Pain Relief Patches: Why So Many Sports Professionals Use Them?

There are many different options when it comes to sports injury treatments. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that pain relief patches are gaining an increasingly large following.

Aside from often being surprisingly effective when it comes to helping manage the pain from many types of injury, these pain relief patches can:

• Help loosen up tight muscles;
• Reduce inflammation and swelling;
• Speed up recovery from heavy training or workouts.

Whatever the specific need, pain relief patches are surprisingly versatile and it should come as no surprise at just how many sports professionals use them.

Icy Or Hot?

This is one of the major differing factors between the different types of pain-killing patches out there.

Obviously, anyone who has used heat and cold compress to treat cramps, pulls, and tightness understands why both a cooling patch and a warmed patch do wonders. In certain circumstances having both is going to be the ideal situation.

It is also important to realize that pain relief patches can actually vary incredibly between one another.

Physicool is one example of a patch that uses cryotherapy theories to bring cool anti-inflammatory properties to the body. It’s a great treatment option for ligaments, tendons, muscles, and more.

In other words, it sets up a localized area of the body for success in healing itself and reducing the localized factors that could be contributing to pain.

Other Types Of Pain Relief Patches

Most people (and athletes) are most familiar with patches like icy hot or similar hyped-up pain-killing pads for treatments. But there are actually other types of patches that can be right for athletes in really specific situations.

Fentanyl patches are one example of this. These are not used very often unless there was surgery or a really serious, large-scale injury that needs treatment. That’s because they use the strong painkilling effect of Fentanyl.

All patches used in this type of treatment must be taken off and replaced every three days for as long as treatment takes place.

In addition to this, all patches must be removed at the same time and replaced at the same time. This helps track the number of painkillers given.

Buprenorphine patches do the same thing and are often very closely compared to Fentanyl and morphine because of the sheer painkilling power that they are offered.

This is another one that is really powerful in pain treatment but is a bit more uncommon for normal athlete rehabilitation.

How To Use Pain Relief Patches?

Here’s how to apply a pain relief patch:

1. Open the outer “envelope” and plastic liner so you can expose the adhesive.
2. Once this is done then you want to apply the patch to an area that is flat and dry. Some need to be directly applied to the area of pain but in some cases, they do not.
3. Press firmly on the patch for a full half a minute.
4. If necessary, tape it on to keep it in place. This usually isn’t a necessary step but you do need to make sure the patch stays attached.

They’re Used In Baseball

Because of the nature of throwing, whether pitchers, outfielders, or infielders, there are many strains, sprains, and muscle pulls.

In fact, these injuries are so common, especially over a long 160+ game season for professionals. So it makes perfect sense that pain relief patches are an absolute necessity for baseball players to maintain throughout the year.

The icy-hot versions of these patches are most common, especially for the many minor injuries or “dings” that happen throughout the season.

In many circumstances, these patches will also be used for more serious injury and pain treatments. This is especially true for larger muscles that can frequently get re-injured or aggravated over time (looking at you, hamstrings!).

Baseball players are very familiar with pain relief patches.

Football Players Use Patches Too

Football players are fully aware of how easy it is to end up constantly aching or in pain over the course of a season. And maybe there’s no other sport where they’re so open about wearing them… sometimes even during a game!

These patches are an absolute necessity for many players who frequently turn to them for the pain relief they need.

This way they avoid falling into the all too common trap of becoming addicted to strong prescription-based painkillers.

Sports Injury Treatment

Recovering from a sports injury is never easy. Especially when so many athletes face the conflict of wanting to get back to help the team versus the need to take time to heal.

There are many pain relief patches that focus on fighting inflammation and cooling an injured area. And they not only help with pain relief but also speed up recovery from many types of common injuries.

Athletes are such big fans of these patches in treating pain, treating injuries, and as part of rehabilitation.

Pain relief patches tackle the problem on every level and give you the best chance of being able to get back on track quickly without further pain or aggravation.

Anything that can tip the scale a little bit more in athletes’ favor is going to become very popular, very quickly. Especially when it works so well, so often.

Not everyone is going to necessarily be a huge fan of pain relief patches.

However, there are many different ways they have been used by athletes. Whether directly treating a minor injury, helping recovery from a major one, or just tipping the odds in your favor to prevent a sprain or strain, these patches can be used for a wide variety of different situations.

By having pain relief patches as a major part of any pain or rehabilitation treatment, athletes get to enjoy a little bit more comfort while healing back up to get out there once again.