Ointments and osteochondrosis, what to choose?

• Effect of gel or ointment
• Substances that are part of warming gels and ointments
• How and when to use warming ointments correctly?
• How can you not use a warming ointment or gel?
• Breathe® warming gel for children

Warming ointments and gels are an effective means for preventing colds in children and adults. How do they work? How to use them correctly and what are the contraindications for use?

Gels and ointments with warming properties have been used to prevent colds for many centuries. Their composition may be different, but the basic principle of action is based on thermal or irritating effects on the skin or a combination of both.

The thermal effect is provided by substances that reduce heat transfer, for example, lard, badger fat. Applied to the skin, they retain body heat and provide gentle natural heating of tissues.

A gel or ointment with an irritating effect contains substances that excite nerve endings, activating blood flow and metabolism. The result is a feeling of gradual warming up. Substances with this effect include red pepper, turpentine oil, etc.

Composition and release form

The release form of the product is gel. It is sold in metal tubes of 30, 50 or 100 g. Each tube is placed in a cardboard box.

The active component of the medicine is ketoporofen. The gel also contains some excipients that ensure its effectiveness (amounts are indicated per 100 g of the drug):

• 96 percent ethyl alcohol - about 40 ml;
• carbomer (carbopol, rare cross-linked acrylic polymer) – 1500 mg;
• neroli oil – up to 50 mg;
• triethanolamine (trolamine) – approximately 2.8 g;
• lavender oil – in an amount of 50 mg;
• purified water - approximately 100 g.

Substances that are part of warming gels and ointments

Gel and ointment may contain:

• badger or other fat, thanks to which the drug acquires warming properties;
• red pepper extract, menthol (or mint oil), camphor, turpentine oil - as warming irritants;
• menthol or peppermint oil, which have anti-inflammatory analgesic and antiseptic properties;
• eucalyptus oil – as an antiviral, antipyretic and immunomodulatory substance;
• fir oil, pine needle oil, which have antibacterial, antiviral, soothing effects.

The composition of the components may vary depending on the primary purpose of the drug (cough relief, cold prevention, etc.) and age-specific purpose.

Thus, red pepper has a more pronounced warming effect, which is why it is used in gels and ointments for adults. Gels for children, as a rule, have a milder effect, and they contain badger or other fat as a warming component.

It is also very important for adults that they can use warming ointments or gels at any time, and not just before bed. That is why the Dyshi gel-cream is water-based, which does not leave marks on clothes.

Therapeutic effect

The drug slows down the synthesis of prostaglandins (lipid (fatty) substances with physiological activity). In addition, thanks to the main active ingredient, the gel has a beneficial effect on the treated areas of the body:

• anti-inflammatory;
• painkiller.

Its main feature is that it is able to alleviate diseases not only of the skin, but also of muscles, tendons, joints, ligaments, i.e. it penetrates deep under the skin.

Absorbed slowly, 60–90% bound to blood plasma proteins. Ketoprofen is excreted from the body through urine. The half-life of the drug from the body occurs within 1 to 3 hours.

Due to slow absorption and rapid elimination from the body, the gel practically does not accumulate in the blood.

Effect of gel or ointment

The effectiveness of a warming gel or ointment can be determined by various factors, depending on the components. But the main thing remains the same:

As a result of warming up, overall heat exchange improves, which leads to increased blood circulation, increased immunity, accelerated antibody production and the removal of toxins; Warming up or irritating effects on certain reflexogenic zones located on the feet, hands, and back lead to vasodilation and improved blood circulation in diseased organs (nasopharynx, lungs); nerve endings in the skin of these zones interact with the nerves responsible for the functioning of internal organs; The use of an ointment or gel with warming components activates metabolism and regeneration processes of damaged tissue of the diseased organ; pain is also relieved due to the so-called distracting action. Therefore, such drugs are used, among other things, to eliminate pain in the muscles after being in a draft or physical activity.

