Transdermal analgesic patch
Encyclopedia
A transdermal analgesic or pain relief patch is a medicated adhesive patch
Transdermal patch
A transdermal patch is a medicated adhesive patch that is placed on the skin to deliver a specific dose of medication through the skin and into the bloodstream. Often, this promotes healing to an injured area of the body. An advantage of a transdermal drug delivery route over other types of...

 used to relieve minor to severe pain
Pain
Pain is an unpleasant sensation often caused by intense or damaging stimuli such as stubbing a toe, burning a finger, putting iodine on a cut, and bumping the "funny bone."...

. There are two primary types of analgesic patches: patches containing counterirritant
Counterirritant
A counterirritant is a substance which creates inflammation in one location with the goal of lessening the inflammation in another location. They can be used as antipruritics. This strategy falls into the more general category of counterstimulation....

s, which are used to treat mild to moderate pain, and patches containing fentanyl, a narcotic used to relieve moderate to severe pain in opioid-tolerant patients.

Counterirritant patches

Counterirritant patches contain ingredients such as capsaicin
Capsaicin
Capsaicin 2CHCH=CH4CONHCH2C6H3-4--3- ) is the active component of chili peppers, which are plants belonging to the genus Capsicum. It is an irritant for mammals, including humans, and produces a sensation of burning in any tissue with which it comes into contact...

, methyl salicylate
Methyl salicylate
Methyl salicylate is a natural product of many species of plants. Some of the plants which produce it are called wintergreens, hence the common name.-Botanical background:...

, camphor
Camphor
Camphor is a waxy, white or transparent solid with a strong, aromatic odor. It is a terpenoid with the chemical formula C10H16O. It is found in wood of the camphor laurel , a large evergreen tree found in Asia and also of Dryobalanops aromatica, a giant of the Bornean forests...

, or menthol
Menthol
Menthol is an organic compound made synthetically or obtained from peppermint or other mint oils. It is a waxy, crystalline substance, clear or white in color, which is solid at room temperature and melts slightly above. The main form of menthol occurring in nature is -menthol, which is assigned...

, which are thought to mask pain signals by causing other sensations (itching, warmth, or cooling) in the areas they are applied to. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, patches sold under the brand name Salonpas
Salonpas
Salonpas is a brand name of a line of over-the-counter pain relieving products manufactured by Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical Co., Inc. of Tosu City, Japan. Introduced to the Japanese market in 1934, Salonpas is now sold in approximately fifty countries. The largest markets for the products are Japan...

 are approved by the Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...

 under a New Drug Application
New drug application
The New Drug Application is the vehicle in the United States through which drug sponsors formally propose that the Food and Drug Administration approve a new pharmaceutical for sale and marketing...

 (NDA) for the treatment of mild to moderate pain caused by soft tissue injury
Soft tissue injury
A Soft tissue injury is the damage of muscles, ligaments and tendons throughout the body. Common soft tissue injuries usually occur from a sprain, strain, a one off blow resulting in a contusion or overuse of a particular part of the body...

 (e.g. strains and sprains), arthritis
Arthritis
Arthritis is a form of joint disorder that involves inflammation of one or more joints....

, or backache. Other products, including brand names such as Ben Gay and Mentholatum
Mentholatum
The Mentholatum Company, Inc., founded in 1889 by Albert Alexander Hyde, is a maker of non-prescription health care products. It was bought out by Rohto Pharmaceutical Co., a Japanese health care company, in 1988...

, which are not covered by NDA, indicate relief of minor pain. Counterirritant patches are sold over the counter and do not require a prescription. Other over-the-counter products marketed for the relief of minor injury or arthritis pain include Absorbine Jr. Pain Relief, Excedrin Cooling Pads, and Icy Hot Patches.

In Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 Salonpas, produced by Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
, headquartered in Saga and Tokyo, Japan is a pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription and over-the-counter drug products, especially external pain relieving products such as the transdermal patch. Hisamitsu has specialized in transdermal drug delivery system technology since...

, remains a popular brand. Other manufacturers, including Yutoku Pharmaceutical, SS Pharmaceutical, and Suzuki Nippondo also produce similar over-the-counter patches containing methyl salicylate or glycol salicylate.

Fentanyl patches

Fentanyl transdermal patches are sold under the brand name Duragesic, or as generic
Generic drug
A generic drug is a drug defined as "a drug product that is comparable to brand/reference listed drug product in dosage form, strength, route of administration, quality and performance characteristics, and intended use." It has also been defined as a term referring to any drug marketed under its...

 equivalents. Fentanyl is an opioid
Opioid
An opioid is a psychoactive chemical that works by binding to opioid receptors, which are found principally in the central and peripheral nervous system and the gastrointestinal tract...

 with rapid onset of pain relief; it is often used to treat breakthrough pain. Duragesic and similar patches release fentanyl through the skin. A patch may provide pain relief for up to 72 hours.

Several deaths or life-threatening overdoses have been linked to misuse of fentanyl patches. Fentanyl patches are indicated only for patients with moderate to severe chronic pain who have been taking regular narcotic pain medication for more than a week and who are considered opioid-tolerant. Overdose can occur when patients use more patches than prescribed, change the patches too frequently, or expose the patch to heat.

See also

Manufacturers
  • Alza Corporation
  • Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
    Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical
    , headquartered in Saga and Tokyo, Japan is a pharmaceutical company that develops and markets prescription and over-the-counter drug products, especially external pain relieving products such as the transdermal patch. Hisamitsu has specialized in transdermal drug delivery system technology since...

  • Novartis
    Novartis
    Novartis International AG is a multinational pharmaceutical company based in Basel, Switzerland, ranking number three in sales among the world-wide industry...

  • W.F. Young, Inc.
    W.F. Young, Inc.
    W.F. Young, Inc. is a privately held American corporation based in East Longmeadow, Massachusetts. The corporation was founded in 1892 by horse-lover Wilbur Fenelon Young, and has provided human and animal care products for more than five generations....



Products
  • Deep Heat (Heat rub)
    Deep Heat (Heat rub)
    Deep Heat is a topical, rubefacient, heat rub manufactured by Mentholatum, common in the UK, Ireland and Australia and claim to relieve pains such as rheumatic pain, backache, lumbago and muscle sprains....

  • Heat rub
    Heat rub
    Heat rub is the name for a variety of products intended to relieve the pain of fibrositis, lumbago and muscular aches and strains. They are so named because they produce a feeling of warmth within the muscle of the area they are applied to, typically acting as rubefacients via a counterirritant...

  • IcyHot
    IcyHot
    IcyHot is a topical rubefacient heat rub meant for relieving pains such as arthritis, backache, muscle strains, sprains, bruises, and cramps. IcyHot, produced and marketed by Chattem, now a subsidiary of Sanofi-Aventis, is known for its dual action pain relief, claiming it is "Icy to dull the...

  • Tiger Balm
    Tiger Balm
    Tiger Balm is the trade name for a heat rub manufactured and distributed by Haw Par Healthcare in Singapore.- History :It was originally developed in the 1870s by a herbalist, Aw Chu Kin, in Rangoon, Burma, who asked his sons Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par on his deathbed to perfect the...

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