Chili oil - capsaicin

lacton64
lacton64 Member Posts: 3
in Chat to our Helpline Team

Hello, I saw a surgeon about joint replacement for my finger today the waiting list is a year, nurofen gel doesn't help with the pain but he suggested capsaicin. Does anyone else use this and know where I can get it from please

Comments

  • Lizebeth
    Lizebeth Member Posts: 14

    Personally i love a bit of capsaicin as I have a noticeable down swing in pain from joints the day after, but I get mine entirely from actual chillis in food rather than as a supplement.

    I have a couple of other medical issues that affect my digestion and the supplement form of capsaicin stays too long in my gut before being metabolised so it causes me pain and it can cause my diverticulitis to flare up as well so I'm limited to having a few home made chilli based meals a month and getting what i now call a small weekend break from the Rheumatoid heavy overcoat I seem to wake up wearing most days.

    Unfortunately for the longest time I though you could only have one serious medical problem per person, life it turns out decided to teach me a lesson and dump a few different ones on to me all at once.

    Anyway I can say it does help me joint pain wise, its not a total cure but it feels like it lifts about 10 years off my body so I do recommend giving it a try but watch out if you get supplement as they contain vastly higher quantities and therefore your digestive system might not be entirely happy with it.

    Personally before you part with any cash for supplements I'd try making a chilli con carne at home and see how you are the next day.

    hope it works for you, fingers crossed.

  • jamieA
    jamieA Member Posts: 863

    Hi @lacton64

    As far as I am aware the only UK supplier of capsaicin cream prescribed by the NHS (Axsain and Zacin) went into administration and so their brand is unavailable in the UK. If you do a search for it online the AI report states it won't be available in the UK till 2026. Funnily enough I did this a couple of weeks ago after watching a BBC health programme which recommended it. I previously had it prescribed for me and I did feel that it worked for me - however my pharmacist has been unable to supply the last couple of prescriptions I had.

    You can buy it from online retailers but I think all the products I've seen come from overseas so I'd be concerned that they are not regulated.

  • helpline_team
    helpline_team Posts: 3,950

    Hi @lacton64

    Thank you for your posting to the online community and I see that others have responded to your post. Unfortunately, capsaicin cream is not currently available in the UK, as the manufacturer has gone into administration. One of the UK suppliers of capsaicin products has advised Versus Arthritis that they hope to be able to manufacture capsaicin-based creams in the future. However, it is likely to be some time before this happens due to legal and regulatory requirements.

    We recommend that you speak to your doctor or a pharmacist about other treatment options while waiting for your joint replacement. I have put links in below to our information on Capsaicin cream and also information on managing hand pain that I hope will be helpful to you.

    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/complementary-and-alternative-treatments/types-of-complementary-treatments/capsaicin/
    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/conditions/hand-and-wrist-pain/

    https://www.versusarthritis.org/about-arthritis/treatments/surgery/hand-and-wrist-surgery/

    Best Wishes

    Dawn, Helpline Advisor

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