capsaicin cream

[ritaxis]

I started using capsaicin cream on Friday (for posterity, it's Tuesdaynow) because it took me that long to find it. I thought, being a natural remedy, it would be in the health food store. But apparently the fact that it has empirically proven effectiveness and an identified mechanism (in other words, it works) makes it ineligible for the status.

What I read about it led me to expect a burning sensation on the skin after I rub it in, and I got that at first. I didn't expect the (slight, not really unpleasant) burning to stop so quickly. It will still flare up in a hot bath or after heavy exercise. And I still get a slight burn on my face when I touch it afterwards. (It doesn't wash off easily). I use gloves and a cloth to apply it, and still everything I eat has a slight chile taste, which as I am a Californian and not allergic to peppers is not a hardship.

The first day I put it on I got a strong tingle, stronger in one knee than the other, but when I went walking my legs were light and comfortable and I didn't have to stop and rub my knees at all. Emma and I did an over-the-hill shopping expedition involving multiple stores, the kind of thing that seems like a day off until you have arthritis. But I was fine.

Which brings up a funny thing. Online sources mostly group capsaicin cream with "temporary relief," which is probably strictly accurate, but implies that it's an ad-hoc thing. But it's apparently not really. If you apply it three to four times a day for several weeks, you get semi-permanent changes in how your neurons behave. The effect fades if you quit, but since the main effect does take this investment in time, I wouldn't class it with the temporary fixes. Wikipedia's article on it is a bit scattered, but it essentially says that over time the changes induced by the capsaicin eventually relatively deplete the substance P locally (not permanently and not systemically, which would be a bad idea, since substance P does more than regulate the transmission of pain information).

Supposedly I shouldn't expect an effect for a few weeks. I noticed an effect immediately, which I think was a counter-irritant effect or possibly a placebo effect. I'm thrilled at anything that makes me less of a wuss, honestly.

I went dancing twice this weekend. I didn't dane a lot, but I danced more than the first time I came back from Prague, and I had a lot of fun. Also I have been going for three and a half mile walks at Spring Street like twie a week. This might make up for my sendentary lifestyle, maybe.

On another front: I totally bought plaid cloth on Saturday.

And the news this morning is that maybe they won't be bombing Syria after all?

Comments

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

OK. I did know you could get an ointment / crème that had capsicum. This could be a very good thing for my damaged vertebrae and the horrid lower back pain etc.

Wonder where I should look for this in NYC ....

Thank you for the information!

Love, C.

[al-zorra.livejournal.com]

Also -- that not bombing Syria thing? Totally behind that!

Love, C.

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

But now it looks like they're still trying to get Congress behind it? Anyway, the UN isn't buying it at the moment, at least. As of a couple hours ago.

I found the cream in the little old-fashioned pharmacy I go to. I hadn't looked at the big drugstore yet. It wasn't at Costco. These were the places I happened to wander into over time, not in any planned order.

[carbonel]

Sounds very interesting and potentially useful. Do you need to wear gloves when you apply it?

[ritaxis.livejournal.com]

You should, because it is hard to wash off and it gets everywhere. But the stinging, I find, is mild, even when I get it in my eyes, and there's been no redness or irritation after.