# Bag Balm safe for human use? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 2, 2003, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522 "2003-03-02T03:52:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Emiliana](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Emiliana](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emiliana)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522/61 "2014-03-30T18:46:14Z")
Wow. Bag Balm certainly has a long shelf life. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522/62 "2014-03-30T18:55:28Z")
> [@robby](#): > > Instead, I was asking a specific **factual question** as to whether or not Bag Balm was safe for use by humans. > > Indeed, if you read my OP, it’s all about the ingredients and safety, not about whether or not the product is effective or not. While I concede that several people subsequently posted various anecdotes about its effectiveness (including the latest resurrector), most of the discussion has been on-topic. Whether it’s safe or not is a medical question. In fact, it’s more important a consideration in moving it than whether or not it is effective, since we can’t vouch for the reliability of the advice being given about its safety. > [@](#): > > And despite the fact that this thread is now over 11 years old, and has been resurrected at least four times (with mostly on-topic and relevant responses), it only _now_ gets sent from GQ to IMHO? :dubious: Sorry if we missed it previously. In 2003, the usual course would have been to close the thread. More recently we’ve permitted medical advice, but only in IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522/63 "2014-03-30T19:06:21Z")
> [@robby](#): > > BTW, my son is now 17 years old. 🙂 Does he still go Moo and chew his food slowly for long periods of time? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![robby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robby/32/11048_2.png) [@robby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robby)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2014, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522/64 "2014-03-30T19:46:26Z")
Thanks for the explanation, **Colibri**. I guess my thread will have to spend its second decade of life in IMHO. 🙂 I’m actually glad the thread is still alive, because my wife is still occasionally using it on my son (and on herself for chapped hands), and I appreciate any additional safety info that people might be able to provide. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/848f3c/32.png) [@The\_Holdsworth\_Effect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Holdsworth_Effect)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2014, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522/65 "2014-03-31T04:26:34Z")
Bag Balm was used in nursing homes, some hospitals, and on the farm- you wash cow udders with a really drying disinfectant prior to slipping on the Laval;), so you apply the BB after. (I milked the morning shift at a Holstein dairy briefly in the early 70s, and a little later milked first calf heifers at home before they went to their permanent places). For eczema, I currently prefer Blue Magic Coconut, which is half petrolatum, half coconut. It’s an African American hair care product, it’s $3 for a 12 oz tub, works on infantile eczema (grand daughter) hemorrhoids ( I was out of prep H), and many of my patients with vulvar dryness who don’t want to use estrogen cream or steroids. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bag-balm-safe-for-human-use/158522.md?page=3)