Aches and Pains are things from which we all suffer from time to time, especially at this time of year when the cold gets in your bones.

I was given a can of Deep Heat by my father in law when we stayed recently. I had a painful shoulder - don't know how it happened but it was really stiff in the mornings. I got my wife to spray the Deep Heat on my shoulder and immediately I got a nice warm sensation and the pain was not so apparent - still there, but not much pain.

Deep Heat is a Heat Spray formulated to give Fast Relief from Rheumatic Pain and Muscular Aches and Pains.

It comes in a red spray can holding 150ml and it is to be sprayed on the area affected. Active ingredients are:

Methyl Nicotinate
2 Hydroxyethyl Salicylate
Methyl Salicylate
Ethyl Salicylate

The product also contains propane and butane and is extremely flammable. It should obviously therefore not be sprayed on a naked flame and kept away form incandescent material. You shouldn't smoke in the vicinity.

Because the use of this product could have a reaction, you are advised to use it sparingly initially in a small area. It shouldn't be used on children under 5

I have traditionally been rather sceptical about the efficacy of spray on relief products, but do recall from the use of liniment and magic sprays when in the school football team that the generation and application of heat to the affected area can help. My mother in law found a lot of relief from using this in the period before she died. She suffered acute pains from arthritis.

Deep Heat is manufactured by CCL Industries of Scunthorpe and can be found in most good chemists and pharmacies and some larger supermarkets.