Let Me Count The Ways…Salonpas Pain Relief Patches Help My Senior Mom

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A Salonpas pain relief patch is one of my senior mom's favorite ways to fight arthritis aches and pains, whether due to gardening, grandparenting, or just plain living. As I wrote last week, she's been using their pain relief patches for years and raves about them to all her friends and relatives! That's why we're so excited to offer you this fun and free blog giveaway from Salonpas for a Pandigital 7 inch wireless digital photo frame along with samples of these pain relief patches.

Arthritis is so funny, isn't it? One minute you are fine, the next, a new ache has cropped up. I remember one year when I was walking along normally. A second later, my knee was KILLING me. I was limping with a knee brace for the next 6 weeks. Just as suddenly, one day I woke up and no more pain. That happens enough now that I don't even think twice about it, but it can slow you down a bit and the older you get, the harder it can be to ignore it.

That's why my senior mom loves to keep a pack of her Salonpas pain relief patches handy in her bedroom

and another in the bathroom

Then, if one of those "traveling aches and pains" strikes unexpectedly, she pops on a patch and, within a few minutes, she's smiling and telling me how much better she is feeling!

She's found these little pain relief patches to be useful in so many situations, including:

1. Playtime activities for grandparents and their grandchildren
2. Cleaning the garage
3. Weeding her bedroom
4. Washing floors
5. Walking in the snow
6. Walking through colorful and crunchy leaves
7. Walking in the spring and summer (I'm sensing a pattern here 🙂 )
8. Her shoulder hurting her in bed
9. Her sciatic nerve giving her grief
10. A looooooong drive
11. An unfamiliar and uncomfortable bed when traveling
12. Any other "traveling aches and pains"
13. She's even used them when her knee cap gave HER some grief
14. And, of course, her senior gardening!

The Salonpas pain relief patches that are part of the giveaway this month at SandwichINK are a bit different than what she usually uses. For starters, they are the first FDA-approved, over-the-counter pain relieving patch, a high accolade, indeed. 

She noticed that the backing was quite different. It's a clear plastic back with a cloth-like patch. At first, she had a hard time figuring out how to remove the backing and ended up giving it to me. When I tried the peel off the plastic backing I couldn't do it. BUT when I switched and tried to peel off the cloth patch, it came off super easy. You do, however, have to be careful so it doesn't bend over and catch itself. 🙂

She also noticed that it goes on COLD instead of WARM like she was used to. That worried her at first, thinking it wouldn't work. Guess what! It WORKED just fine. It did make her a bit colder so she will also keep using her original pain relief patches. My husband, on the other hand, would definitely have preferred these new ones. It's definitely nice to have options!

Looking at the ingredients I discovered the Salonpas pain relief patches she usually uses have:

• Camphor 1.2%
• Menthol 5.7%
• Methyl Salicylate 6.3% 

Both the new Salonpas pain relief patch and the Salonpas arthritis pain patch have: 

• Menthol 3%
• Methyl Salicylate 10% (NSAID)

Interesting and different, but still working well. Of course, as with any medication – even over the counter ones – it's always wise to check with your doctor as well as reading and following the directions on the packaging. And if it's your elderly parents taking them, be sure to remind them of that or help them with that.

Now, how about you? Have you or anyone in your family ever tried either the original or these new pain relief patches? We'd love to hear when you used them and how you liked them. Just hop over to last week's post, Salonpas Wants To Help Boomers and Seniors Stay Active With Their Grandchildren!, leave a comment and you'll also be entered in the Salonpas pain relief patches giveaway. You could win a package with large samples of their new pain relief patch along with a wireless digital photo frame – perfect for all those fun digital photos of your sweet family memories! For those caring for elderly parents – it would definitely make a delightful Christmas gift! See you there! 

P.S. If you thought you noticed some extra PINK in the post, you're absolutely right. I'm linking this to Beverly's Pink Saturday, which is always full of great bloggy friends, sharing new, interesting and creative ideas with all, including the Sandwich Generation – a fun way to spend a few pleasant moments and de-stress a bit in the midst of the busy issues of caring for elderly parents and helping with grandkids. Remember, it's vital for our elderly parents that we take good care of ourselves as well. 🙂