I found this very interesting and useful, especially their analysis of common ingredients.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/05/healthmag.creams/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Lidocaine, methyl salicylate, hydrocortisone. You probably don't think twice about using over-the-counter creams with these ingredients when you need to soothe a sore muscle or bug bite, prep your legs before hair removal, or combat that vaginal itch. If the product's available without a prescription, it can't hurt you, right? Wrong.
One study estimates that women apply 175 chemicals a day from cosmetics, creams, and toiletries alone.
Take Arielle Newman, for instance, a New York City-area high school track star who died last year from a sports-cream overdose. She'd used large amounts of popular OTC pain-relieving ointments like Icy Hot and Ben-Gay on her sore muscles. The key ingredient in such products is methyl salicylate, which built up in Newman's body, may have interacted with other aspirin-based meds she was using, and caused her to go into cardiac arrest.
Another case: In 2005, Shiri Berg, 22, of North Carolina died of a lidocaine overdose. Following the instructions she'd been given by the staff at a local hair-removal clinic, she generously applied a numbing gel to her legs, then covered them in plastic wrap. On her way to the clinic to get hair lasered from her legs, Berg passed out. She went into convulsions, then a coma. Eight days later, she was dead.
Women dying in the name of hair removal? Athletes putting themselves at risk by using mentholated muscle soothers? Extreme situations, to be sure. But with all the stuff each of us slathers on our skin (one study estimates that women apply 175 chemicals a day from cosmetics, creams, and toiletries alone), it's no surprise that potential hazards are lurking.
Your skin is designed to protect you from countless insults: from air pollution to murky lake water, from dirty gasoline-pump handles to staph. Skin cells provide a physical barrier, sort of like bricks and mortar, to keep the bad stuff out -- most of the time, says Francesca J. Fusco, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "The cells aren't as tightly packed as real bricks, though, which means things can squeeze by and pentrate." That's good news if you want, say, an antiaging wrinkle cream to wage war against your crow's feet or an anti-itch product to tackle that exercise-induced rash on your inner thighs. Bad news when strong chemicals meet sensitive or thin skin, cause an allergic reaction, or dangerously flood your bloodstream.
Here, we investigate 14 ingredients commonly found in products you may be using right now -- and we tell you how to stay safe.
Methyl salicylate
Most OTC muscle creams (including Ben-Gay, Icy Hot, and Tiger Balm) contain one or more of three main ingredients: the cooling agents menthol and camphor, and the pain reliever methyl salicylate. The last one is similar to topical aspirin, says Matt Zirwas, M.D., director of The Ohio State University Medical Center Contact Dermatitis Center. And what happened to track-star Newman is essentially the same thing that could happen with an aspirin overdose, he says.
The safe way to use muscle creams? Rub a small amount (about the size of a quarter) into the painful muscle or joint area not more than three or four times a day to prevent accumulation. If you're applying more than a four-ounce tube a week, that's probably too much, Zirwas says. And watch your aspirin intake -- too much can increase your risk of overdose (in addition to the creams, Newman may have been using a pain-relieving patch and taking aspirin), as can wrapping or using a heating pad on ointment-covered skin.
Rubs with methyl salicylate may also interact with blood-thinning prescription drugs, such as Plavix or Coumadin, used to prevent blood from clotting, says Brian J. Krabak, M.D., sports-medicine physician at the University of Washington's department of rehabilitation medicine. Because of its toxicity, any product containing 5 percent or more of methyl salicylate (also called wintergreen oil) has to carry a warning label stating it must be used as directed and kept out of children's reach.
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http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/02/05/healthmag.creams/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Lidocaine, methyl salicylate, hydrocortisone. You probably don't think twice about using over-the-counter creams with these ingredients when you need to soothe a sore muscle or bug bite, prep your legs before hair removal, or combat that vaginal itch. If the product's available without a prescription, it can't hurt you, right? Wrong.
Take Arielle Newman, for instance, a New York City-area high school track star who died last year from a sports-cream overdose. She'd used large amounts of popular OTC pain-relieving ointments like Icy Hot and Ben-Gay on her sore muscles. The key ingredient in such products is methyl salicylate, which built up in Newman's body, may have interacted with other aspirin-based meds she was using, and caused her to go into cardiac arrest.
Another case: In 2005, Shiri Berg, 22, of North Carolina died of a lidocaine overdose. Following the instructions she'd been given by the staff at a local hair-removal clinic, she generously applied a numbing gel to her legs, then covered them in plastic wrap. On her way to the clinic to get hair lasered from her legs, Berg passed out. She went into convulsions, then a coma. Eight days later, she was dead.
Women dying in the name of hair removal? Athletes putting themselves at risk by using mentholated muscle soothers? Extreme situations, to be sure. But with all the stuff each of us slathers on our skin (one study estimates that women apply 175 chemicals a day from cosmetics, creams, and toiletries alone), it's no surprise that potential hazards are lurking.
Your skin is designed to protect you from countless insults: from air pollution to murky lake water, from dirty gasoline-pump handles to staph. Skin cells provide a physical barrier, sort of like bricks and mortar, to keep the bad stuff out -- most of the time, says Francesca J. Fusco, M.D., assistant clinical professor of dermatology at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. "The cells aren't as tightly packed as real bricks, though, which means things can squeeze by and pentrate." That's good news if you want, say, an antiaging wrinkle cream to wage war against your crow's feet or an anti-itch product to tackle that exercise-induced rash on your inner thighs. Bad news when strong chemicals meet sensitive or thin skin, cause an allergic reaction, or dangerously flood your bloodstream.
Here, we investigate 14 ingredients commonly found in products you may be using right now -- and we tell you how to stay safe.
Methyl salicylate
Most OTC muscle creams (including Ben-Gay, Icy Hot, and Tiger Balm) contain one or more of three main ingredients: the cooling agents menthol and camphor, and the pain reliever methyl salicylate. The last one is similar to topical aspirin, says Matt Zirwas, M.D., director of The Ohio State University Medical Center Contact Dermatitis Center. And what happened to track-star Newman is essentially the same thing that could happen with an aspirin overdose, he says.
The safe way to use muscle creams? Rub a small amount (about the size of a quarter) into the painful muscle or joint area not more than three or four times a day to prevent accumulation. If you're applying more than a four-ounce tube a week, that's probably too much, Zirwas says. And watch your aspirin intake -- too much can increase your risk of overdose (in addition to the creams, Newman may have been using a pain-relieving patch and taking aspirin), as can wrapping or using a heating pad on ointment-covered skin.
Rubs with methyl salicylate may also interact with blood-thinning prescription drugs, such as Plavix or Coumadin, used to prevent blood from clotting, says Brian J. Krabak, M.D., sports-medicine physician at the University of Washington's department of rehabilitation medicine. Because of its toxicity, any product containing 5 percent or more of methyl salicylate (also called wintergreen oil) has to carry a warning label stating it must be used as directed and kept out of children's reach.
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