Easing The Pain Of Sore, Tired Muscles And Joints With Deep Heat

If you read my blog regularly or follow me on twitter, you'll know that my various mad illnesses (ME, Fibromyalgia, and Lupus) can lead to an awful lot of joint and muscular pain. Unfortunately for me not a day goes by where I don't experience muscular pain somewhere in my body. Thankfully prescription medication helps me to some degree, but I still fall back on over the counter preparations at times including the obligatory ibuprofen capsules, and muscle rubs and bath soaks. You needn't have a chronic illness like to see the benefit of things like this though, most people in society now experience some form of muscle or joint tenderness due to stress, exercise or simply through working too hard. I was kindly sent a range of products from the lovely people on behalf of the muscle and joint experts Deep Heat, that can help anybody with any form of muscle pain or tension no matter what the cause - I've had a chance to give all the products from the range a good go and whilst everything I tried did the job I've picked out three of my favourite products that you or anybody out there could use and see the benefits from.

Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Bath Soak

The first two products that I loved came from the new Muscle Rescue range. This range has been specifically designed to help ease stressed and tired muscles quickly and easily in your  own home, without the expense and inconvenience of visiting a professional masseuse or spa. The first product that I tried was the Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Bath Soak.

I love my baths with a passion, I would have at least 2 baths a day if I could, the warm water immediately calms me down, and starts to soothe my sore and weary muscles. The only other thing that works in a similar way is swimming in the sea! The people at Deep Heat have combined these two aspects to make a fabulously soothing and relaxing bath foam.

One of the key ingredients in this soak is electrolyte minerals - what's that I hear you cry? well electrolyte minerals are a combination of atomised sea water, and minerals and trace elements such as magnesium, sodium, calcium, iodine, and zinc, all of which can aid relaxation and improve body and skin health. The soak also contains essential oils of orange, patchouli, and rosemary.

The packaging isn't anything spectacular, but the dispenser is - I love the pop up lid which keeps the bottle clean and airtight. The bath foam itself is bright orange in colour :)

All you do is just add a small amount of the bath soak to warm running water. The soak produces a lovely foam which straight away screams "indulgent bathing experience"! The soak has quite a distinctive smell, which initially smells quite herbal and almost like posh aftershave - definitely the patchouli notes! It then  faded down into the almost antiseptic notes of Rosemary, before eventually fading into the citrus notes of fresh orange peel. I wasn't sure about the smell at first but it's definitely grown on me.

I have to say this felt lovely in a warm bath I felt really relaxed there was no burning or stinging, it just felt nice and soothing, whether this was down to the product or the warm bath in general I don't know but I would definitely consider repurchasing this product, especially since my usual muscle relieving bath product (Elemis Aching Muscle Super Soak) retails at a much higher price than this. The Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Bath Soak retails at around £5.49 for 200ml.

Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Neck and Shoulder Cream

The second product in the Muscle Rescue range is the neck and shoulder cream. This product is designed to ease tension our neck and shoulders, perfect for us bloggers who often get aches and pains from being hunched over a desk or a computer screen.

Containing extracts of a vanilla and rosemary, this is a warming cream which warms on contact with your skin - It comes packaged in a squeezy tube which features a sponge massaging applicator on the end.

You can either apply the cream with the applicator so you never get any on your hands or you can unscrew the applicator and apply the cream with your hands.

I can't really smell the vanilla in this if I'm honest, the almost antiseptic, fresh smell of the rosemary definitely dominates. The cream feels nice on the skin and it absorbs pretty quickly with no real stickiness. Almost instantaneously you can feel quite a powerful warming sensation, which immediately seems to soothe the muscles and relieve some of the aches and pains. Again I really liked this product, it smells nice and the warming sensation really made a difference to my aches and pains. My mum also liked this and used it on her upper arms and lower back where she's been having problems and again it did the job. My one issue is with applying it to myself, you can't really reach the back of your neck or shoulders so you really need someone else to be the masseuse and give you a little massage in the process - unfortunately Tom Hardy doesn't come with this product so I had to rely on Mummy Lou ;) and just a warning a little goes a long way you really don't need very much to do the job and to induce the warming sensation. Deep Heat Muscle Rescue Neck and Shoulder Cream 50g retails as around £5.99.

The Deep Heat Muscle Rescue is available from selected pharmacies and supermarkets. For more information on the products and for specific stockist details please check out the official website x

Deep Relief Ibuprofen And Levomenthol 2 Way Pain Relief Gel

I don't know about you but I hate taking painkillers like Ibuprofen. I take my prescription medication but I have to be in serious pain to consider taking anything else. I turns out I'm not alone recent research conducted by Mentholatum, the makers of Deep Heat suggests that people are increasingly concerned about taking too many painkillers and of the side effects they can produce. I've seen that at first hand with strange liver function test results that according to my GP are nothing to worry about is the liver is self repairing but can be explained by taking painkillers and various other medication. Don't get me wrong if I need painkillers I'll take them, and you should always consult your GP if your not sure about something, but I've started to try and find other ways to deal with my pain. Massage and warm baths, and a nice nap usually do the trick for me but recently I've discovered another possible method of pain relief.

If you spent any time watching TV lately your bound to have seen advertisements for gels and creams containing Ibuprofen. One of the ways to get the benefits of the drug without taking an actual pill is to apply it topically. I hadn't personally tried of these but my mum was recently prescribed something similar from her GP and she said it helped a little bit. So when I was given the opportunity to try one of these products I knew I needed to give it ago.

The product I was sent was the Deep Relief Ibuprofen and Levomenthol 2 Way Pain Relief Gel. Designed to help relieve rheumatic pains, muscular aches and pains, swellings such as strains and sprains and sports injuries, this gel is different from the majority of others on the market. This dual action gel features two ingredients the typical Ibuprofen, a non steroid based drug which is designed to reduced inflammation, the main cause of pain, and the more unusual levomenthol, which provided a cooling sensation which helps to minimise the pain signals, and which aids the absorption of the Ibuprofen. According to research these two ingredients when used together treat pain more effectively than gel just containing ibuprofen.

It comes packaged as you would expect in a metal tube with a lid that you need to pierce. It is clear in colour and has a gel like texture, which absorbs easily into the skin.

I've been using this gel predominantly on my my lower back and on my hips. It massages in easily and leaves virtually no stickiness. It has quite a strong menthol based smell, and quite a strong warming sensation on the skin which usually disappears within about 10-15 minutes.

I have to say every time I've used this it has really helped with the pain particularly in my lower back. The hot / cold sensation immediately distracts you from the actual pain, and by the time that it subsided I found that my pain had significantly reduced, and that I was able to lie down and move more easily. Mummy Lou also tried this product on some muscular pain that she' s been having in her arms and shoulders, and she had good results too in fact she actually preferred this to the plain ibuprofen gel that her doctor has given her on prescription. Deep Relief Ibuprofen and Levomenthol 2 Way Pain Relief Gel retails at around £4.75 for a 50g tube again from selected supermarkets and pharmacies.

I loved all of these products but we are all different and what works for me might not work for you. It's always worth having a chat with your GP or your pharmacist if your suffering from any form of pain or muscle tenderness, or before you use any of these products particularly the Deep Relief Gel or anything containing Ibuprofen.What products do you use for aches and pains? let me know in the comments x

(All The Products In This Post Were Provided For Review Purposes)