep 28, 2007

Ed Rogers said:
Rub a dirty wash rag on a wart. Then throw the rag uner the back steps and a week later the wart will be gone.

You know, my GP did tell me that (at least for children) the power of suggestion can truly get rid of warts. Stick a plaster with a smiley face over the wart or wave your hand with a magic word, and it will disappear. I was very doubtful and insisted on medication for the enormous wart on my daughter's finger. But after the first application of the medication, wouldn't you know, but that wart just fell off!

I've always read that there is some kernel of truth behind even the oddest folk remedies.

Voyager · Sep 28, 2007

kellytijer said:
rosemerry - alas, my husband doesn't allow Carlos Mencia to be viewed in our home. he doesn't have a problem with any other comedians, but Carlos Mencia, he's a big no-no for some reason. (i've heard he's wonderful, though).

Being hispanic myself, I can understand 100% why your husband doesn't like Mencia. He's also purported to be big on plagiarizing other comics and has been confronted about it publicly by everyone from Joe Rogin to George Lopez. My kids, however, think he's hilarious. I have no problem with self-depricating humor, I love George Lopez and Pablo Francisco and a lot of other comics who use their ethnicity in their acts, I just find Mencia offensive.

As far as the dirty underwear, my grandma was a curandera, I've heard them all. When your foot falls asleep, spit on your finger and draw a cross on it, eating rattlesnake meat cures erectile disfunction (not quite how they phrase it, but I don't want to go too organic here), and the many curative qualities of mansano, yerba buena and beek baporu

musicalzoo · Sep 28, 2007

the things you learn and will never use....lol

kellytijer · Sep 28, 2007

Voyager said:
Being hispanic myself, I can understand 100% why your husband doesn't like Mencia. He's also purported to be big on plagiarizing other comics and has been confronted about it publicly by everyone from Joe Rogin to George Lopez. My kids, however, think he's hilarious. I have no problem with self-depricating humor, I love George Lopez and Pablo Francisco and a lot of other comics who use their ethnicity in their acts, I just find Mencia offensive.

As far as the dirty underwear, my grandma was a curandera, I've heard them all. When your foot falls asleep, spit on your finger and draw a cross on it, eating rattlesnake meat cures erectile disfunction

yeah, the joke-napping just about sealed the deal for my husband. you've heard them all including the dirty underwear cure? any ideas about the application? can you ask your grandma?

Voyager · Sep 29, 2007

I've heard of the underwear treatment but I've never actually seen it applied. I know one of my cousins had to do it because I remember everyone teasing him about it. My grandma lives in Cozumel and I don't get to talk to her too often, maybe my cousin will suspend his selective memory long enough to tell me how it's done.

girlyswot · Sep 29, 2007

Ed Rogers said:
Rub a dirty wash rag on a wart. Then throw the rag uner the back steps and a week later the wart will be gone. Something else about a dead cat and a full full moon; I can't remember that one, but I believe there was a cemetery involved. They used warm cow pee for ear drops at one time. Some of these things had to have worked or why were they passed down?

Coincidence. Once. Then blind faith.

dirty underwear a cure for a crick?

kellytijer

What the hell is going on?!

A. Hamilton

here for a minute...catch me?

brokenfingers

Walkin' That Road

Lyra Jean

Two years old now.

kellytijer

What the hell is going on?!

smallthunder

Ruled by Dachshunds

III

rockin the suburbs

Ed Rogers

Rich

scarletpeaches

TrainofThought

A flowering bud of bitchiness

melaniehoo

And thus we begin the edits

Haggis

Evil, undead Chihuahua

PastMidnight

Oponionated

Voyager

Ribbed for your pleasure.

musicalzoo

kellytijer

What the hell is going on?!

Voyager

Ribbed for your pleasure.

girlyswot