Arthritis Management & Pain Relief Creams

What You Can Do for Arthritis Pain Relief

We've teamed up with Mentholatum, specialists in pain relief heat and freeze products, to bring you this helpful guide on helping your patients manage osteoarthritis. 

Mentholatum specialises in family healthcare and is the UK's No.1 seller of topical pain relief products, helping people around the world manage muscular and joint pain for decades, bringing you household names such as Deep Heat, Deep Freeze and Regenovex. 

We hope you find their information useful and beneficial.

This buyer's guide will give you some top tips on how to manage arthritis pain and also recommend topical solutions for arthritis pain relief such as arthritis pain relief gels and arthritis pain relief creams which can be used to help effectively manage your Rheumatoid Arthritis or Osteoarthritis pain. 

Around one-third of people aged 45 and over in the UK have sought treatment for osteoarthritis (OA). That is a total of 8.75 million¹, making osteoarthritis OA the most common musculoskeletal condition in older people. 

Arthritis causes joints to become inflamed as cartilage deteriorates and the result is stiffness, pain and loss of mobility or dexterity.

The more severe the case, the greater the impact Oesteoarhtritis will have on the sufferer’s work, home and leisure time.

People suffering from Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis, therefore, have to often deal with very severe pain that can impact and get in the way of everyday activities so finding effective pain relief solutions is paramount to managing Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis. 

In 2017, 1 in 10 adults over the age of 20 have been diagnosed with Osteoarthritis in the UK. In addition, the number of people with OA has steadily increased by 1.4% from 1998 to 2017.²

With the number of people suffering from Osteoarthritis continually on the rise, it is important to make sure everyone suffering from arthritis pain is well informed on the options available to them.

Awareness is key to picking up on early signs so the arthritis is identified and classified as either Osteoarthritis or Rheumatoid Arthritis by a physician which can help to accurately manage arthritis pain by preventing further damage to the cartilage with proper support.

For arthritis pain relief please see our Arthritis supports range to see if any of our specifically designed supports and braces can help.

When movement is painful, people are understandably reluctant, even frightened to try to keep moving, but the latest advice from expert bodies such as NICE3 recommends them to do their best to strengthen the muscles involved and to make general fitness part of their lifestyle.

Not only will this help manage contemporary arthritis pain but it is also important for reducing the severity of pain in the future

Mentholatum understands what it feels like to suffer from osteoarthritis, they also know there is no magic pill to cure it.

So they have developed a four-step, easy-to-follow self-management programme (WANT) which we encourage you to recommend to your Osteoarthritis customers (if you are a physiotherapist, massage therapist or sports therapist)  to help them get on with their life.

Although effective arthritis pain relief treatment is required to manage severe pain from arthritis, there are other ways you can address arthritis pain besides using arthritis pain relief products 

You WANT to help your customers manage their Arthritis pain and they WANT to feel more in control of their condition – these four simple steps can be taken at the customer’s own pace and in their own time.

1. Weight

Every pound of excess weight exerts about four pounds of extra pressure on the knees4, so the less extra weight we are carrying, the easier it is to move and less pressure on the joints can mean less pain.

Managing body weight will help improve the well being of Osteoarthritis sufferers, but it is not easy to lose weight, especially when mobility is affected and going for a run or a workout in the gym are simply not an option.

People suffering from arthritis might struggle with exercise because of the delimiting nature of Arthritis pain and the effect it has on one's confidence as well.  Find out more about the recommended type of exercise in the Activity section below.

As always, people who are looking into losing weight should be advised to check with their GP that it is safe for them to do so.

2. Activity

Most OA sufferers will understandably fear that their joints will become even more painful with exercise and movement.

As a health professional, you are in the ideal position to reassure them about what it is normal to experience in the first 10 minutes of exercising and help them understand that movement will become easier as circulation increases and the joints start to lubricate themselves.

The advantages of staying active to manage your or your clients' arthritis pain, therefore, strongly outweigh the initial pain that may be involved when taking on exercise as recommended by NICE, 2022.

Choose a weight-bearing activity such as walking - starting with short walks, slowly building up each week as muscles and joints get stronger. Investing in shock-absorbing footwear or orthotics and insoles such as Vasyli and a set of walking poles will help you or your clients to manage Osteoarthritis effectively. 

