Is There An Oinment For Arthritic Pain?

Today my doctor prescribed some ointment to be applied to my painful thumb joint, which is so very painful.  Unfortunately I did not take note of the name, as I threw prescription away as pharmacist said it is not longer available.Can anyone tell me if there is something I can rub in to alleviate the pain?

I take pain killers (not strong ones) and cannot take ibrupofen  as it makes me bleed inside.  The doctor advised against an injection.  I live in the UK.  Any ideas.

[S. Kaul, MD]

Hi there!

You could try using commercially available NSAID/ anaesthetic ointments such as those containing ibuprofen/ lidocaine for pain relief. The topical ointments are devoid of most systemic side effects of the medications.
Hope this is helpful.

Take care!

[carolanivey]

Many patients I know have had good luck with a couple different products:

- BioFreeze, which comes in a gel, cream, or roll-on liquid that starts out cool then gets warm.

- Tiger Balm, which I haven't tried but others who have say they like it.

[4Maddie44]

Thank you very much for you input.  I will try the creams you mention, and see how I go.  Any other ideas for pain in thumb joint?  I have a thumb support, but it makes little difference.

[carolanivey]

Do you wear the thumb support at night? Sometimes while we sleep we tend to curl or clench our hands and we wake up with soreness that lasts all day. Try different devices that keep your hands and wrists in an neutral position, like over the counter wrist braces (soft or hard). You can also discuss it with your doctor and have a prosthetic specialist custom mold something for you that will help.

Injections of cortisone into the joint could help. This is usually a temporary measure, but if you're careful the effects could last a long time.

Finally, when all else fails, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in hands could take a look at it and see if surgery could give you relief, but again, that's usually a last resort when meds, therapy, splints, etc. don't work any more.

[carolanivey]

I forgot to mention if you can't find BioFreeze locally, you can get it online or try a similar product with the same active ingredients. The main ingredient in BioFreeze is homeopathic "ilex". I use a similar product called MaxFreeze that has basically the same ingredients and I can find it more easily at stores here in town.