Warming ointment or gel contains components that have other properties: painkillers (menthol), antiviral, antibacterial (essential oils). Therefore, their effect is more complete than the effect of hot foot baths, mustard plasters, or simple warm compresses.

Indications

Fastum-gel can and should be used for many diseases of the joints, muscles, as well as tendons and ligaments. As a rule, it is used for injuries (sprains and bruises), but there are other indications for treatment with this gel:

• osteochondrosis of various localizations (cervical, sacral, lumbar, thoracic) and their complications (especially “lumbago” in the sacral region);
• rheumatism is a connective tissue disease that primarily affects muscles, bones and joints in various forms (osteoarthritis, rheumatic arthritis, etc.);
• myositis (inflammation of the muscles, especially the neck muscles).

Contraindications

The use of Fastum-gel does not always have a positive effect on the patient’s health. There are people for whom its use is undesirable:

• allergy sufferers (especially those who had a runny nose, urticaria or bronchospasm after taking aspirin - intolerance to acetylsalicylic acid means poor tolerability of Fastum-gel, as well as those who were allergic to drugs containing ketoprofen, tiaprofenic acid and phenobarbitates and to some types cosmetics – sunscreens, perfumes, etc.);
• adults and adolescents with increased skin sensitivity to light (photosensitivity);
• people with wounds and abrasions on the skin;
• patients suffering from eczema;
• patients who have weeping skin lesions (dermatoses);
• children under 12 years of age;
• pregnant and lactating women (the fact is that, although in small quantities, the medicine gets into the blood and milk).

How and when to use warming ointments correctly?

When?

Immediately after hypothermia. Did you or your child get caught in the rain, get wet feet, or freeze on the way home? To prevent a cold, you need to rub warming ointment or gel on your feet, hands, chest as quickly as possible, put on warm socks and warm clothes. Restoring heat exchange activates the body's defenses. At the first signs of ARVI or flu (sore throat, cough, runny nose). Rub the ointment over your upper back, chest and feet, and put on wool socks and warm clothes. During the recovery period. To speed up the healing process, it is necessary to improve blood circulation in the diseased organ, ensuring the influx of reducing substances and the removal of toxins. To do this, you can warm the upper back, feet, where the reflexogenic zones are located, using a gel or ointment.

How?

Gel and ointment are applied only to dry and clean skin, without damage or inflammation. When using for the first time, do a test on a small area of ​​skin and make sure that there is no allergic reaction. Certain areas are rubbed: feet, hands, upper back and chest (except for the heart area). There is no point in applying a warming drug to the neck (for a sore throat), it will not have any effect.

Method of use of the drug

Fastum-gel should be rubbed onto clean skin in the mornings and evenings (a strip of 5–10 cm is enough for 1 application). Only sore spots are treated. It is permissible to combine the use of the gel with ionotherapy or physiotherapy (this enhances the effect).

Overdose

Since this is a product for external use, which is slowly absorbed into the body, the likelihood of an overdose is very low, but sometimes you can mistakenly eat a certain amount of Fastum-gel, then symptomatic treatment is necessary (most often you are faced with the usual side effects caused by prolonged external use of the product).

Side effects

In some cases, the use of Fastum-gel leads to side effects (especially if it is long-term and large areas of skin are treated):

• exacerbation and progression to more severe forms of renal failure, if any;
• feeling of itching;
• the appearance of eczema;
• the occurrence of angioedema;
• diarrhea;
• peptic ulcer and gastrointestinal bleeding;
• redness of the skin;
• contact and bullous dermatitis;
• increased photosensitivity of the skin;
• the occurrence or exacerbation of bronchial asthma.

Fortunately, this rarely happens, but sometimes people encounter such problems after using the product for a long time. To reduce the risk of side effects, you should consult a dermatologist or allergist before starting treatment. Of course, modern people are busy and rarely go to doctors, but sometimes it is necessary to do so so as not to end up wasting time, nerves and money, and getting serious health problems instead of the desired recovery.

