Trending analgesic with cooling properties
In 2024, sports and fitness are evolving with the buzz of the Olympics and personal fitness goals. Managing daily aches and pains amidst the excitement of pickleball, Barre, footgolf, Reformer Pilates, and padel tennis can get challenging. Menthol, a trending tool for recovery and relief, offers a solution. This organic compound, naturally found in mint and other plants, gets often distilled from leaves. Both natural and synthetic variations are available for consistent quality. While menthol adds a minty flavor to food and beverages, its analgesic, blood-circulating, and cooling properties benefit active lifestyles. Discover how menthol can contribute to a refreshing and rejuvenating experience!
How menthol functions
Did you know people have used menthol for pain relief since ancient times? Hippocrates and Galen described it as a cooling agent for managing peripheral pain, earning it “Menthol Galen-Pharma.” Menthol and mint form one of the most important taste directions, alongside vanilla and citrus. Low doses of menthol produce a cooling sensation when applied to the skin or mucous membranes. Topical over-the-counter products for pain relief typically contain 5-16% menthol.
Daily pain management and innovation
A celebrity sports figure familiar with managing the resulting aches and pains of a stellar career, Serena Williams recently introduced WILL PERFORM. The new line includes six products for recovery: two roll-ons, three lotions, and a spray, all offering pain relief and muscle care. A hero within the line, the WILL Cool Cooling Pain Relief Roll-on contains a gel-like blend of menthol, camphor, and botanicals in a travel-perfect 3-oz triple rollerball system. The line introduces WILL PERFORM’s “Performance Care,” promoting a mindset shift in daily recovery and performance for both day and nighttime use. Reducing the stigma of pain relief and reaching women were vital goals, removing the association with “You’ve grown older, so you hurt.”
Biofreeze® Professional Pain-Relieving products offer deep, long-lasting relief from arthritis, sore muscles, joints, backaches, and more. Biofreeze® forms a standard with chiropractors, athletic trainers, physical therapists, massage therapists, podiatrists, and occupational therapists. Menthol features 10.5% in the spray, while tubes, rolls, and gel pumps come with 5% Menthol USP. Pain holding you back? Fast-acting innovation has arrived with The Good Patch “Relief” water-resistant topical patches with plant-derived Menthol, Lavender, Arnica, and Aloe Vera. You can wear each patch for up to 12 hours for temporary relief of minor aches and pains of muscles and joints. One last readily available and inexpensive innovation, Aleve has introduced a new targeted AleveX™ Spray, made with maximum strength Menthol, without drips or mess.
Celebrating Symrise’s L-Menthol milestones
With over 50 years of expertise in menthol production, Symrise has worked at the forefront of lifestyle developments. The latest developments from Symrise include versatile SymcoolⓇ, which allows cooling skin contact without a burning sensation to eyes, and innovative FrescolatⓇ. Always concerned with sustainable production, a circular menthol production process eliminates wastewater and reduces waste products. Crystallization also makes Symrise menthol solvent-free. A combined heat and power plant at Symrise’s Bushy Park facility has reduced menthol production carbon emissions by 800 to 1,000 tons annually. With wellness and summer activities on the rise, weigh in on your favorite menthol applications below!
