Treat pain quickly and effectively using the combined power of Chinese herbs and menthol with the HerbVantage Pain Relieving Patch. Use these patches to provide all-natural, fast-acting, long-lasting relief from sore muscles, backaches, and arthritis. Especially developed for the HerbVantage, this Chinese herbal formula clears heat, resolves toxin, disperses swelling, dispels wind and damp, quickens and cools the blood, quickens the collaterals, and frees the channels. Featuring warm, cool, and cold herbs, it is balanced enough to treat all three stages of trauma:

First stage: Where heat and swelling are prominent, the patch's functions that clear heat, disperse swelling, and move blood and qi are most important.
Second stage: The herbs in the patch that move blood and qi are suitable where heat and swelling are reduced but stasis of blood and qi remain.
Third stage: The formula may be applied to chronic third-stage disorders where wind-damp aching joints are the main symptom.

What is the difference between HerbVantage and traditional external plasters?

The HerbVantage differs from traditional external plasters in that it uses modern technology to make a convenient treatment that is easy to apply and non-messy. In the last 30 years the development of adhesive resins that allow the patch to adhere to the affected area has been the key to the growing popularity of this method of treatment.

Most pain patches center on pain relief and use pain-relieving substances like menthol and camphor as the main active ingredient. While simple pain relief is a good thing, we feel that including herbs that address the underlying pathomechanisms that are causing the pain, creates a holistic approach that falls in line with a Chinese medical approach.

In Chinese medicine pain is thought to be the result of stagnation of qi and blood. The underlying causes of stagnation can be complex and require an approach that can untangle the multiple causative factors. Chinese medicine views the causative factors of stagnation in the body to include heat (inflammation), toxicity (from decay of dead and dying tissue), cold and wind from the exterior and damp that is either internally generated or seeps in from the outside. Swelling is a secondary pathogen that causes further stagnation, and pain itself causes the affected area to tense up which leads to further obstruction of the free flow of qi and blood. Stagnation of qi and blood in the affected area can be a primary or secondary pathogen and thus should be addressed by all formulas aiming to decrease pain in the joints, sinews or bones.

In general, joint pain, sinew damage and other painful conditions of the muscles and joints are considered to present in three stages with treatment of each stage having different priorities.

First Stage
First stage is an inflammatory stage where heat and swelling are primary and other factors secondary. Thus, in treatment, herbs that clear heat, resolve toxin are primary, assisted by herbs that move blood and qi, prevent wind and damp invasion and reduce swelling and pain.

Second Stage
In this stage stagnation is primary and often the skin will reveal a greenish-blue hue indicative of blood stasis. Aching pain and stiffness are characteristic of this stage and treatment centers on moving qi and blood and relieving pain. In addition, herbs are usually included to clear any left-over heat and dispel wind and damp that may have complicated the situation. Most commonly this stage is seen days or weeks after a traumatic injury; it can also be present in repetitive stress disorders.

Third Stage
This chronic stage is referred to as “Bi” or “painful obstruction” in Chinese medical texts. It refers to long-term painful disorders where wind, cold and damp have settled into the affected area and led to aching, stiffness and even deformation. This often equates to arthritic conditions or other stubborn painful disorders of the musculoskeletal system. External treatment centers on dispelling wind, cold and damp, moving qi and blood and dispersing stagnation and relieving pain. Internal treatment includes all of that and in addition, must address the underlying deficiencies that accompany long-term disorders.

Active Ingredients:
Menthol 5%

Inactive Ingredients:
Yi Tiao Gen (Macrophylla Root Extract) - This herb is warm and acrid. The herb’s functions are to dispel wind, disinhibit damp, disperse stasis, resolve toxin, and supplement qi and blood. When used internally it is applied to spleen/stomach deficiency disorders, sore and swollen throat, and postpartum colds and flu. As an external application it is applied to sciatica, broken bones, pain in the sinews and bones, and traumatic injuries.
Tiao Long (Cynoglossum Lanceolatum Whole Root Extract) - This herb is acrid, bitter and slightly warm. It rectifies qi, relieves pain, dispels wind and damp, comforts the sinews and quickens the collaterals. It is mostly applied externally to chronic wind-damp joint pain, and aching muscles and tendons owing to wind-damp.
Qian Cao Gen (Rubia Cordifolia Whole Root and Rhizome Extract) - This herb is bitter and cold; it cools blood, dispels stasis, frees the channels, and quickens the collaterals. It also quickens blood, clears heat, and resolves toxin. Externally, this herb is traditionally applied to hot and swollen joints and painful muscles and sinews.
Da Gu Xiao (Chinensis Whole Root Extract) - This is a slightly cold herb that is sweet, bland, and slightly bitter. It disperses swelling, resolves toxin, disinhibits urine, clears heat, resolves toxin, and pulls out pus. It dispels wind, comforts the channels, and quickens the collaterals. This herb is usually applied to hot and swollen conditions of the skin and flesh making it ideal for treatment of inflamed and swollen joints, injured sinews, and broken bones. Externally, it is mostly used in the folk medicine of Taiwan to soothe traumatic injury, wind-damp patterns with hot and painful joints, and hot-type skin conditions.
Qi Li Xiang (Pentandrum Whole Root Extract) - This herb is acrid, slightly bitter, and slightly warm. It moves blood, moves qi, disperses stagnation, and dispels wind and damp.
Huang Jin Jia (Murraya Paniculata Whole Rhizome Extract) - This herb is cool and slightly bitter. It quickens the blood, frees the collaterals, clears heat, resolves toxin, cools blood, and abates jaundice. Internally it is applied to treatment of jaundice, over-consumption of alcohol and other damp-heat conditions such as damp-heat bi patterns, painful urination and urinary tract stones. Externally, it is applied to joint pain, back pain, and sports injuries.
Hai Fu Rong (Tanacetum Vulgare Top Root and Leaf Extract) - This herb is bland and cool; it disinhibits water, disperses swelling, comforts the sinews, quickens blood, dispels wind and damp, and resolves toxin. Internally, it is applied to high blood pressure. In the folk medicine of Taiwan, it is recommended externally to soothe arthritic conditions and is also recommended for sore and aching backs. Resin (to one gram)