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Product Review: Tiger Balm Red Extra Strength

Smells good, feels good.
Smells good, feels good.

I love the way Tiger Balm smells, which is more than I can say for most topical analgesics. I also love the way it soothes my sore joints and muscles—a key component in the road to relief from fibromyalgia symptoms.

After dealing with pain for years, I’ve tried almost everything. CryoDerm is still my favorite topical for the really bad muscle issues, but I prefer Tiger Balm for a less medicine-y experience. Smell-wise, Tiger Balm makes me think of a health food store, and neither the inactive nor active ingredients sound lab-made or scary.

Like many topical pain relievers, Tiger Balm uses menthol 10% as an active ingredient. It also lists camphor 11%. I use the .63 ounce jar of ointment, but there are also Tiger Balm rubs and patches, as well as various formula strengths. I recently bought the Ultra ointment, but haven’t tried it yet.

The most accurate description that I can come up with for the Tiger Balm experience is “soothing.” Everything about it feels gentle, especially compared to other topicals that can leave you smelling like a doctor’s office. Tiger Balm has a variety of natural oils in it, which makes it easy to gently rub in during self-massage.

The hexagonal glass jar is small and easy to store, and it’s kind of cool to look at, too. Tiger Balm takes a few minutes to start working, but once it does, the effect slowly and steadily builds. It wears off fairly quickly like all topicals, but usually stays with me long enough so that I can fall asleep with less pain. I get better results on my neck spasms with CryoDerm, but Tiger Balm makes my sore legs—especially the quadriceps and knees—feel great. And since I’m a believer in staying with natural products whenever possible, I definitely appreciate its ingredients.

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Product Review: CryoDerm

As a longtime athlete and fibromyalgia sufferer, I’ve tried almost everything imaginable to relieve the joint and muscle pain that I experience on a regular basis. I even once had a woman rub “dragon’s blood” on my neck. It was red liquid in a bottle with Vietnamese writing on the label. It didn’t work, but it had an interesting smell.

cryoderm
4oz bottle of CryoDerm liquid gel.

CryoDerm is a topical pain-relief product that comes in several varieties, including roll-on, spray, and gel. My chiropractor has used the spray on my back and neck a few times, and I have a bottle of the gel at home. As of this posting, a 16 ounce bottle is around $33 online.

The active ingredient in CryoDerm is listed as Menthol USP 10%, which is common with many topical, non-prescription pain relievers. Other ingredients that catch my eye are arnica, boswella (although most sources site “boswellia”), eucalyptus oil, and peppermint oil. All of those, as far as my research goes, are plant-based. There is a handful other ingredients, so read the label if you have sensitivity issues.

I’ve used CryoDerm for muscle spasms, herniated disc pain, aching knees, and tendonitis in my wrists and elbows. It’s a bit liquidy, and I’ve had the gel drip down my body before I could rub it in. CryoDerm definitely smells like a medicinal preparation, but I like its sinus-clearing properties. It takes about two minutes for me to notice any effects, but then there’s a nice tingling that gives way to a deeper, soothing feeling.

CryoDerm is no miracle drug, but it does a good job of calming acutely aggravated parts of my body. My right wrist was hurting too much to type this morning, but since using CryoDerm on my elbow, forearm, and wrist, I’m able to type again. It’s also calmed my neck spasms enough to allow me to concentrate on work.

The label says not to apply CryoDerm more than four times per day, but in my experience, it only lasts ½ hour – 45 minutes, depending on the severity of pain in any given area of my body.

I definitely recommend trying CryoDerm if you’re already a fan of topical pain relief treatments. It’s not as greasy as IcyHot and doesn’t tend to ball up like BioFreeze. And, their website claims “no animal testing,” so yay for simple kindness.

Disclaimer: Consult your healthcare provider before trying anything new.