Immediate relief for Icy Hot burns or chemical burns from other Methyl Salicylate ointments such as Bengay, Bayer Muscle Joint Cream, ArthriCare Ultra Cream, and Tiger Balm:
To cool the burn, carefully wipe off excess cream with a kleenex, apply olive oil with a cotton ball, wipe off with another kleenex, and THEN wash off with water. This stops the burn within minutes. I am not a doctor, just a mom sharing the answer she got, because it really works. Let me know if it works for you too.
*IMPORTANT* IcyHot now makes a “no mess” roll on formula which leaves a film over the the active ingredients (I guess to keep it from getting on your clothes? ) If you’re burning with this formula or any other brand like it, you WILL need to wash off the film first with soap and water, and then use the olive oil trick to stop the burn. (Update: that isn’t completely stopping the burn for some people, though most say it helped somewhat. Avoid the roll-on stuff!)
Edited to put relevant information at the top: seems this is a popular problem and this answer is too hard to find! Read on if you want the whole story (It’s a miracle 
).
When Icy Hot gets TOO hot! How to take the burn out of Icy Hot
My five year old woke up crying with leg aches tonight. So I did what I always do for legaches: applied icy hot. Only this time it seems his skin was a bit sensitive. And icyhot doesn’t wash off so easily with water.
So anyway, my poor little guy went from whimpering to shrieking in a matter of minutes. Everyone in the house was awake now and he was in alot of pain. We couldn’t rinse off what was rubbed in. So we prayed for relief and ideas to stop the burn, and then turned to the internet.
I phrased my google search many ways but only found horror stories of men who forgot to wash their hands or who learned the hard way not to … misuse… bengay. Not exactly the best reading material for a mom and her five year old (who incidentally suddenly seemed like TOO good a reader for his age – yikes!).
So I looked up the first active ingredient. Methyl Salicylate. I found medical writeups, but they were only about accidental ingestion. And for the layman like me, instructions to call poison control if it’s eaten.
I found no good advice for getting the stuff off though! An hour later, my kid had calmed down and fallen asleep. But I was wide awake and guessing with the frequency of his leg aches it won’t be the last time this sort of thing happened. So I decided to experiment with an idea that had popped into my head several times since praying: olive oil.
To test the theory, I rubbed a little icy hot in a few fairly sensitive places. First I tried my inner elbow, which turns out isn’t all that sensitive, but I figured it would compare to the backs-of-knees that were burning on my son.
Then, cautiously remembering not to ingest it but knowing I wasn’t about to put it on anything more sensitive, I rubbed a little on my lips. I must admit, I figured if I couldn’t get rid of the burn right away, at least I might get that Angelina Jolie pout for a moment. That didn’t work, by the way. Don’t try it… the main ingredient is poisonous if you get too much of it. And my lips burned like crazy.
But the olive oil did work. Moments after the burn kicked in, I applied the olive oil and rinsed it off, and nipped the problem in the bud. The burning stopped immediately. Even the smell disappeared. I hope if you found this article it works just as well for you.
WHAT TO DO: Remove any excess ointment with a kleenex. Do not rub it in. Douse a cotton ball in olive oil and use that to cleanse the affected area gently. Then wash it off with water. Pat the skin dry.
FOR FUTURE REFERENCE: I still plan on using icy hot; it’s a godsend on leg aches, and it even works wonders on my wrists if I abuse them with too many consecutive hours on design projects. But next time I’ll definitely do a patch test with a q-tip. If it doesn’t burn after 2 minutes, I’ll go ahead and rub it in.
NOTICE: I am not a doctor, just a desperate mom who prayed for an answer and got it. This worked for me. I can’t guarantee it will work for you and can’t be liable. If you do decide to try it, please drop me a note on the contact form letting me know whether it did the trick. Hoping this helps someone. And typing always makes me tired, so now I’m going back to bed. Or not so much; he’s awake again with more leg aches. If you have tips for that please let me know!
Previously titled ‘How to Take the Burn out of Icy Hot’ — Trying to get this up in search engines where people who need it can find it!
that’s a good idea. i might try it sometime. how long did it take to work?
>> It works within seconds.
Thank you single Mormom mommy! You just saved my skin
You bet
I’m glad you’re OK!
