FDA Approves Hot Chili Pain Patch – Made With a Synthetic Version of Capsaicin

Need a pain patch, hot chilies to the rescue, well sort of. The pain patch product, Qutenza need a prescription by your physician. It is stated to be helpful with relief from shingles in this article. It sounds like some pretty powerful stuff as one application applied by a physician can give up to 12 weeks relief, sign me up for all my aches and pains for that matter. BD

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first prescription strength capsaicin product: Qutenza, a prescription pain patch designed to reduce nerve pain caused by shingles.

What is Capsaicin?

Capsaicin, in its natural form, is the substance in peppers, like chili peppers and cayenne peppers, that gives them their heat. It is also a long used and beloved natural herbal remedy for all sorts of external aches and pains, including nerve pain and arthritis.

From the website:

Qutenza^TM is indicated for the management of neuropathic pain associated with postherpetic neuralgia.

Qutenza^TM contains capsaicin in a local dermal delivery system. The capsaicin in Qutenza^TM is a synthetic equivalent of the naturally occurring compound found in chili peppers.

Qutenza^TM is administered by a physician or a health professional under the close supervision of a physician. Qutenza^TM may be administered every 3 months or as warranted by the return of pain, but not more frequently than every 3 months. In clinical trials, the most common adverse reactions were application site redness, pain, itching, and papules. The majority of these reactions were transient and self limited. Among patients treated with Qutenza^TM, 1% discontinued prematurely due to an adverse event. Serious adverse reactions included application-site pain and increased blood pressure. Blood pressure increases during or shortly after Qutenza^TM treatment were on average less than 10 mm Hg, although some patients had greater increases and these changes lasted for approximately 2 hours after patch removal.