Icy Hot Patch Leaves Man in Pain for Weeks

Chicago, ILWhat started as a sprained upper back turned into a month-long battle with pain and discomfort after a Chicago man used an Icy Hot Patch on his back and was left with an aggravating burn.

It only happened about four weeks ago. Smith (not his real name), a business consultant who travels frequently, pulled a muscle after struggling with his luggage and took an Advil.

The next morning, he headed to a local pharmacy to get some Icy Hot ointment, which he had used before with good results. Attached to the ointment was a free sample of an Icy Hot patch. Once home again, he rubbed some Icy Hot cream into his upper left back and could feel it start to work. The next evening, he did the same thing. But Sunday, he needed to catch another plane for a business s trip so decided to use the patch because it had less odor than the cream.

Since he had showered well prior to using the patch, he was confident there was no residual cream left on his sore back. He read the instructions as it was the first time he had used the patch.

"It felt like it was working but it fell off about four hours later. It came undone while I was on the plane, under my shirt," he said.

A couple of days later, the skin on his back where the patch was started to feel irritated, then it felt so sore, he thought it might be infected. Anytime his clothes rubbed on it, there was pain. He washed it well with soap but the pain persisted.

"It was pretty bad pain," he said. "It felt like a bad sunburn as well as the surface hurt as it was irritated." He finally went to the emergency room of his local hospital and the doctor there said yes, the skin looked irritated but there was nothing else. Smith went home and made an appointment to see his dermatologist the following week.

"That's when it clicked that I had used the patch there, and what this might be," he said. "The day before I saw the dermatologist I linked the two. I looked it up on the Internet and it said the patch was recalled as it was burning people."

At one point, the pain was so bad and distracting, Smith has to take a few days off work. His work productivity was down because of the constant distraction of the pain and discomfort.

"I am not as productive. I go to bed early. It's painful," he said. When the dermatologist looked at it, he said the skin on his back was irritated but couldn't find anything actually on the skin. "It was pretty serious. Everyday I have to wear a suit and that didn't help."

"It still bothers me now—four weeks later from using it just once. Obviously I wouldn't use it again and I am telling my friends."

When we turn to over-the-counter medications, we expect them to help us, not cause us further pain. But by using the Icy Hot patch, a lot of people have suffered serious pain and burns, all in the name of trying to find a little relief. It isn't right. Something needs to be done.