The olive oil took the burn off immediately, I’m sure because the oils in the ointment stuck to the olive oil and I was able to wipe it away, where trying to wash it off with water didn’t work because the oils in the icy hot just repelled the water, and soap was making the irritation worse.
If you’re talking about whether or not it ‘worked’ on my lips, it did not work, and I do not recommend it. In fact I would highly discourage you from doing that as methyl salicylate can be deadly if too much gets into your system over time. Even through your skin, so I hope you’re not using too much icy hot or bengay habitually. I would imagine having it near your mouth where you’re likely to injest it is a very bad idea.
Hi – I have arthritis and yesterday, put some Heet (18% Methyl Salicylate) and today it started burning badly. It really kicked in after going in the swimming pool, maybe something activated it, I don’t know. Anyway only running cold water seemed to help. So desperate to make it stop I started Googling. It took me a while to find this blog but I was game to try Olive Oil. It worked. Pretty quickly and permanently It’s been a couple hours and the burning has pretty much stopped. thank you so much! Question – any idea why this works, and what made you think of it? Thanks again!
Author note: >> How did I think of it? I actually wasn’t kidding when I said I prayed for a solution. I never would have thought of that by myself. I am not sure why it works either, but I have to guess the icy hot has a naturally stronger bond with the olive oil than it does with the skin, and maybe something in the olive oil helps kill the burn too. I really don’t know. But I do know it works.
absoulute genius, after much searching and may may irrelevent finds. the olive oil really worked instatly. thank you so very much my daughter was in so much pain and you made me the hero.
>> I’m so glad it worked for you too. Icy hot is great stuff till it starts to burn.
This worked great! Thank goodness I found this blog!
GOD BLESS YOU!!! My goodness. I am an undergrad student that bought some Icy Hot after work just to try it for uncomfortable chaffing. I got home late. I ate, fed the dog, locked the doors and was going to call it a night when I glanced at the label; which said to use "generously." I took it to a different meaning "use more to work." So, inquisitively, I applied a dab to the affected area of my upper inner thy. I felt no burning and heavily more cream. One minute later EXTREME BURNING from the active ingredient! I rushed to the shower and washed the cream off and realized the burning didn’t stop. This was a chemical burning, so I jumped for the Aloe hand lotion and staid perfectly still as I franticly searched for a remedy. This helped, but only for so long. When I did decide to move I was back to step one. Then, I came across this site and read the oil solution and tried it. Immediately, the burning was subsided. You should win a Nobel!
Thank you very much (two hours later, lol),
-a victim of Icy DANGEROUS hot!
I’m so glad people are finding this! Joey Smoe… you icy hot on chaffed skin? Ouch ouch ouch! I can’t imagine how that would hurt.
Like I say, I still think Icy-hot is really useful. My arms get messed up from typing too much sometimes (hah, as you can see from the length of this article!) but we’re definitely being more careful here, and I guess damaged skin is one contraindication!
Found your blog AFTER the fact. I had taken a hot shower then put on some bengay. Started BURNING like no tomorrow so I ran to the shower to rinse it off. It wasn’t until I had used my honey/oatmeal soap that I experienced relief. Had to soap up and rinse several times before the burning subsided. I Wish I had looked this up sooner!! I would’ve kept a bottle of olive oil beside me just in case!!!
Thanks so much for putting this on your blog.
I just applied some Icy Hot and it was ‘burning’ I guess you could say, but in a cold sensation sort of way. I thought something was going on, but it is going down now and my muscles are starting to ache again. If it gets out of hand, i’ll try this remedy. Thanks a lot!
Icy Hot will warm up your muscles and tingle on your skin a little. It’s supposed to do that — it helps relax the muscles with the warmth plus increase circulation. But if you apply Icy Hot to irritated or very sensitive skin, you won’t mistake the burning people are talking about here, and in that case use the olive oil
IcyHot doesn’t actually make anything hot, it ignites nerve sensors that simulate the sensation of heat.
That depends… the Icy Hot patch really does work with heat. But the burn people are talking about here is the feeling that your skin is on fire. Of course it isn’t on fire. But it feels that way.
Arianwin – no problem! Sorry you got here a bit too late :-/
thank you so so much. I just rubbed a cream like IcyHot on my wifes back called TOAST! Its truely “Hell in a bottle”. we tried rubbing, washing, and ice! While my wife was showering I began to search Google on my phone and found your blog. But we had one issue… We have only “Olive Oil hair oil sheen”…. So, I told her about the blog and we tried it…. and it worked GREAT! So thank you and continue to listen to your prayers!