If a person has already encountered unpleasant symptoms, he will have to stop daily rubbing of the gel and also inform the attending physician about this.

special instructions

People with severe forms of liver, kidney or heart failure, as well as elderly people, can use Fastum-gel, but with caution.

In addition, the product is not suitable for airtight dressings and cannot be combined with airtight clothing.

During the treatment period, you should not sunbathe in the sun or go to a solarium (this can only be done 14 days after stopping use of the medicine).

Rules for storing the drug

The storage temperature should be no more than 30 degrees Celsius (i.e., in hot weather, Fastum-gel should be hidden in the refrigerator). In addition, it is important to exclude its contact with light and moisture, and also to prevent the medicine from falling into the hands of small children, if there are any in the house.

Release from pharmacies

The product can be bought without a prescription from your doctor, which attracts many patients (sometimes it happens that your neck suddenly hurts or an attack of lumbago begins, and there are no medications at hand - then a quick purchase of Fastum-gel can save the situation).

Price

The cost of packaging Fastum gel depends on the pharmacy chain and the amount of product in the tube, but you can give the average cost:

• 30 g are available for 232 rubles;
• 50 g are sold for 333 rubles 40 kopecks;
• 100 g cost about 542 rubles 80 kopecks.

Analogs

Gel Fastum is not the only remedy for pain in muscles, tendons and joints of various nature. Other medications can be used to treat it, c. including gels and ointments similar to Fastum in the active substance:

• Ketoprofen. Just like the described drug, it is based on ketoprofen and contains similar auxiliary components - triethanolamine, carbomer and ethanol, but differs from Fastum in being cheap.
• Ketoprom - completely identical in composition to Fastum, also a gel.
• Bystrum gel - contains ketoprofen and some essential oils - neroli and lavender, which gives it a pleasant smell.
• Ortofen is an analogue of the described product in terms of active substance and auxiliary components.
• Valusal gel - this remedy is used for osteochondrotic pain and other problems with the musculoskeletal system.
• Fort gel has a lavender scent, which attracts many buyers. It also relieves inflammation and pain.
• Artrum gel - used in the same cases as the other mentioned remedies, good for bruises and osteochondrosis, and also copes with swelling of the joints.
• Febrofid gel is a medicine containing ketoprofen, also a gel.
• Ketonal Forte are tablets based on ketoprofen and used in the same situations as gels with it.

There are ointments and gels similar to Fastum Gel in indications, but with other active ingredients:

• Butadion. The main component of the ointment is phenylbutazone. Reduces the production of prostaglandins, due to which it relieves pain and inflammation.
• Nise gel. Based on nimesulide. The mechanism of action is also associated with a decrease in the production of prostaglandins.
• Deep Relief gel. Active ingredients are ibuprofen and levomenthol. Relieves pain in the back and joints.

For osteochondrosis

Osteochondrosis is degeneration of the cartilage of joints or intervertebral discs in humans. One of the reasons for this problem is physical inactivity, i.e. an insufficiently active lifestyle. In the 21st century, the majority of the population of megacities works in offices using computers, and in the evenings they also prefer to sit at their favorite laptop or lie on the couch, and as a result, this disease has become much more common than 50 years ago. Osteochondrosis gives patients a lot of unpleasant sensations and is often fraught with serious complications (pinching of the spine, which can occur during a severe stage of the disease, is especially dangerous). This means that the disease must be treated without fail. The main method of treating intervertebral disc dystrophy is physical exercise, but it does not work in one or two sessions, and attacks of pain torment a person for some time. Then they use special painkillers, for example, Fastum-gel, about which patients leave comments on medical websites and forums on the Internet:

1. “I have been familiar with this gel for quite a long time, since I was diagnosed very early with osteochondrosis. At first I didn’t understand this gel; it seemed useless and ineffective to me. Now this gel saves me all the time!”
2. “I recently suffered from headaches. I was advised to use Fastum gel. And the advertisement says that it helps with pain in the ligaments and so on. I first went to the hospital, they diagnosed osteochondrosis of the cervical spine and told me to apply it too. I applied it for almost a month, but didn’t notice any effect.”
3. “We have been using Berlin-Chemie “Fastum Gel” pain reliever for many years. We found out about it when my mother once had very bad back pain and nothing helped. She bought this ointment and it was the only thing that saved her. Since then, “Fastum Gel” has always been in our medicine cabinet.”

