Counter-irritants

Burmese eat the fruits to promote appetite, and swallow the sap to induce vomiting and relieve the bowels from costiveness. In the Philippines, the leaves are used externally to calm itchiness, and a decoction of the bark is drunk to treat lung diseases. In Indonesia, the leaves are used as counter-irritant in sciatica and lumbago. In Malaysia, the vapors emitted when boiling the roots in water are inhaled to treat cough and headache. 

Rubefacients act by counter-irritation produced as a result of local vasodilation, resulting in a warm sensation that masks the pain. Counter-irritants should not be applied on broken skin or before or after taking a hot shower. Examples of counter-irritants include salicylates, nicotinates, capsicum, menthol and camphor. Ketoprofen is an example of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug that is available as a topical preparation indicated in painful musculoskeletal conditions. 

Counter-irritant. An agent that produces inflammation or irritation when applied locally to affect another, usually irritated, surface to stimulate circulation, e.g., liniment. 

Liniments are liquid, semi-liquid and some-times semi-solid preparation used externally on the skin. Liniments are counter-irritant and stimulating type and are massaged or rubbed into the skin, and must not be applied to the broken skin e.g. liniment turpentine. 

Capsaicin is a powerful local stimulant and when swallowed it produces a sense of heat in the stomach. Capsaicin is applied widely as a condiment and can be employed as a counter-irritant in the treatment of lumbago, neuralgia and rheumatism. 

It has been used as a mild expectorant and relieves gripping. Applied externally, camphor acts as a rubefacient and mild analgesic and is employed in liniments as a counter-irritant in fibrositis, neuralgia and similar conditions. Camphor has been administered as a solution in oil by subcutaneous or intramuscular injection as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant, but there is little evidence of its value for this purpose (121-125). 

Camphorated oil was a traditional counter-irritant preparation, perhaps best known from the old song John Brown s Baby. Although the preparation... 

Stille asserts the conventional wisdom regarding counter-irritation by saying, apart from all theoretical or analogical illustrations of the subject, the fact is patent that spontaneous inflammations aggravate, while artificial inflammations, duly regulated, palliate or cure those which arise primarily or idiopathically. (See his Therapeutics and Materia Medica, 1 223). 

Liniments These are intended for massaging the skin. They may contain ingredients such as methyl salicylate or camphor as counter-irritants. 

Menthol is largely used as a flavoring or olfactory agent in a variety of products, including cigarettes, liqueurs, cough drops, mouthwashes, toothpastes, and shampoos. Menthol has been used in different medications to relieve symptoms of asthma and rhinitis and is a constituent of cold remedies and ointments designed to be rubbed on to the chest or applied around and even into the nostrils. Applied to the skin, it acts as a rubefacient and counter-irritant, but substantial concentrations of volatile oil can be inhaled from the skin. 

Petroleum distillates are used as general extractants and universal solvents for paints, varnishes, fats, furniture polishes, and waxes. They are also used as vehicles for medication and pesticide applications, as counter-irritants, and as degreasers, detergents, and fuel. Most can be purchased over the counter , particularly mineral spirits, which is a widely used solvent or diluent for nonlatex paints. 

Solanaceae). The active principle is capsaicin. Both capsicum resin and capsaicin are incorporated into medicines with COUNTER-IRRITANT (rubefacient or topical analgesic) actions, and when rubbed into the skin cause a feeling of warmth and that offsets the pain from underlying muscles, joints or internal organs. 

Source Ranaunculus scelretus. Molecular formula Cio Hg O 4. Molecular weight 192.18. Biological activity Counter-irritant. 

---