Review: Salonpas
I was recently sent a few Salonpas patches to try. I had to wait until I had some pain to use them though… that’s weird huh, to wish for pain?
Alright, so maybe I wasn’t exactly wishing for pain… maybe just a slight soreness. 
But after my trail run on Saturday, my ankle was feeling sore and achy. I had rolled it several times on loose rocks, plus my trail shoes just put an uncomfortable pressure on the side of my foot. So when the pain was still there a couple days after the race, I knew I had the perfect chance to use the patch!
The Salonpas is a topical pain-relief patch that can be worn for up to 12-hours. I would imagine it might stay on a surface like the back a little better after 12 hours than it does wrapped around an ankle, just due to the bony and moving nature of that joint. I found that it tended to peel away on the edges when I applied it to my ankle.
It uses menthol and methyl salicylate (an NSAID) as the active ingredients to soothe pain and reduce inflammation. There is definitely a menthol scent when you open the patch, so take that into account. If you didn’t want to stink out your co-workers, you could wear the patch overnight to get pain relief. I’m not quite sure how it would affect me being closer to my nostrils either, since I could smell it for most of the day when it was applied to my ankle.
I found the patch to be cooling and to actually provide quite a bit of relief for a minor ache. You should only use one patch at a time, so if you’ve got a lot of pain all over your body… try soaking in an ice bath or something! Don’t dress yourself in these things! You’ll smell bad and it will probably have adverse effects! I like that you can use these to address the specific site where there is pain, as opposed to taking a pill that passes through your digestive system and into the blood to work. (I’m just a bigger fan of topical remedies and ice for sports-related pain than I am of pills.)
Salonpas offered Jill Will Run readers a trial kit that included a water bottle, a towel, a pedometer and some patches. The giveaway closed on August 28.
Salonpas sent me the product for free for the purpose of review. The thoughts here are my own.
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pick me ! pick me !
When I first read the word “salonpas” I thought of ‘oompa loompa’
I would love to win this
and my knees would definitely thank u
I follow salonpas on twitter @ericah
Yeah…I want in
Hopefully itll help my calves out!!!
My knee would love to try this out!
Don’t know if those will help the aches and pains of getting old, but I would sure give it a try.
My knees would love to try this!
I’d like to try it too!
I’m about to train for my first half marathon and I think these might help me get there!
I’m a big fan of these patch type products – they seem to work magically and they don’t restrict what you can do in moving around!
Half of my family is Vietnamese, and they always use Salonpas! My little brother thinks they smell and are weird, but he is clumsy and ends up bruising himself all the time, so he gave them a try. Now he calls them “white bandaids” and is convinced they’re magic.
I’d like to try!
God knows I need all the pain relief I can get – thanks for the contest Jill!
Looks pretty cool — I’d be very interested to try it out! Thanks for the review.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE these things and have used them for tons of different aches and pains over the last year or so…..They are definitely a training staple for me!!! Pick ME!!
Well, I’m 8 weeks into my 16 week 1/2 training program and my knee suddenly decided to slow me down. Darnit. I’m looking for any and all remedies, so this would be awesome! I enjoy you blog – thanks!
Oh yeah, I follow them now on FB & Twitter!
WOW! What a great review. I would definitely like to win
Will this patch work for foot pain bottom part of feet and bottom and top of toes? My feet hurt so bad I have problems waring shoes for longer then an hour or two. I have nerve damage from the pain because I have had this issue for so long. Tried foot doctors, shoe inserts for support, ect.. Nothing has really worked other then pain meds and they only work for a while until I get used to the meds. Thanks for any feed back anyone might have.
I don’t think the patch would work very well on the top of toes. It needs a wider area to adhere to and since the toes are so small it would probably be hard to get the patch to stay on. However, I know Salonpas has some newer products (I haven’t tried them) which are a gel and a spray. The gel sounds kind of intriguing for your issue in particular because it is supposed to spread on and then adhere to the skin like a small layer, I assume to provide continual relief. Good luck!