Alpha Wintergreen Ointment 25

Alpha Wintergreen is the old deep-heat: methyl salicylate, the aspirin cousin in wintergreen oil, rubbed into stiff backs, worked muscles and aching joints as a counter-irritant, the warming sensation competing with and damping the pain signal while local circulation rises. Topical salicylates carry modest randomised support for musculoskeletal pain, real but smaller than topical anti-inflammatory gels, and the traditional ointment remains the affordable warming rub for the manual-work market that asks for it by name.

For the stiff back after heavy work, a warming counter-irritant rub is honest, cheap relief with a mechanism and a modest evidence base. It also gives the heavy-labour customer a drug-free option their stomach and kidneys will thank them for, compared with daily oral anti-inflammatories.