Biofreeze vs. Salonpas for Managing Body Pain
Looking for a fast-acting solution to your bodily pain? Topical ointments and patches are designed for placement directly where it hurts. Unlike pain meds, there is little danger of getting hooked. Before you spend an afternoon in the pharmacy aisle examining labels-- there are enough topical options on the market to make your head spin-- let’s keep it simple and compare the benefits of two leading brands, Biofreeze and Salonpas. This article will help you make an informed decision tailored to your body’s issues. So, which is right for you?
Get active: Know Your Pain
Back issues creeping into your conversation with ever more frequency? Or is Arthritis nagging you? Maybe you re-aggravated an old sports injury. Whatever your ailment, let your body be your guide.
Here are some quick definitions that may help:
- Mechanical pain is caused by repetition of a mistake-- everything from working-out incorrectly to poor posture.
- Chronic or prolonged pain hangs around with a variety of conditions or injuries, for one Arthritis, or achy joints. Back pain springs from the joints as well (your spine has 24 joints), or muscles, or both.
- Soft tissue pain results from injury to the muscles or tissues from fall or strain.
All types of pain mentioned here can be categorized as inflammatory pain, which may be addressed by the active ingredients in Biofreeze and Salonspas.
Stay Active... Ingredients That Is
Both Biofreeze and Salonpas are relatively low-risk products (see some risks below) for treating your inflammatory pain. Each comes in a few forms, but pretty much stick to their respective formulas.
Biofreeze works using cryotherapy, or to the layman has a cooling effect. It comes in gel form to be massaged into muscles or joints or can be rolled on. It contains a single active ingredient: Menthol.
Salonpas, classified as a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory (NSAID) and comes in a patch or cream, contains Menthol and Methyl Salicylate. This added NSAID agent in Salonpas, which is the same active ingredient found in Aspirin, makes it a bit stronger. However, take a lesson from your strained muscles, overdoing it is not always best.
Perhaps your pain is isolated, as is often with back pain, you may want to use a patch or roll-on delivery method for an intense effect. If you are working with a large area of pain, as can be the case with muscle or tendon and ligament pulls or strains, you may gravitate towards a gel or cream that can be spread.
There are a few more factors to tease out before you make your choice. We want to look beyond the label, at what these active ingredients can achieve.
Biofreeze, Salonpas, and Menthol’s Healing Properties
You may notice, both Biofreeze and Salonpas contain Menthol, which is derived from mint. Salonpas Pain Relief Patch (most popular) contains 3% Menthol. Biofreeze contains more Menthol, 3.5%. That is because Menthol is a battle-tested analgesic, or numbing agent, that targets the pain that follows inflammation.
Remember the acronym repeated in Emergency Rooms after an injury: RICE, or Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation? Similar to icing down sore and inflamed sprains, bruises, or joints, Menthol soothes the pain of swelling. Cryotherapy activates the cold receptors in your brain, tricking you out of feeling pain.
Biofreeze can be best used for joint pain or fresh injuries. If your pain is accompanied by swollen, hot, tightness, (think soft tissue), Biofreeze can take away the pain.
When you are suffering prolonged pain and need relief on the go, a topical product containing majority Menthol like Biofreeze can be both portable and long-lasting. It is very important not to skip over rest, as cryotherapy may trick you out of feeling the sensation of pain it does not fully fix the problem. For instance, you should refrain from bending a hurt knee even after biofreeze numbs you. Taking a break from the pain does not mean you should grab the ball and get back in the game.
Ultimately, the effectiveness of any given Menthol based product is based on a combination of being gentle on your body and choosing a product with a list of inactive ingredients that drive the analgesic into the skin, allowing absorption. Biofreeze’s chief inactive ingredient is Ilex, a South American herb that dramatically delivers Menthol’s cooling properties to the source of your pain.
Menthol has a very low risk of interaction with other medications. However, in the event of an allergic reaction, wash their skin and consult a doctor.
Salonpas and Methyl Salicylate: Who it Helps
The added active ingredient in Salonpas, Methyl Salicylate, treats the inflammation itself. Methyl Salicylate (derived from Wintergreen oil) closely resembles acetylsalicylic acid (or ACA), which is active in Aspirin. Rather than numbing the pain, NSAIDs bring down the swelling, therefore reducing your pain overall.
If your injury is severe, using a product like Salonpas that is designed for direct absorption of Methyl Salicylate may be right for you. When it comes to back pain, which can be a complex knot of mechanical, joint, and soft tissue pain, Salonpas could be the best option for delivering numbing relief and a stronger anti-inflammatory offered by a NSAID.
The Salonpas patch is quite sticky, flexible and good for stubborn back or joint pain. If administered to a dry area, the patch will stay put and administer Methyl Salicylate to the affected area as it was intended. The Salonpas gel is an even more intense formula of Menthol and Methyl Salicylate and can work for a those in need of more relief.
Other NSAIDs include oral pain relief products, such as aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen, and more. It is safe to use such oral pain relievers concurrently with a Salonpas patch or gel. Mixing the two could give you more relief and take down the swelling for a case that has you laid up from work or visiting a hospital. There is a small risk of stomach bleeding (an even smaller risk with topical forms) associated with overusing NSAIDs, so always consult the instructions and remain within recommended doses.
Be advised; it is not safe for women in their third trimester of pregnancy to use Salonpas. If your doctor has warned you about Aspirin, or if you feel your system may be sensitive to Aspirin, do not use this product. Salonpas website recommends the use of one patch at a time and advises against using a heating pad. You can try massaging surrounding hurt muscles with lower-risk Biofreeze; however, all that cooling-effect may be a little too intense!
Conclusion
Using such topical pain relievers as Biofreeze and Salonpas as directed can put you in charge of managing your body pain, and lead to quicker healing results.
Common sense and the labels warn you to refrain from placing on an open wound or rash-- this goes for any topical OTC drugs-- or oral ingestion, as it can be poisonous.
With the tools you now have, you can make a clear choice to treat your sore self. Be gentle, and always be careful of proper work out regimens and that last step!
