#Icy hot roll on skin#

This is the reason you often see menthol as a key ingredient in cough drops and topical creams, like Icy Hot. Additionally, the cooling properties of menthol have been shown to be anesthetic, which means they help prevent pain, especially in the throat and on the skin. Menthol is one of the few chemicals that naturally activate TRPM8 and gives a unique cooling sensation, making it a popular compound to include in mints and gum. When the protein detects that the temperature of a certain area is dropping, it is able to adjust its shape to allow calcium ions to enter the nerve cell and give you the sensation of “feeling” cold. TRPM8 is a cold-sensing receptor protein that allows your body to naturally detect changes in temperature.

#Icy hot roll on skin#

The reason that menthol feels cold when applied to the skin is not because the chemical actually lowers the temperature of your body, but because it activates a protein called TRPM8. It’s a compound derived from peppermint, eucalyptus and pennyroyal herbs which gives it its trademark “cooling” properties. Menthol is one of the most common chemicals used in topical pain relief.

Let’s break down these chemicals a little bit to see exactly what they’re doing when they’re applied to your skin. Typically, the “stronger” the relief, the higher the concentration of menthol and methyl salicylate. The exact dosage of the chemicals depends on the product you purchase varying anywhere from 2.5% menthol to 30% methyl salicylate. Menthol and methyl salicylate cool the skin and then capsaicin irritates it on a minor level, causing it to feel warm. Icy Hot products are made up of a combination of active ingredients including menthol, methyl salicylate, and capsaicin (a compound found in chili peppers). In this unbiased, clinical review, we’re going to look at the research and science behind Icy Hot and determine if it actually has any merit for people who deal with back pain.įirst off, let’s begin by determining exactly what IcyHot is. Icy Hot has even created some commercials that target that demographic specifically.īut do the actual benefits of the product really live up to all the marketing hype? With their steady popularity, Icy Hot and similar topical products have piqued the interest of people who struggle from frequent back pain. The brand offers a wide variety of creams, sleeves, sprays and patches that claim to dull your pain by cooling down the affected area and then “relax it away” through heating properties. To help you choose the best muscle rub for your next post-run self-care session, we’ve rounded up our favorites below.Icy Hot is one of the most popular pain-relieving brands in the world today, selling over $270 million worth of products each year. In some cases the benefits have been characterized as simply perceptive-but is there a reason to discount some placebo effect, as long as you’re in less pain? And then there’s CBD, a cannabis compound newer to the market, which shows promise as an anti-inflammatory, according to studies. Other creams and rubs have also been shown to reduce recovery time, due to the homeopathic contributions of menthol, magnesium, aloe, and more. According to a 2019 study in the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, using a topical analgesic like arnica can reduce the intensity of muscle soreness in the 72 hours after a run. Much like ice baths and compression socks, using a muscle rub as part of post-run recovery has more than just anecdotal benefits. All of these can be helpful for reducing swelling and tissue breakdown-particularly when combined with a good muscle rub. There are lots of time-tested ways to quiet the pain, like ice baths, massage, and the oddly satisfying torture of foam-rolling.

It’s a bad-good feeling that combines the thrill of accomplishment with the humility of having to lower yourself slowly into a chair. Feeling sore after a hard run-particularly when the pain sets in days later, as in the case of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS)-is common for even the most experienced runners.