Home › Resources › Pain Management (Non-Pharmaceutical) › Topical Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatories (NSAIDS)
Topical nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are applied to unbroken skin where it hurts in the form of a gel, cream, or spray. Topical NSAIDs penetrate the skin, enter tissues or joints, and reduce pain by blocking the production of prostaglandins. Drug levels in the blood with topical NSAIDs are very much lower than with the same drug taken by mouth. This minimises the risk of harmful effects.
The Cochrane Collaboration review has found that topical diclofenac (Voltaren or generic brands like Viclofen) and topical ketoprofen can provide good levels of pain relief in osteoarthritis, but only for about 10% more people than get this result with a topical placebo.
Skin reactions are the main type of adverse response to the application of topical NSAIDS.
A review of the published data on these topical NSAIDS finds insufficient evidence to be confident about adverse event rates, however
there seems to be a slightly higher rate of skin reaction to diclofenac over ketoprofen and placebo.
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