Monday, June 28, 2010

How to remove IcyHot

It's after 1:30AM and I'm blogging. For some reason I thought applying IcyHot before going to bed (around 10:30 PM) was a good idea... The tendon (not sure what it's called) behind my left knee is sore after walking the Slacker Half Marathon on Saturday (a post is coming soon about that!), so I thought IcyHot may help. Well, apparently that area is highly sensitive - it BURNS! I did some googling and found these instructions on a few different sites (most clearly here):

Q: How do you wash off icy hot
A: Remove any excess Icy Hot with a Kleenex. Do not rub it in. Douse a cotton ball in olive oil and use that to cleanse the affected area gently. Then wash it off with water. Pat the skin dry.
Washing the area with water alone did not help so I washed with soap and water and that seemed to work. But in the time it has taken me to type this up, the burning has come back full force. AUGH! I've used IcyHot "No Mess" before with great results... but after googling this I found that many people have had this burning when using it behind the knee. 

OK back to google... this did NOT work!

UPDATE: If my leg wasn't burning I'd be rolling laughing about this... so, IcyHot is made with Capsaicin - the active ingredient in chili peppers! Remember my story about making chili?! AUGH! I found an article about it on drugs.com for IcyHot PM which I will assume is the same or similar to the "No Mess" version I have... What doesn't make sense is that I've used this product before with no issues, except on my shoulder and not behind my knee. I'm guessing I applied too much. I reapplied olive oil and left it on, the burning seems to be slowly dissipating. It's now 2:30 AM. 

11 comments:

  1. Ouch! I hope you got some sleep and some great pictures during the race to make it worth while. ;-)

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  2. Thanks, I finally got to sleep. The Slacker was worthwhile, the scenery was beautiful!

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  3. Wow - I had no idea behind the knee was so sensitive!

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  4. So I am definitely experiencing the same exact pain rightvnow in the same place. I also googled how to remove it, found the same answer, and had the same result. Guess I just gotta wait it out. But if I were being burned at the stake right now, I don't think I would be able to tell a difference between the fire and the icy hot. Never again will I use it.

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  5. Me to. Left knee pain. Used Icy Hot which is now burning and I can't get it off. I even used the oil trick. lessoned the burn just a little but this is awful. I just want to go to sleep. Guess sleep won't be coming for awhile until this burning stops.

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  6. my bf put it on and now he's running around the house almost crying and he just got a cotton ball with olive oil. this is so funny.

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  7. Just used icy hot on my side, felt hot like in the past. But then it started itching. About 10 minutes after using it, I looked at the site. WOW VERY RED and also bumpy. Jumped in the shower washed it off. But of course it has soaked in. Used Benedyrl creme for possible Allergic reaction, then added ALOE fresh from the plant for possible burn.
    THREW ICY HOT IN THE TRASH!

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  8. My arm is burning. If u don't like pain I wouldnt advise u to use icey hot

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  9. The neck skin at the spine is incredibly sensitive as well. But not the shoulder which is very thin. The body is strange.

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  10. OMG!!!!! I woke up from a dream that I was standing in fire! The pain is indescribable behind knee and calf. I used baby wipes, then some of that blue aloe sun burn stuff with a icy wash wrag over area,brought pain to acceptable level. Glad I found this, I thought I was gonna have to make trip to ER.

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  11. Son of a b....! It wont stop, put on the base of neck and shoulders. Buring like nothing else. Red patches all over the area. Sitting in bath tub trying to get it to stop.. its 1am.. I wanna sleep. Going to just pour olive oil on me.. fuck cotton ball just pour it on.. dont wanna go to ER over Icy hot

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