Shon, I’m so glad it worked for you, even with “hair oil sheen” – that’s great!
=) the internets has saved me once again. thank you internet.
oh, and also to the people who found this out, thanks.
THANK YOU THANK YOU. You are my godsend tonight. My back was killing me so I thought I would try my husband’s equate muscle rub. I have never used any of these and will never again. Lit my back on fire kept taking cold showers like 3 30 min ones. Kept coming back worse guess this stuff is not for me. I found your blog thank you so much. But I will say I guess it worked I forgot about my back pain.
I am so glad to hear you’re alright! And I hope your back gets better soon as well. Thanks for leaving a note!
I did the not so smart thing of putting it on my knee after I got out the shower and dried off. It burnt like $#%!. What’s worked for me has been using ice cold water, a wash cloth and a dry towel. Get the cloth drenched and squeeze the water over the area quite a few times and dry after every few. I’ve still got the burn, but it’s not nearly as bad. In short: Don’t put icy hot on moist skin. To the Mom who wrote this, Thanks! I looked this up after it happened. Next time, if I’m feeling foolish or forgetful; I’ll use your suggestion.
Thanks for the tip, Sean! Do try the olive oil though. If it’s still burning at all. I swear it’ll make it stop burning immediately. Give it a go!
I don’t know what I would have done if I did not find this article while my 13 year old was in major pain due to me applying “icy hot balm” to his lower back tonight! The olive oil was a life saver! Thanks so much!
Thank you so much. Tonight after experiencing an awful tension headache, my neck was very sore and painful. I decided to try icy hot to relieve it. It felt so good at first and then was the horrible burning pain. It really did feel as if my neck had been set on fire, The icy hot and olive oil combo seemed to relieve the pain now even 30 minutes later. Thank you again
thank you so much i was using extra stength lakota and it felt like i had my back to a 3 story bonfire you saved my life , the ride to the grocery store at 11 30 pm to get olive oil sucked but worked instantly thank you
Honestly, thank God for the idea. It was a direct answer to my prayer & I’m glad it’s helping others too!
I tried the olive oil but it didnt really work for me i let the icyhot gel soak in for a hour or so and when i applyed the olive oil it temporarly relived the burn.
Sorry to hear that, Zack. The primary benefit with the olive oil seems to be that it gets the icy hot off so it will stop further burning, since most of us haven’t had much luck washing it off with soap and water; the secondary benefit is the soothing. If the icy hot is off your skin entirely and you’re still burning because you left it burning for so long, you might try aloe vera gel.
thank you so much………..
You r a lifesaver!!!!!!
Seriously, thank Heaven, not me. All I did was blog about it.
i woke up cryingg! and started searching for ideas!
thanks alott!
No problem! I have never heard of Atomic Balm — sounds dangerous! Hopefully now that it’s been mentioned here, people will find it if they’re searching.
For leg aches,I give my daughter advil. Works every time. She wakes out of a dead sleep crying that she hurts so bad. But within 10 min of advil she drifts back to sleep. Thank you for this blog. I experienced this tonight and I was in tears. I used the roll on icy hot….. the past 4 hours were hell. I did skip the cotton ball and just poured it on and rubbed it in really good. Let it sit for about 3 min… rinsed with cool water, and dried off with a towel….. no more burn! My wrists are achy now from the hot and cold but totally worth getting the burn out…. now after I take my daughter to school I’m getting some sleep….. keep listening
I’m sure your answered prayer has helped many!
Glad to hear it! But if you’re having chest pains you might want to go see a doctor! Could just be a pulled muscle but it could always be something worse too.. Get better!
Thank you! I tried looking up what to do for burning and found nothing. Thanks for posting what you found otherwise I’d probably be spending my night off in the ER.
THANK YOU! I used this stuff in the 80′s after track meets and basketball games. I can’t remember ever freaking out and running laps in pain like I just did. Woke up my wife and twin daughters. Of course I did all the wrong things first, the water,the ice pack, and rolling around on the floor in front of a fan. Luckily I googled the right combination of burn and pain words to get me to your story. Thank You, Eric
You are so welcome! I’m glad you found this.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!! My boyfriend asked me to put IcyHot on his arms, entire back, and thighs. I put it on and minutes later he was in severe burning pain. I found this site and applied olive oil to all the places that i applied the IcyHot to. I then wiped it off with a cold rag and it work right away. Thank you so much becuase I felt so bad for him and he had tried to take a shower to help it but this idea only worked. You’re awesome!!! Thanks again!!
