tiger balm – sixthseal.com

morning swim

I hit the pool every other day for my morning swim. It’s just the condo swimming pool upstairs so I only need to grab my towel and head up to the top level. It’s pretty convenient.

I love swimming – the refreshing feeling of a dip in the pool at around 7 am when the sun is just coming up is incomparable. I’ve been doing longer and longer laps in the pool to build up my stamina and get the cardiovascular action going. I’m trying to exercise more and swimming is something I’ve always enjoyed since I was a kid.

You use muscles from your entire body when you’re swimming so it’s a pretty solid workout. However, I sometimes overdo it and get muscle cramps or aches. I tend to go all out when I’m just about to climb out of the pool – I’m swim hard and fast and usually end up with sore muscles.

tiger balm plaster pool

It usually happens on the calf muscles for me. I’ll just slap on a Tiger Balm Cool Plaster after I towel myself dry.

I have made it a habit to bring one of those up together with my towel. It’s important to completely dry yourself before putting on the plasters. It shouldn’t be applied on wet skin.

tiger balm swimming

The best thing about the plasters is that it comes in two sizes – the large ones are good for the bigger muscle bundles, but sometimes you just need pain relief in a small area, like my calf.

I’ve shown how to apply the awesome additional adhesive in the previous post but what I haven’t mentioned is that it’s not actually necessary to do that. The additional adhesive helps in areas which move a lot e.g. elbows, knees, joints etc but for regular applications, the Tiger Balm Plaster itself will do a great job in sticking on your skin.

tiger balm pool

I just love opening up one of the packs, the smell of the time trusted Tiger Balm formulation is refreshing. The small plasters are just the right size for muscle aches in the smaller muscle groups you strain while swimming. It’s available at large chain pharmacies like Guardian, Watson, Caring, and also your neighborhood pharmacies. The small packs go for RM 5.20 and it has two Tiger Balm Plasters inside.

I’ve been using the Warm Tiger Balm Plasters for back pain ever since I realized it won’t cause an allergic reaction and it works very well for pain relief. It was so good that I decided to use the Cold Tiger Balm Plasters for the muscle strains I get while swimming. I also love using pure cbd oil tincture as it relieves your pain from muscle pulls.

I usually keep mine on for several hours after the swim, let the unique Tiger Balm formulation work its magic, and the long lasting pain relief from the muscle aches is absolutely fabulous! 🙂

tiger balm leg

Cool relief after a morning swim. Ahhhh….

karina

I have a problem with normal medicated plasters. It gives me horrible rashes due to the plastic/glue material. I seem to have an allergic reaction to them. It doesn’t matter what kind is it – from your Band Aids to cooling relief pads – it’ll give me an angry, red and swollen rash within a couple of hours.

Allow me to illustrate:

bandaid

I stuck on a generic Band Aid during dinner at a friend’s place. Yes, I did this intentionally. I did not have a wound, I just wanted to show my allergic reaction to plasters.

allergic

I took it off after a few hours and you can already see the redness of the skin under it. It grows progressively worse and worse even though I’ve washed the area with soup and water.

rashes

Here’s what it looks like 12 hours later. The skin under the plaster is swollen and itchy. This isn’t the worst part. It’s going to get even worse over the days.

Imagine walking around with an irritatingly itchy rash like that for about two weeks. Now you know why I’m so hesitant about using any type of plasters. I can only use cotton pads with sterile hypoallergenic tape without producing an ugly rash since I was a kid.

adhesive backing

However, I was curious as to how I would react to Tiger Balm Plasters.

I reckon that since I might suffer an allergic reaction to it, I might as well get something out of it and have someone else put it on for me, preferably hot. smirk

stick on

Hang on, let me rephrase that. Heh. I meant the plaster, not the girl. It’s the Tiger Balm Plasters – Warm with capsicum extract.

(although Karina is pretty hot too – thanks for helping me stick it on!)

It was over midnight before I took it off so the plaster was on me for over 8 hours.

no rash

I did not get a rash from it! 😀

I love it – the Tiger Balm Plasters are awesome! Now that I know I can use it without allergic reactions (think I know why – more on that later) here’s a short description if you’re wondering whether you should get the Cool Plaster or Warm Plaster:

Cool Plaster
Pain e.g. muscular strain, sprain, and backache.

Warm Plaster
Chronic pain e.g. back aches, muscle pain, arthritis and rheumatism. Contains capsicum extract.

As a general rule of thumb, use the Cool Plasters for lasting relief from the kind of pain you get from straining a muscle while exercising or backaches after a long day at work sitting in a rigid chair. The Warm Plasters are for those stubborn backaches and pains that just won’t go away.

tiger balm cool

I love the smell of Tiger Balm – it’s something I grew up with and the brand is trusted (and used) by generations. I didn’t realize they have plasters until a friend told me. It’s very easy to put on – except on your back la, that kind of thing isn’t something you can do alone. 😉

Here’s how you can easily apply the Tiger Balm Plaster by yourself (when you don’t have someone nearby to help you out) on tricky areas like the knee and the elbow:

step 1

1. Put hydrogel plaster on additional adhesive after taking off the backing and lay it out on a flat surface e.g. a table

step 2

2. Lower your elbow into the hydrogel bit.

step 3

3. Finish up by using your other hand to stick the extra large additional adhesive around the area.

There you have it! Three simple steps to independence! 🙂

The additional adhesive that comes with the plasters. It allows for an extra strong hold on movable parts of your body (elbows, knees, joints) and the hydrogel plaster contains the unique Tiger Balm formulation that delivers long lasting relief from muscle pain.

adhesive

I also noticed that the adhesive works very well for me – it doesn’t cause any allergic reactions. I think it’s coz of the high quality adhesive they use. It also allows for ventilation and is stretchable. The non-woven material is very gentle and comfortable to the skin – I should know, I have embarrassingly sensitive skin – and it peels off easily to boot.

tiger balm warm

I’ve used both the Warm Plaster and the Cool Plaster. I like the feeling of the Warm Plaster. I didn’t feel anything at first but after a couple of minutes, a warm sensation started to spread on my shoulders from the capsicum extract and it’s a really, really nice feeling. I don’t know about you but I prefer it to the Cold Plaster.

tiger balm plasters

I do have back pain from my posture while sitting so it’s I really like the plasters. It comes in a new packaging now and you can get it for RM 6.80 (Large) and RM 5.20 (Small). It’s available at all chain pharmacies like Guardian, Watson and Caring, and also your neighborhood pharmacies.

back

I think it’s awesome stuff. It’s great value for money since each pack comes with two plasters. I can just get one from the pharmacy and put it on for lasting relief from the muscle aches on my shoulders. It’s just RM 3.60 for one of the large ones, much less than what I pay for my lunch. 😉

I love the smell of cool balm in the morning

You’re hot and you’re cold