Vaporub and Napalm (Deep Heat Fast Relief Rub)

Member Name: collingwood21

Product:	Deep Heat Fast Relief Rub
Date:	17/11/02 (1859 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Relief for muscle pain and stiffness, Lasting benefits, Widely available

Disadvantages: Burns like hell, You smell of menthol all day, SOme people may suffer skin irritation for it

If your mother is anything like mine, she will have told you a million times never to carry a holdall on one shoulder - you always put the strap across your body to spread out the weight more evenly. Unfortunately, I know now why my mother told me to do this, after running around with said heavy bag on one shoulder while trying to catch a connection at Manchester Piccadilly earlier this week. I awoke the day after my journey to find I had managed to pull muscles in my neck and shoulder, and was in sufficient pain and stiffness to be unable to twist my neck at all - this has given me a renewed insight into the wisdom of the saying "mother knows best". Never will I doubt her again!

Anyway, back to the problem with my neck. I was far too embarrassed to phone my mum and ask her what to do, so instead I turned to BF, who obligingly tried to massage it better for me. When it became clear that this wasn't going to work (although it was very nice!) we turned to ibuprofen gel, a saviour for painful bits on a number of occasions. Hmmmm. No improvement here either. But what is this? BF has a tube of Deep Heat rub, and is poised ready to rub some into my protesting muscles! Perhaps this will help...


· What is Deep Heat?
You may have noticed this stuff on the shelves of your local chemist - well, the whole range is bright red in colour, so you could hardly fail to miss them! Deep Heat is a range of products (rubs, sprays and liniments) designed to provide relief from muscular aches and pains, but can also be used on backaches, rheumatic pain, fibrositis, lumbago, sciatica, bruises sprains and chilblains. The rub is also available in a max strength formula for heavy users and people with arthritis. As the name suggests, they do this by providing a penetrating heat that relaxes and soothes painful muscles. Aha! This sounds exactly like what I need then!


· So what is in the rub?
The Deep Heat rub is a white c
ream that comes in a small metal tube - it is very thick, the sort consistency you would expect from other medicated creams such as Germolene or E45. The cream has a lanolin base as many hand-creams do, which helps it to be absorbed through your skin. Deep Heat works through a mixture of four active ingredients:

- Menthol (5.91%)
This provides the overwhelming smell of the cream, and is identical to that of Vicks Vaborub (so it will unblock your nose as well as soothe your muscles!). The menthol is used as it is a natural local anaesthetic and has counter-irritant properties, so it will help numb your skin and stop it reacting badly to the strong oils the cream needs to contain to help your muscles.

- Eucalyptus oil (1.97%)
Also very aromatic, this combines with the menthol to make the cream smell like a cold remedy. Eucalyptus oil is good at stimulating the circulation, and helps to provide the warming action that gives the rub its name. It has long been used as a natural remedy for sore muscles because of these properties.

- Turpentine oil (1.47%)
This is a natural balsam with wound healing properties.

- Methyl Silicate (12.8%)
Some of you may know this ingredient better as oil of wintergreen. It is the main active oil of the cream, and acts as a tonic, a stimulant to the circulation and an anaesthetic to help numb the pain felt in the muscles. This will help get oxygen to tense, sore muscles, relax them and stop you feeling the pain quite so badly.


· How should it be used?
At the risk of stating the obvious, you rub a small amount of the cream into the sore area until it has been completely absorbed. You may use the rub up to three times a day until the soreness eases up. Always wash your hands after use, and never apply to areas of broken skin or high sensitivity. If you develop a rash or other signs of excessive irritation, then stop using the rub.


· So, does it work
then?
After carefully rubbing the cream into my stiff neck, BF asked me what it was like. The first thing you feel is the very cool sensation of the menthol, as the Deep heat is absorbed by your skin - it is similar to the sensation you get from the mint original source shower gel. "Actually, it is quite cool" I therefore replied. "Oooh, wait a minute, it is starting to warm up. My neck is getting warmer and... YAAARRRGGH!"

They really aren't kidding when they call it Deep Heat you know. After being lulled into a false sense of coolness by the menthol, the eucalyptus and oil of wintergreen kick in, creating a very hot burning sensation in your sore bits. I picked up the tube and had to check it to make sure I hadn't just had napalm rubbed into me, my skin was burning that much. BF told me not to make such a girly fuss, but then added that actually my neck did look quite red. I bet it did, what with my skin being flayed off and all.

After about 15 minutes of this burning, the heat subsided (although I continued to reek of menthol for the rest of the day). The surprising thing was, that after the burning had gone, so had the soreness - and the stiffness gradually wore off during the course of the day. And what is more, the pain and tense muscles stayed away for ages after the cream had been used, so it only took 2 doses to keep my neck muscles happy for a full 24 hours. Two days later, and everything is back to normal.

I feel I can recommend this stuff, but only if you don't have sensitive skin and can put up with the nasty burning sensation to get to the pain relief. But then, who needs skin anyway? ;-)


· Cautions for using Deep Heat
- Never use on children under 5 years
- Stop using if excessive irritation occurs
- Do not use on broken skin
- Menthol is considered an antidote for many homeopathic remedies and should be avoided by people taking them
- Do no
t use after expiry date


· Details...
Deep Heat is made by:
The Mentholatum Co. Ltd
East Kilbride
G74 5PE

www.mentholatum.com

It is available in three sizes (with approx prices):
35g - £1.80
67g - £3.10
100g - £4.20

Deep Heat can be bought from Boots, Superdrug and most supermarkets and chemists.

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