LOL

I will continue with Pure Neatsfoot Oil (NOT the "Compound") - it is cheap and a mighty fine placebo. Though I have heard from an old Black Country Chemist, when I originally bought it for my Bodhran, and since from "Steven Fry, On QI, Who cannot tell a Lie ! " that it was used to hasten the mending of broken bones and arthritic joints. Oslers, apparently, suffered less from arthritis than their contemporaries. You can get the "Compound" from equestrian shops but the "pure" variety has only been seen on the internet.

Last Sidmouth I was determined to avoid an ache on the sole of my foot that Ibuprofen only partially solved (cream & pills) in 2013 (3 dances per day, 2 on tarmac).
Well, let us just say Neatsfoot is a mighty fine placebo. And just to put it in context, there was a BBC Horizon programme on placebos (may still be on iPlayer), and it was confirmed there by Havard Medical School that even knowing the treatment is a placebo does not diminish too much of the efficacy of Placebo. Brain scans showed the endorphins were almost as prevalent as with conventional pain killers.

It gets weirder.

Sugar pill anyone?