Taking the Pain Out of Over - The-Counter Pain Relief Patches

Staying active, no matter what your age, increases fitness levels and quality of life, but it also ups your odds for getting all sorts of aches and pains. In addition to aches caused by exercise, many people also endure chronic pain due to arthritis and other orthopedic conditions. According to a recent report from the CDC, 20.4% of adults in the United States experience chronic pain. Among the therapeutic options for the management of pain are OTC (Over-The-Counter) or nonprescription topical analgesic patches.

While the use of OTC pain patches have really taken off in the last decade or so, the use of topical remedies, bandaged, rubbed or applied to the skin, have been used since the earliest days of medicine, Written records of medicinal herbs applied to the skin have shown up in clay tablets of the ancient Sumerians.

One of the leading producers of topical pain relief products, Salonpas has been selling their treatments around the world since 1937. In 2008 their popular Salonpas Pain Relief Patch was the first product of its kind to receive FDA approval for over the counter use and is currently the #1 doctor recommended brand. 

The Salonpas Pain Relief Patch features a transdermal drug delivery system in which anti-inflammatory medicine is spread across an ultra-thin and stretchable piece of cloth, then applied directly to the skin. The anti inflammatory medicine is delivered directly to the site of pain. The two active ingredients in the patch: menthol (3%) and methyl salicylate (10%) combine to create a topical analgesic.

A single patch is reportedly effective for 8 to 12 hours.

Other popular OTC pain-relief patches include offerings from Icy-Hot, Tigerbalm, Aspercreme, and Bengay. Many of the patches available to consumers at their drug store feature active ingredients such as lidocaine, capsaicin, methyl salicylate, and menthol. 

While all the patches may contain different active ingredients, they all share one painful common bond-  they attach to the skin with very sticky, strong adhesive. As you can imagine pulling the patch off can cause some pain. A quick and inexpensive hack to that problem is using Sting-less Adhesive Remover. Sting-less is all-natural and contains no drying alcohol or messy oils. It comes in a handy disposable wipe or an easy to use spray. Simply wet the edges of the pain-relief patch with Sting-less and it frees the patch from your skin without the usual pain and irritation. It also removes any sticky residue the patch leaves behind. Sting-less Adhesive Remover is available at www.sting-less.com or through Amazon and Walmart online.