You’ve hurt yourself, walked into Dis-Chem or Clicks and found yourself staring at an entire shelf of muscle creams and gels. Deep Heat. Deep Freeze. Ice Man. Voltaren. Panamor. Norflex. Ibuprofen gel. Arnica Ice. They all seem to promise some form of pain relief, but which one are you supposed to use?
Should you use heat for a tight muscle? Cooling gel for a sports injury? Is Voltaren just another muscle rub? And what should you put on a pulled muscle, sprained ankle or sore joint? The first thing to understand is that these products are not all doing the same thing.
Broadly, we can divide them into three useful categories:
- Warming muscle rubs
- Cooling gels
- Medicated anti-inflammatory gels
Understanding the difference makes choosing the right product much easier.
Warming Gels: Think Tight, Stiff and Achy
Products such as Deep Heat are commonly used when muscles feel tight, stiff, achy or generally uncomfortable.
When might you use a warming gel?
Examples include:
- Tight neck and shoulder muscles after working at a desk
- Stiff or achy lower-back muscles
- General muscular aches
- Muscular stiffness
- Sore muscles after exercise
- Tight-feeling muscles after training
- General muscular discomfort where warmth feels soothing
How does Deep Heat actually work?
Deep Heat contains ingredients such as menthol and methyl salicylate that stimulate sensory receptors in the skin and create the familiar warming and cooling sensations.
These strong sensations can temporarily change the way your nervous system perceives pain coming from the area.
This is why applying Deep Heat to tight shoulders may make them feel warmer, looser and more comfortable. But there is an important distinction: Feeling hot does not necessarily mean that you are deeply heating or healing the muscle. A warming rub is primarily being used to provide temporary symptomatic relief and comfort.
An easy way to remember it is: Warming gel: Think tight, achy and stiff.
Cooling Gels: Think Sore, Irritated and Recently Aggravated
Cooling products include gels such as Ice Man, Deep Freeze and Arnica Ice.
These can be useful when an area feels recently sore, irritated or uncomfortable and you find a cooling sensation soothing.
When might you use a cooling gel?
Examples include:
- A sore knee after running
- A sore elbow after playing padel
- A sore calf after training
- General post-exercise muscle soreness
- A recently aggravated muscle
- Minor bumps or bruises
- General muscular discomfort after sport
- An area that simply feels irritated and responds well to cooling
How do cooling gels work?
Many cooling products contain menthol. Menthol stimulates cold-sensitive receptors in the skin. Your nervous system therefore receives a strong cooling signal from the area.
That cooling sensation can temporarily change the way you perceive pain, which may make the area feel less sore or irritated.
However, there is another important misconception here: A cooling gel creating a cold sensation on your skin does not necessarily mean that you are significantly cooling the deeper muscle underneath. Cooling gels are therefore mainly being used for comfort and temporary symptom relief.
An easy way to remember this category is: Cooling gel: Think sore, irritated & recently aggravated
Anti-Inflammatory Gels: This Category Is Different
This is where products such as Voltaren, Panamor, ibuprofen-based gels such as Deep Relief and other medicated anti-inflammatory products such as Norflex Gel come into the conversation.
Unlike a product being used mainly to create a warming or cooling sensation, these contain medication.
Voltaren and Panamor, for example, contain diclofenac, while some other anti-inflammatory gels contain ibuprofen. Diclofenac and ibuprofen belong to a group of medications called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs.
They are absorbed through the skin and act locally to reduce processes involved in pain and inflammation. Norflex Gel contains a different active ingredient, benzydamine, and should not be described as an NSAID, although it also has local anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving properties.
When might an anti-inflammatory gel be considered?
Common examples include:
- A minor ankle sprain
- A muscle strain or pulled muscle, such as a hamstring or calf strain
- Certain painful tendon and overuse injuries, such as tennis elbow
- Certain sports injuries
- Some painful joint conditions
- Osteoarthritis-related joint pain where a topical NSAID is appropriate
- Localised musculoskeletal pain where inflammation may be involved
An easy way to remember this category is: Anti-inflammatory gels: Think medication for pain and inflammatory processes.
However, pain does not automatically mean inflammation and not every sore muscle needs an anti-inflammatory medication.
Cooling Gel vs Anti-Inflammatory Gel: What’s the Difference?
This is probably where the most confusion occurs because there is some overlap. Let’s use a simple example. You roll your ankle playing padel. Could you use a cooling gel? Potentially, yes. Could a topical anti-inflammatory medication also be appropriate? Potentially, yes. But they are being used for different reasons.
A cooling gel may make the sore, irritated ankle feel more comfortable. An appropriate topical anti-inflammatory medication is being used to help manage the pain and inflammatory processes associated with the injury. The same principle applies to a muscle strain.
If you pull your calf during a run, a cooling product may provide temporary comfort. A topical NSAID may provide short-term pain relief from the acute musculoskeletal injury if that medication is appropriate for you. So, the question isn’t necessarily: “Which one is better?” A better question is: “What am I trying to achieve?”
Pain Relief Isn’t the Same as Fixing the Problem
This is perhaps the most important takeaway. There is absolutely nothing wrong with using an appropriate product to help manage discomfort. But feeling better does not necessarily mean that the underlying problem has been resolved.
If you keep putting Deep Heat on the same tight shoulder every evening, repeatedly applying anti-inflammatory gel to the same knee, or reaching for cooling gel every time you finish a run, it may be worth asking why the problem keeps returning.
Persistent or recurrent musculoskeletal pain may require assessment of factors such as your training load, strength, mobility, movement patterns, previous injuries, work setup or the specific tissue involved.
Similarly, significant swelling, inability to bear weight, marked weakness, deformity, neurological symptoms, severe pain or pain that isn’t improving should not simply be managed indefinitely with an over-the-counter gel.
This article is intended for general educational purposes and does not replace individual medical advice. Always follow the product information and speak to your pharmacist or healthcare practitioner if you are unsure whether a medicated product is appropriate for you.