It turns out that Fastum-gel helps most patients, but, unfortunately, not all. Therefore, it is still better to entrust the choice of pain-relieving ointment or gel for osteochondrosis and its complications to a doctor.

Ointments and osteochondrosis, what to choose?

How does the ointment work?

We cannot always use the usual medications to cope with the symptoms of osteochondrosis, then ointments come to the rescue. Being used externally and having a fairly soft structure, they work only on the upper layers of the skin, covering the sore spot with the thinnest layer. Despite the tight fit, the mentioned compositions cannot be absorbed by the skin. Some ointments can penetrate into the deepest layers through the sebaceous glands and sweat ducts - their action is penetrating, because they carry the substance throughout the body.

How to classify ointments?

The effects of each ointment are different, as is the active ingredient. You can try to classify them:

• Preventing inflammatory processes. Non-steroidal ointments are based on suppressing the production of histamine, which is a catalyst for inflammation;
• Absorbing action. Used for bruises and bruises;
• Decongestants. Improves kidney function, due to which the body speeds up the process of cleansing itself;
• Warming effect. Osteochondrosis of the cervical spine is a very painful disease, and the substances included in the composition will improve blood circulation and the regenerative properties of the body;

Such products often contain active ingredients (Finalgom, Voltaren, Chondroxide).

Very often, doctors prescribe these ointments, because they are a universal remedy for pain that is caused not only by osteochondrosis of the neck, but also by diseases associated with the musculoskeletal system. The actions of ointments are different:

• They can be antispasmodics;
• Relieve pain,
• Have an anti-inflammatory effect;
• Promote regeneration and relieve swelling.

What kind of medicines are there?

In the treatment of osteochondrosis, painkillers with a warming effect are often used, which improves blood flow in the area of ​​the disease - the “non-steroidal” group.

Let's look at existing ointments to understand which one is right for you:

1. An ointment containing nimesulide. This substance is the main active agent here, helping not only to relieve pain, but also to remove swelling in any part of the spine. Nise and Nimesil have a similar effect.
2. Adding declofenac will also reduce the pain effect, but will cope with it an order of magnitude faster. Compositions based on declofenac sodium are a simple and quick remedy for suppressing pain in the cervical spine due to this pathology.
3. The family of ointments that include ibuprofen comes to the fore due to an additional property. In addition to pain relief, they are able to almost completely remove possible atrophic consequences in the area of ​​the disease.

But, if the main cause that worries you is not pain, but inflammation, then the substances should remove it and reduce the body’s reaction - severe complications that can follow osteochondrosis. Such as rheumatism or neuralgia. Artrosan and Voltaren will have a similar effect.

The group of warming ointments that help improve blood circulation includes Menovazin and Capsicam. Care should be taken when using these products - apply only to the required area, as there is a possibility of developing hyperemia.

Anti-inflammatory compounds

These include:

• Having “indomethacin”;
• With "ortofen".

The effect of indomethacin on the body regarding inflammatory processes is much higher than other ointments. It quite strongly resembles an antihistamine substance, so that the action is corresponding - when applied to the skin, it reduces inflammation.

Indomethacin is capable of producing anesthesia of the area to which it was applied. It is very similar in action to ibuprofen, also making it possible to recover or prevent the development of atrophic processes.

Ortofen belongs to the group of “non-steroidal” origin and can also help with edema in getting rid of inflammatory processes.
Author: K.M.N., Academician of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences M.A. Bobyr