capzasin

what exaclty is this. is it like ben gay and is it realatively new? ive never heard of this

It is very important to be careful with Capzasin. It is like a Ben Gay creme, but much stronger and potent. I highly recommend (from personal experience) that you first put it on a small part (maybe near a sore muscle or joint) of your body to find out if you can handle the burn. Then wait, the real burning doesn't start right away.

I put it on my damaged, arthritic knees first and I was in so much pain for the next 24 hours from the burning - no sleep; it was awful. I have put a dot of it on my jaw joint/face area with no reaction surprisingly or help of any kind. That may be because I have nerve damage in my face; I don't know.

Just BE CAREFUL at first.

God bless...
Carol

ok---i have to stay away form hot peppers etc. the oil can give you nerve damage so be very very careful

actually there is. id have to find it--in fact i have a friend that has nerve damage from this.

i was just reading about this the other day...i would think hot peppers is a better way than icy hot to get rid of the pain...I think the most potent ointment that is not really fda approved anmore is dmso which is a more potent form of msm...you can still get it online as it is legal just not approved for some reasons.

Trajedi, thanks for bringing up msmand dmso - I think it deserves a seperate topic of its own as it works different from hot peppers.


Tmddyan, tried pubmed? Kidding, no worries, I have read too that in pure, or high enough concentration this compound will produce burns.

Capsaicin offered some relief for my TMJ, but it is more effective for my knees and upper back/neck pain (believe or not some side as TMJ).
So it is not a miracle, but it came to found out that is close to one -

Hot peppers appear to be one of the super foods (whatever super means).

Even this site from Oprah is scientific enough to discuss capsaicin in detail:

http://www2.oprah.com/presents/2005/young/ life/life_peppers_b.jhtml

"...capsaicin is a potent anti-inflammatory, and have even pinpointed how it works to fight chronic, sub-clinical inflammation. The nuclei of human cells contain chemicals called nuclear transcription factors (NTFs), two of which—activator protein 1 (AP-1) and NF-kappa B—are especially important targets when it comes to prevention of cancer and premature aging of skin. Each of these NTFs can be "activated" by ultraviolet light and free radicals: a result that produces a pro-inflammatory chain reaction that promotes premature aging and a wide variety of DEGENERATIVE DISEASES. As it turns out, nature offers several effective NTF-activation blockers, including the capsaicin in chilies, and the yellow pigment curcumin in turmeric."

It also talks about substance P. Which is "the key transmitter of pain". Substance P is how the body regulates swelling and pain throughout the trigeminal nerve.

Substance P causes nerve fibers to swell. Arthritis is often associated with increased levels of substance P, therefore, eliminating or supressing substance P production is one of the ways hot peppers work.

i was reading about substance P the other day...imo disabling substance P on a chronic basis would also result in other emotional responses as it is responsible for other feelings...Yet maybe this theory i have is all wrong.....If you can't feel pain can you feel pleasure hence why ssris and other drugs hurt sex drive and emotional euphoria overtime...living in chronic pain is not fun i have bone on bone rubbing on the right side from osteoarthritis...We need to find a way to regenerate cartilage so there is no nerve compression or rubbing or just somehow disable the nerves from emitting pain signals like you suggest...Some people with tmj just have displaced disks but for too long it results in a loss of cartilage do to lack of blood flow..The psuedo scar tissue is probably only effective to some degree in preventing pain b/c the padding is never as good or as thick as the original cartilage..
I read neurontin helps regulate substance P which i take occasionally but it is not very strong and i refuse to take a dose higher than 900mg b/c the drug is pretty nasty...Ativan works amazing for pain on the tmj region..It basically makes my pain go from a 9 to a 1-3 on a scale of 10 in a matter of 20 minutes...Yet this oversensitizes gaba receptors and overtime causes downreglation of the gaba system and becomes less effective...Hot peppers are probably similiar to the TENS device in some ways as it blocks the pain response but for how long would that last is the question...We need something that lasts for hours not 20-30 minutes. Can it build up overtime maybe? I may give dmso a shot it might also help regenerate more scar tissue in the region as a result of its high concentration of sulfur to lubricate the joint directly. Hyaluronic Acid is another one i want to try again but in a more potent formula..

quite frankly ive never heard of pubmed either. Ive always gone with natural ways if possible. and then i give up and just do what the doctor said dto do any way.

a tens deosnt block the pain--all it does is give the muscles a deep massage by delivering an electric shock to the muscle. how long something last depends on the condition itself--how bad it is etc.

Pubmed is online resource for medical literature - pubmed.com . Hello?

hello? what? im not everywhere and i dont use the net a whole lot for things like that

I'm sorry - we, college students are forced to use it everyday, so it's common for us.

well lets just be careful then