Back pain is a fairly common phenomenon; it is difficult to find a person who does not have this problem.
Also characteristic is the eternal problem of "lack of time" to visit the doctor, after which most people prefer self-medication, for which they use actively advertised gels and ointments that eliminate back pain.
In addition to these funds, plasters are actively advertised. This back treatment agent has been known for a long time, but it did not enjoy great popularity in recent years until major manufacturers picked it up.
To understand whether such patches are really effective, one should understand the possible causes of back pain.
Why does my back hurt?
Back pain can have many causes. The most harmless of them are minor injuries and sprains that a person can get while exercising and doing physical work.
However, without due attention to such minor injuries, they can have very unpleasant "delayed" consequences, affecting the condition of the muscular corset of the back and the musculoskeletal system itself.
However, in general, such minor injuries remember pain for several days, after which it gradually disappears.
The most common cause of severe back pain, however, is osteochondrosis and its consequences.
This disease is dangerous because it develops gradually and in the early stages, when it can still be treated successfully, it does not manifest itself with any practical symptoms.
In the future, this disease will become the cause of the development of various pain syndromes, the formation of intervertebral hernias and so on.
If microtraumas of the back can still be ignored while waiting for the moment when they no longer cause pain, then it will not work with osteochondrosis - if its consequences manifest, it is not possible to endure severe pain for a long time and anywayto have to go to the doctor.
If minor injuries are successfully eliminated with improvised means, severe back diseases must also be treated for years.
The main cause of pain in this disease is an injury to the nerve roots of the spinal cord. Such compression can occur for various reasons, but it is this compression that causes almost all pain syndromes.
Warming effect in the treatment of back pain
When treating injuries or diseases of the back, doctors almost always recommend "dry heat" along with the necessary medication.
This usually means wrapping a warm fluffy scarf around the affected part of the body - so that the back is well "warmed up" at the affected area.
This "dry heat" improves the blood circulation, which partially reduces inflammation and edema, which leads to a reduction in pressure on the compressed nerve root.
Accordingly, the pain syndrome decreases. This method alone will of course not cope with severe pain, but it is quite suitable as a kind of aid.
In addition, it should be noted that the vast majority of folk recipes for back pain are based precisely on this effect of warming the affected back area. And with not too severe pain, such methods are successfully mastered, although you will not be able to get rid of the cause of their appearance.
Warming up as an alternative to tablets
When back pain occurs, doctors usually prefer medication. And such methods, in most cases, use non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, which quickly reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
Therefore, NSAIDs have one primary goal - to provide pain relief, which they successfully manage in most cases.
However, such drugs have one serious drawback - the treatment of back diseases involves very long-term use, with side effects.
The most common of these effects is gastrointestinal disorder. For example, a herniated disc can take up to a year to treat, and NSAIDs can rarely last more than a month without any significant impact on the patient's body.
As a result, doctors are forced to prescribe such drugs in the minimally effective doses and seek alternative treatments.
First of all, they pay attention to gels and ointments, which are available in large quantities in pharmacies.
But half of them are not suitable in this case, as all of their effects are based on the effects of all the same NSAIDs. Ointments with a "warming" nature are much more expensive and rare.
Another popular alternative is now the plaster, which is invisibly attached to the back and effectively relieves back pain.
Types of back plasters
Pepper plaster
The oldest and "deserved" one is the banal pepper plaster, which has been known for a very long time. The principle of action is simple and clear - a special pepper composition is applied to the sticky surface, which irritates and warms the skin when it is touched.
Perhaps the only disadvantage of such a patch is the excessive aggressiveness of the pepper, which, with the slightest violation of the rules for using the patch, can cause serious skin irritation.
And this severely limits the treatment options - the inflamed area cannot be massaged, it is no longer possible to put another plaster on it or apply a warming gel or ointment.
These deficiencies have become the reason for the search for alternative warming compositions that are applied to the patch with no less efficiency.
Anesthetizing without warming - NSAID patches
Several manufacturers decided without further ado to simply and elegantly bypass the problem of skin irritation - the same nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are simply applied to the patch, which are gradually absorbed into the skin and develop their therapeutic effects.
Thanks to this patch, back pain is eliminated quickly enough, the risk of irritation is minimal and the subject of overheating is also not worthwhile. But this patch also has its drawbacks.
For example, they are definitely not suitable for those who want to forego "chemistry" as much as possible, since the main active ingredient is the same as in tablets, only it gets into the body through the skin and has the same unpleasant side effects.
Reflected warmth
Another possibility are the plasters that contain one or the other "reflective" coating. It is not as important as the manufacturer specifically stated, the essence is the same - the heat given off by the human body is reflected and stored, creating a warming effect.
Of course, such patches have practically no contraindications (since there is no active substance), but it is better to stick them not on the skin, but on laundry.
"Miracle plaster" from China
There are a number of types of patches developed in China based on local traditional medicine. The composition of such a patch contains many plant components, each of which (in theory) should have a certain therapeutic effect.
Such a patch is a very good choice for lovers of "natural" treatment, its only drawback is its unconfirmed effectiveness.