Capsaicin: Real Pain Relief or Myth?

We've seen a huge boom in the quantity, quality and availability of all natural healing remedies for pain (whether temporary or chronic) in recent years. Unfortunately we've also seen a big jump in the number of ineffective pain management therapies posing as all natural solutions for pain, making it difficult for many people to sort through what really works and what's just marketing hype. One of the most touted natural treatment of pain remedies to arrive in recent years has been topical capsaicin treatments. Does capsaicin really work to reduce pain in a safe and natural manner, or is it all hype?

Anecdotal and Clinical Proof

To make it very clear from the start- yes, capsaicin has been shown both anecdotally and within proper scientific studies to work as a natural pain remedy. A study conducted by the University of Oxford tested capsaicin creams with arthritis and neuropathy patients and found that about forty percent of the arthritis sufferers halved the level of pain they were suffering from by using the cream, and over half the neuropathy sufferers replicated those pain relief results with two months of treatment. Capsaicin has similarly been shown to reduce general pain significantly more effectively than a placebo in another study of one hundred and sixty people, and has been used to treat headaches from migraine sufferers.

But what is Capsaicin?

So now that you know that capsaicin has been proven effective as a natural healing treatment, you're probably wondering what the cream actually is? Simply put, capsaicin is the ingredient that makes chilies and other peppers hot. It's the component of those foods that causes that "mouth burning" feel and which makes your skin tingle when you come into direct contact with them. While the exact reason why capsaicin works effectively to treat pain hasn't been proven, most researchers suspect it has to do with the ingredient's ability to remove substance P from the skin upon contact, which is a chemical within your body that induces the feeling of pain.

The Top Uses of Capsaicin

Because of this capsaicin is almost always utilized as a topical treatment for back pain, neck pain, and other forms of localized muscles pain. Capsaicin cream can be purchased over the counter at pretty much any general store or drug store these days, and is reasonably priced. Pain management with capsaicin is easy enough- all you need to do is directly apply the cream to the source of your pain a few times a day. It usually takes a couple of weeks to begin to experience significant pain relief.

The way that capsaicin treatments are produced these days makes them better for natural healing of localized pain compared with full-body chronic pain. Capsaicin treatments are primarily formulated to deal with extremely localized predictable pains like arthritis or overworked muscles. Considering the prevalence of these forms of chronic muscle pain it's no wonder that capsaicin is reaching the level of popularity and widespread acceptance that it is. There are no known negative side effects of capsaicin pain relief treatments when they are applied properly, though it's important to avoid letting the cream come in contact with your eyes or other extremely sensitive parts of your body.