a community of practitioners

Gels, cremes, lotions etc...

it was brought to my attention a few years ago about a product that "warmed the muscles" for quicker results. It was told me that it really didnt work because it gave a false sensation of heat on the skin and not on the muscle itself. As I sit here now I am wondering if all the products out there work the same way in heating and cooling lubricants. what is your take on the subject matter?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Earl Wenk on December 3, 2010 at 9:05am

Hi Frank -

I went back & forth on this as well. In my time working as an athletic trainer, I often scoffed at the warming lotions because they don't really warm the muscle, just irritate the skin. Over time, I mellowed my stance & saw how it can still be beneficial through their effects to the nervous system. I realized if it creates a soothing sensation of warmth (or cold), the nervous system may react accordingly to create a change in the muscle tone and perhaps circulation. Or, from the cooling effects, break the pain-spasm-pain cycle. So, it can be a beneficial tool. But, I strongly caution my athletes to not use this in place of an adequate warm-up (something that happened often in the early days of IcyHot!).

Most of the topical analgesics use menthol or capsaicin, which help block the neurotransmitters involved in the sensation of pain. I don't actively promote the use of these products in my practice, but I do give away the free samples I get at various conferences to athletes who want them.

From Wikipedia (Menthol):
"As a topical analgesic to relieve minor aches and pains such as muscle cramps, sprains, headaches and similar conditions, alone or combined with chemicals like camphor, eucalyptus oil or capsaicin. In Europe it tends to appear as a gel or a cream, while in the US patches and body sleeves are very frequently used ."

Here are a few links about how they work & a research study:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15064591
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menthol

Permalink Reply by Darcy Neibaur on December 4, 2010 at 3:21am

Massage Envy just began using a new program called Choices. One of the Choices is Deep Muscle Therapy where the Client may choose Prossage and Biofreeze. On the bottle and in the training it does state that if the Prossage is not worked deep into the muscles correctly with 3-5 minutes of friction it will give a false sense of of heat on the skin. All I can say at this point is the clients who have chosen this love it.