When Osteoarthritis affects the hands, fingers can be encouraged to move with simple exercises using a stress ball or other small, softball. Remember, motion is lotion so even arthritis exercises and activities can help you to keep active. 

3. Nutrition

The food we eat can affect our joints, some foods worsen inflammation which only makes the Arthritis pain more severe and others help to calm it. It is important to exercise some control over the condition and do a little research into nutrition to identify the ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods for Osteoarthritis sufferers.

Listen to your body – we all know what happens when we have eaten something we really enjoy, but which might not agree with us!

The Mediterranean diet is often praised for helping maintain a healthy weight – it varies from country to country, but in general, it involves lots of whole foods as it is high in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, cereals, grains, fish, unsaturated fats such as olive oil and it usually has a low intake of meat and dairy foods.

Following a nutritious, balanced diet can help to treat Oesteoarhtrits by making sure the joints are receiving the right nutrition and maintaining good blood circulation which will also help minimise Arthritis related pain. NICE identifies that changing OA patients' diet to lose weight is particularly effective for those with knee osteoarthritis.

Some Food supplements - containing Hyaluronic Acid (HA), fish oils or long-chain omega-3 fatty acids such as ETA, DHA, and EPA might also be helpful, but food supplements should never be used as a substitute for a varied, balanced diet and healthy lifestyle.

If you wish to effectively treat your Osteoarthritis or manage any arthritis pain then following all 4 steps identified in this guide can be essential. 

4. Therapy

The use of topical hot or cold therapy can be considered. Heating products, used before exercise, can help ease tight, stiff joints, while cooling products, used after exercise, can help calm heat and soothe the joints. This means topical solutions can be very handy for Oesteoarhtrits and Rheumatoid arthritis pain. 

Topical Non Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory products such as anti-inflammatory cooling gels can help cool and soothe joints and reduce arthritis pain and inflammation.

Many people find the number of topical pain relief products available a little daunting, so they will appreciate help in selecting suitable products to care for their joints efficiently.

Mentholatum is the UK’s number one seller5  of topical hot and cold pain relief products6 including the iconic Deep Heat, Deep Freeze and Deep Relief, its topical NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) brand.

The mix of formats across the ranges and the fact that some of the products are drug-free means that you should be able to find something suitable for your arthritis pain. Physical Therapy from an Occupational Therapist can also be offered to manage athritis pain.

Arthritis Pain Relief Gels and Arthritis Pain Relief Creams 

Deep Heat

Heat helps to soothe muscle aches and arthritis pain. Deep Heat Muscle Massage Roll-on Lotion helps soften tight muscles to restore movement. Deep Heat Pain Relief Heat Patch provides long-lasting, odourless pain relief. The increased blood flow helps aid the healing process.

It can also be used to treat Rheumatoid Arthritis. This arthritis pain relief treatment should be used with caution when there is inflammation as heat therapy can irritate inflamed areas 

Cold Therapy

Cold therapy works fast. Our Deep Freeze range of products provides fast pain relief for joint pain which is essential for managing Arthritis conditions. The cooling effect of the Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Gel and Glide-on Gel has been scientifically proven to penetrate soft tissue to a depth of 3cm.

Anti-Inflammatory

Topical anti-inflammatories provide targeted, penetrating pain relief for inflammatory joint and muscle pain. This makes them effective for severe arthritis pain. Deep Relief Anti-Inflammatory Gel is recommended for relief from back pain, rheumatic pain, muscular aches, pains and swellings such as strains and sprains.

Deep Relief Joint Pain Gel is also suitable for relieving pain associated with non-serious arthritic conditions.

^References

^{1 Osteoarthritis in general practice July 2013 Arthritis Research UK PDF 421 MB.pdf.}

^{2 Trends in incidence and prevalence of osteoarthritis in the United Kingdom: findings from the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) Osteoarthritis and cartilage (2020)}

^{3  Oesteoarthritis; care and management}  

^{4 Arthritis Foundation}

^{5 IRI sales data in units, 52 weeks ending  29th December 2018.}

^{6  Deep Heat Pain Relief Heat Patches, Deep Freeze Pain Relief Cold Patch and Deep Freeze Pain Relief Glide-on Gel are medical devices. Deep Relief Anti-Inflammatory Gel/Deep Relief Joint Pain Gel Product Information}