People seeking relief from the pain of arthritis should use caution when applying over-the-counter topical creams, rubs or sprays for temporary relief, cautions the Arthritis Foundation.
Depending on ingredients, topical pain relievers work in several ways, according to Dr. Arthur Grayzel, vice president of medical affairs for the foundation.Some containing salicylates may penetrate through the skin to the joint and reduce pain.
Others that contain ingredients such as menthol or camphor irritate the skin and distract attention from the actual pain.
Another type contains capsaicin, a substance found in hot peppers, that reduces the amount of pain signaled to the brain.
Grayzel recommended that topical pain relievers should be only one part of a comprehensive treatment program for arthritis, which includes medication, exercise, rest, joint protection and sometimes surgery in severe cases.
- Associated Press
Unhappy homemakers?
In a study that illustrates the old Mark Twain adage - "work consists of whatever a body is obliged to do" - researchers have found that employed women are happier than men when they're on the job, while employed men are happier when they're at home.
Researchers at the University of Illinois explored the daily emotional states of 110 husbands and wives, all with children, by beeping them every so often as they went about their day and asking them to write down exactly what they were feeling and doing at the time.
The records showed that men are less happy at their jobs than at home, women the reverse.
The reason for the difference, the researchers speculate, is choice - or lack of it.
Because the women in this study (and others) see their duties at home, including child care and housework, as obligatory, they seem happier in what for them may be the less constrained environment of the workplace.
Conversely, because most men feel a mandate to provide for their families but view their duties at home as discretionary, they have less positive feelings about working than about their time at home.
"Men encounter the work context as . . . one of limited personal freedom," say Reed Larson and his colleagues in their study, published in the December issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
In addition, women appeared to derive much more pleasure than men from social relationships on the job, which may also explain why they are happier at work than at home.
- Allison Bass, Boston Globe