Medicinal Plasters

I slightly sprained my back yesterday while cleaning the room. Maybe it has something to do with me having not cleaned the room for a month, but I'm blaming it on bad posture anyways.

It's not very serious, but I am planning to workout today so I decided to accelerate the healing process by using those capsicum plasters. You know, the huge stickers with holes that old people stick everywhere on their body? Not a flattering sight, yes, but let's just say I'm preparing for my old age. Say what you want though, coz some of these plasters are really strong and work 500% better than using an analgesic cream.

So anyway, I ran out of them (yes, I keep them in stock. Sue me.) and had to drive down to Watsons, the closest store that will sell these things. It's actually quite dangerous for me to enter a Watsons stall because I'll end up buying something else as well. The potential for impulse buys is just too much, as my new Pantene Leave-on Conditioner can proudly attest.

But I digress.

Watsons have a really poor selection of capsicum plasters. Actually, there's only one - Salonpas Hot. Let me just skip to the moral of the story by asking you not to buy any Salonpas products. They are too mild to do any good. Based on my product experience, there are two types of medicinal plasters.

One is menthol and methyl salicylate based. These are no different than smearing Deep Heat on a plaster - it just provides an initial rush. The other is based on capsicum extract. Now these are really strong (at least the good ones are) and they last for about 6 hours. My favourite capsicum plaster, Vorwerk, is a force to be reckoned with. I'd advise against using Vorwerk just before any big presentation - unless you enjoy grimacing in pain in public.

So, the normal Salonpas plasters are methyl salicylate based. I've tried them before and they suck. Last night, I saw the Salonpas Hot plasters which claims to use capsicum. It was the only one there so I decided to take a gamble.

I lost.

So, boys and girls, stay away from Salonpas products! Unless your have REALLY low pain threshold. For the rest of us masochists, look for Vorwerk.