Well the inevitable had to happen........whilst building an extension a concrete block just split in half, one half in the hand and the other half on my left foot...OUCH!

Of course I was wearing Thai Safety Boots......flip, flops.

Anyway the morning after I got out of bed and literally fell on the floor.

The pain was so excruciating, I was convinced I'd broken a toe (the one next to the big toe).

I had no option but to remain as a prisoner in my home all day, even a visit to the toilet or kitchen was unbelievable painful.

When the g/f came home in the evening I suggested I go to the hospital for an x-ray.

Instead she pulls out an unmarked bottle of Grannies home made potions and lotions made back in the village.

I insist that won't do any good, but just to appease her..............carefully, very, very, carefully.

She rubs it around the toe (which bloody well hurt).

Unbelievably next morning, not only could I stand I could walk on it.

I shower and she puts some more on.

Tonight I can flex my toe backwards and forwards without any discomfort.

Never again will I call a homemade lotion nonsense without trying it first.

I have no idea what's in it, but Grannie your a star!

There are some good remedies out there.

A relative picked up a skin rash during the Vietnam war that looked like he had scald marks over his shoulders and back. Numerous skin specialists in Oz couldn't fix it.

I mentioned his problem to someone in a village one day and they headed off to the local shop and brought back a little round bottle similar to tiger balm for him to use.

It worked.. it cleared the rash up.

The MoPH also has a department for traditional medicines.

I had a similar experience with a sore shoulder, months of dicking around with trad medicine and doctors and I used a potion from here the GF orders from some salon....It is a small bottle with yellow fluid and the phonetic thai is Nam Man Nooat Mahroom ?

Water it Massage Mahroom is the straight translation

I think is the name of the flower/seed itis made from. Sadly, I seem to have grown immune to it and it no longer has the healing properties I first experienced.

Naam Man just means oil. Nooat at means massage.

How do you know the toe wouldn't have healed by itself the following morning even without the magic potion?

I didn't apply anything the first day and I couldn't even touch it without excruciating pain.

As I said I was convinced I'd broken it.

It was only the evening of day 2 my g/f applied this lotion.

Day 3, I could walk on it and move it.

Day 4, wouldn't have known I'd dropped a block on it 3 days earlier.

It was swollen and just starting to go black and blue the day after.

By the morning after it was applied, the swelling and bruising had disappeared.

In my younger days I had plenty of knocks, bumps, lumps, scrapes, cuts and broken bones to judge the severity of this injury.

No medicine or medication I ever received before acted as fast as this potion did.

I'm still gobsmacked by it's healing powers.

I'm not trying to provoke an argument, but that's not really conclusive evidence to support a causal effect. The injury might have gotten better all by itself in spite of your treatment, your memory of younger days notwithstanding.

I recommend a rigorous controlled trial whereby you drop the same weight on your toe and apply the ointment. Immediate healing (within 12 hours) would indicate a valid hypothesis.

Do this a hundred or so times and get back to us with any statistically significant results.

Aaaah, a kind of experiment to confirm my theory, I understand.

However after already achieving a suitable outcome, further tests would inevitable give the same results.

I recommend as an alternative you should volunteer, being a sceptic, and do the same test without any potions or lotions.

You should drop half a concrete block on a toe from a given height of approx. 1metre, making sure not to break the skin, but in enough pain to think you've broken it. If you can slip on a flip flop, or walk on anything other than just the heel, then repeat the test.

If you don't have a concrete block a hammer should suffice.

Don't apply any medication and get back to us in 3 days with the results.

If your still hobbling or in pain, then my hypothesis that the potion really did work will be vindicated.

One thing I have learned staying in Thailand, the local simple and natural methods are often the best.

LOl yes i do love their green potion. It always helps me with muscle pain.