Background:
Chronic pain from sore muscles and body aches affects millions of people each day. By one estimate, over thirty percent of the world population have at least some pain or soreness on a daily basis. Chronic pain can lead to depression, reduced productivity, sleeplessness, and a general lower quality of life. In fact, several billion dollars of lost revenue in the form of missed work days, medical costs, and ineffective treatments can be attributed to pain and the pursuit of relief. Some pain is the result of injuries, where as other types of pain occur from a degenerative condition or illness. Pain can also result from repetitive activities such as driving, typing, or lifting. The pain can manifest itself as a sharp piercing pain or a dull, burning sensation referred to as muscle ache. When pain persists or recurs frequently and treatment provides insufficient relief, in addition to the primary discomfort, the person may be further debilitated by limited function, reduced mobility, interrupted sleep, and a generally diminished quality of life. Pain may be treated through various methods. One of the methods of pain treatment is administration of an analgesic, a drug administered to alleviate pain in a subject. An analgesic may be administered systemically, for example orally, in the form of a tablet or a syrup, or parenterally, in the form of an injection. Alternatively, analgesics may be administered topically, in the form of a cream, ointment, paste, gel, suspension, pump spray, aerosol foam, liquid, powder, stick, or lotion. All the Current therapies have one or other limitations. The potent opioids can cause tolerance, dependence, constipation, respiratory depression and sedation (Ramsin Benyamin et al. 2008. Opioid complications and side effects, Pain Physician, 11(2 Suppl):S105-120. PMID: 18443635). Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may result in gastric injury, ulceration and renal damage (Sam et al., 2013. Adverse Effects of Non-steroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs: An Update of Gastrointestinal, Cardiovascular and Renal Complications. J. Pharm. Pharm. Sci. 16(5):821-47, DOI:10.18433/J3VW2F ). Although, topical pain relievers have several benefits, like, they can be applied directly to the site of the pain, so there is minimal systemic distribution of the pain reliever throughout the body. This localized application and associated action minimizes the potential for systemic side effects. In addition, the pain-relieving action of topical analgesics is faster than most oral forms because it is applied directly onto the affected area whereas oral analgesics need to be digested, absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract, survive first-pass metabolism in the liver and then be transported throughout the body. But topical administration of conventional NSAIDS has largely been ineffective because only a therapeutically ineffective amount of the drug can penetrate the skin. In addition, indications such as acne, psoriasis and eczema are typically refractory to topical or oral administration of NSAIDS. Moreover, many products available include expensive ingredients, require frequent applications and provide relief of pain for only short periods. Many products that provide pain relief do not enhance recovery. Therefore, preference for herbal medicines is increasing day by day and there is a growing desire to eliminate contact with harmful synthetic materials in the treatment of pain disorders and inflammation. Numerous pain relief compositions in the form of creams, ointments, and lotions with natural analgesic ingredients like camphor, menthol, methyl salicylate, capsaicin etc, have been developed and are commercially available for treatment and relief of minor aches or Soreness (Wirthet. 2005. Use of Herbal Therapies to relieve pain: A review of efficacy and adverse effect. Pain Management Nursing, 6(4): 145-167). However, the effectiveness of these pain relief compositions depends on several factors including the type of bases. The base of a topical medication is often as important as the medication itself. It is extremely important to receive a medication in the correct base, before applying to the skin (Wolverton, SE. Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy. WB Saunders. 2001. pp 563-572). Although prior local analgesics have, in some instances, resulted in beneficial pain mitigation, the use of such preparations has provided limited and short-lived relief. With most local analgesics, it is believed that the major factor attributable to their limited efficacy was the inability to promote sufficient percutaneous absorption of the analgesic. Different types of materials have been suggested to improve the absorption of analgesic components, which include dimethyl sulfoxide, triglycerides with aloe, methyl glucoside with iodide salts (Altadonna J. 1998. US Patent No. 5853768). Another problem of topical analgesic composition is associated with their texture. Many of these topical creams are thick and have a heavy texture. Such creams typically take a considerable amount of rubbing and manipulating to work the cream into the skin to reach the desired area of treatment. Additionally, these creams often leave an oil residue on the surface of the skin leaving the skin feeling greasy, slippery, and wet until the material is either ultimately absorbed into the skin or is sufficiently rubbed off the surface of the skin. This oily residue remaining on the skin can provide an uncomfortable feeling for the person as well as get on clothing worn by the person. To solve this problem, use of alcohol or acetone in pain relief composition has been recommended (US Patent No. 6528076). A problem with using an alcohol, chloroform, or ether based analgesic is these harsh chemicals tend to dry out an individual's skin. In addition, patients may experience a warm stinging or burning sensation at the site of application due to these strong solvents. Further, prior art topical analgesic compositions do not combine effective moisturizing and pain-relieving properties using only naturally-derived, naturally-processed, safe, biodegradable ingredients:
Technology Details:
Product of the present invention takes care of these problems. The product so obtained is non-sticky and light and absorbs into the skin very quickly. This product is comprised of menthol, camphor, methylsalicylate, eucalyptus oil, clove oil and rice bran oil. Rice bran oil in the present invention serves as an excellent base for dissolving natural pain-relieving ingredients and making the composition an efficient pain relief product. Because of fast absorbing properties of rice bran oil in the skin, active ingredients of the formulation also get absorbed quickly and provide quick relief from pain. When applied on the affected area the composition provides a combination of cooling and heat sensations that increase circulating and promote faster healing in addition to relief from aching and stiff muscles. The composition also provides in the treatment of arthritis in elderly patients, tendonitis, neuralgia, and sports-related injuries. The composition of the present invention is new, very safe, eco-friendly and does not produce any harmful effects. Because of rice bran oil, the product contains various skin beneficial ingredients like Oryzanol, vitamins and other antioxidants like tocopherols, tocotrienols, Phytosterols etc. these ingredients help in revitalizing the skin and keeping skin smooth, supple and soft, protecting skin from environmental pollution, minimizing the effects of sunburn and chapping and reducing the effects of dryness. Antioxidants present in the product fight with free radicals and slow down the effect of aging. Moreover, these antioxidants improve the shelf life of the product of the present invention. The principal object of the present invention is to provide a topical composition for fast relief of aches and pains of muscles and joints associated with simple strains, bruises and sprains. It is another object of the present invention to provide compositions containing analgesic/anti-inflammatory agents dissolved in fast absorbing rice bran oil for quick penetration of the active components. It is an object of the present invention to provide an external analgesic lotion containing active ingredients of methyl salicylate and camphor and menthol to relieve pain in muscles, joints, or viscera distal at the site of application by stimulating cutaneous sensory receptors. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a composition for topically treating pain and inflammation that is safe and effective and does not have the side effects of conventional NSAIDS. It is an object of the invention to provide a topical pain relief composition that provides long- term pain relief without the severe burning sensation that occurs following topical application. It is another object of the present invention to provide a pain relief composition that is eco-friendly and is economically viable. It is another object of the invention to provide rice bran oil-based pain relief formulation that does not contain any components ultimately harmful to the skin. It is a further object of the invention to provide a pain relief composition that is effective and easy to use. In accordance with the above related objects, one aspect of the present invention relates to a topical preparation for pain relief in humans, wherein methyl salicylate, camphor, menthol, eucalyptus oil, and clove oil are provided together such that the pain relief features are enhanced. Moreover, Rice bran oil absorbs quickly in the skin, so the penetration of the pain relief components of the composition is also quick.