When you have muscle or arthritis pain it can affect every aspect of your life. You limit your activities, cancel plans, and even feel like you’re in a bad mood when these pains strike. When trying to find relief from the pain most people think of reaching for some sort of pill – aspirin or Tylenol. Less often, we think of a pain relieving gel to apply to our skin.
Gels or other topically remedies have an advantage over pills. Pills or other oral (by mouth) medications enter the bloodstream via the digestive system; therefore everywhere your blood goes in your body, those areas will also receive the effects of the medication, whether or not it is needed.
For systemic problems like a cold, flu or fever, oral medication is the clear choice. For more local problems, such as sore muscles from overexertion, or a local flare up of arthritis in the hands, may be best addressed with a topical solution such as a pain relieving gel.
Topical – Rub Versus a Patch:
Topical medications have traditionally been in the form of ointments and salves, mixtures of healing herbs and animal fat or butter; today’s muscle rubs are the direct descendents of these original recipes. A more recent innovation is the stick-on patch, which delivers the medication through direct contact with the skin over a long period of time.
If your muscle pain is in an area typically covered by clothing, you may prefer the long-lasting effects of the patch products. Rubs can provide immediate relief for minor pains, but will need to be reapplied periodically if your aches and pains are persistent. Rubs are usually fairly strong smelling and can be oily, so beware damage to your clothing.
What to Look for in a Pain Relieving Gel:
There are many formulations on the market today. Some so-called ‘natural’ remedies contain a few herbal ingredients along with a number other ingredients, such chemicals for thickening, fragrances, preservatives, alcohol and a lot of water. Some are more effective than others.
Here are a few guidelines to consider when
choosing the right product for your pain relief:
- What are the ingredients?
- Will the ingredients give me the effect I’m seeking?
- Are the ingredients all natural or herbal?
- What are the effects and side effects of the ingredients?
- Are there ingredients I’m allergic to?
- Is the formulation pure?
- Is it manufactured up to pharmaceutical standards?
- Is the formulation concentrated or am I buying water?
Most of the pain relieving gels available over the counter for arthritis and muscle pain, contain ingredients that bring on warm, then cool sensations. Be cautious and read labels. Some are more effective than others. Many of these products are available only through a professional such as a massage therapist or chiropractor.
Common Ingredients in Pain Relieving Gels:
Once you’ve decided how you want your medication of choice applied, your next decision is which ‘active ingredient’ buy Femara online is best suited to your individual situation. There are three main categories of effect these ingredients will have – analgesic (pain-killing), anti-inflammatory, and irritating (which, counter-intuitively, is not undesirable in a pain-medicine). Be careful, some ingredients can trigger allergic reactions or unwanted side effects.
Some ingredients may have more than one of these effects – aspirin, for instance, is both analgesic and anti-inflammatory. ‘Irritating’ ingredients are those such as menthol and camphor, which cause a mild, not-unpleasant stinging sensation that some people feel as heat and others feel as a chill. This causes a pain-relieving effect because the nerves are ‘distracted’ in sending the brain the heat/chilling message, and thus can’t carry the sore-muscle message at the same time. Look for the following common ingredients on the labels of pain medications:
Salicylate – this is the active ingredient of aspirin. If you are avoiding aspirin for any reason, you should avoid topical preparations containing salicylate. Otherwise, it is very effective applied right to the source of the pain, and also serves to reduce inflammation that may be the cause of much of the pain.
Menthol, camphor, clove oil – these are all ‘irritating’ agents that feel either warm or icy on the skin. Most people find the sensation soothing, not irritating. They are very effective for easing pain temporarily. Many topical gels and patches contain one or several of these ingredients, most commonly menthol.
Capsaicin – a special case in the ‘irritating agents’ category, capsaicin is the substance that makes cayenne peppers taste hot, and which can burn your skin. Used in a salve, it functions in the same way as menthol and the other irritants; it has been used in herbal preparations for literally centuries.
Modern research has discovered that it also has the property that if used over a period of time, it decreases the nerves’ store of ‘Substance P’, which transmits pain messages to the brain, resulting in a reduction in the ability to feel pain. Since it can take two weeks of application for this effect to be noticed, it is more useful for managing chronic pain such as that associated with arthritis.
Herbal Versus Chemical Products:
Don’t assume that because something is an ‘herbal’ product, it is less effective than a ‘modern science’ product. Many of our standard medicines were originally derived from herbal ingredients, and in some cases, the original herbal preparations actually work better than the chemical re-creations, for reasons that are not well understood.
Read the labels of products in the pain-relief section of your local pharmacy and try both analgesic and counter-irritant products to see which one works best for you.
Our favorite remedy of this type is Ramedica Herbal Wonder Balm. Ramedica gives that very soothing hot/cold sensation. Ramedica has more active, pure herbal ingredients than any other pain relieving gel of its type. And it contains, no alcohol, no glycerin or petrochemicals, and no water. Its medicinal herbal ingredients are carried in a base of White Lilly Bulb extract and beeswax.
We’ve tried other popular gels (Biofreeze, Flexall, etc.) but we find Ramedica is the purest, the only all herbal, and the most effective topical treatment for relieving pain. This product is manufactured to the highest pharmaceutical standards. buy cialis online Ramedica seems to work best when applied before going to bed on the affected areas. In the morning we have had significant relief from pain the night before.
Future posts will discuss the ingredients we have found in all the popular brands of pain relieving gel.