Im 16 years old..after track i put icy hot on my legs..then all the sudden 4-5 hours later i woke up cause my legs felt like they were on fire!! my mom and sister dont live with my dad and i anymore and my dad was in bed… i didnt know what to do soo i went on the internet quickly and found this!! i tried it and it helped it go down soo much!!! THANK YOU!!
Ouch! Good to know. Yeah, here I was using plain-old icy hot. What are the ingredients in No-Mess?
My teenage daughter just got home from a track meet and applied icy/hot all over both legs. OMG, the pain! She was begging for the white cream that we use to treat burns.Because she was in so much pain, I let her try it. It didn’t work. Then I came online and God bless you for this tip. We applied the olive oil and within seconds she said the burning was getting better. She is now resting comfortably.Thank you so much
I was burning from the maximum strength icy hot right now and was apprehensive to google it because I didnt want to freak out. I did anyway and luckily I found this remedy. I had put the icy hot on my neck and legs. my legs still burn a little but i most concerned about my neck. I put the olive oil on and my neck quit burning. I ran out of olive oil and was thinking about trying the canola oil cooking spray on my legs but i think its going away. it isnt getting worse so thats good. thank you so much for posting this
I read this article and as a result decided to test my pain tolerance. Thats right, i applied the icy hot no mess straight to my manhood. IMO the pain is not nearly as bad as some things suchs as getting a bullet in the side.
then again not many people have the chance to take a bullet for their country
Thank you so much! I used Lakota extra strength and also would have gone to the ER at 3 am if not for this blog. I was asleep comfortably within about a half an hour. Thank you thank you.
You’re welcome
My teenage daughter has been using icyhot off and on for most of her athletic career. Today she came home from practice almost in tears and soon was in tears because of the burning from icyhot. We washed it twice, tried sour cream (dairy takes the burn out of peppers)and the sour cream seemed to help some but the olive oil kicked the icyhot’s batooty! Thank you for posting this
I just used the roll-on version of IH on my wife’s back and lit her like nothing I’ve ever seen. I quickly grabbed my Iphone and did a search for a remedy. Bless you babe for posting this. Worked like a charm!
You’re both very welcome. I’m glad every time I hear it helped someone.
it worked for my boyfriend!
one night he came home from work and said he hurt his back at work so i lay him down on the bed and rubbed icy hot on him about 15 mins. later his whole back was red and on fire. he ran and jumped in the shower to wash it off, but it didn’t work. he was in a lot of pain and told me to look something up to help, lucky i found you 1st. he tried it and it worked! the only thing is he had to use a washcloth because it was his whole back. he soaked it in the olive oil and rubbed it in then got in the tub and washed it off. the burning stoped in mins. thank you sooo much i didn’t know what i was going to do, he was in so much pain. thank you for putting this up!
thank you so much I put some icy hot on my back cause it was hurting and that was a mistake it burnt my back and made it hurt 10 times worse so I googled icy hot burns and saw this and tried it and it worked with in seconds thank you so much nowI can go to work and not have burns on my back lol
This is Velda. Sorry, I’m going to have to inject my commentary on this comment; you’ll find it in italics. I haven’t tried this advice.
I can’t imagine putting icyhot on a baby’s sensitive skin. I just checked the jar and it’s actually for age 12+. I didn’t realize this as my mom had used icy hot to help me through growing pains, but I’m going to officially discourage using it outside the manufacturer’s recommendations.
I think if you’ve ever had an icyhot burn yourself and tried to wash it off that way, you’d know cold water, even with soap, does not give an “immediate cooling treatment” — it makes you feel like you’re on fire all the more. Plus being plunged into cold water would put any baby in hysterics. And tide and dish soap directly on their skin? Wouldn’t that just give them another kind of chemical burn?
Blog owner recommends: just do the oil thing first, please. It works.
If I recall the icyhot commercials correctly, it claims to start out icy to dull the pain, then gets hot to relax it away. The chills probably weren’t related to the product, and could well have been some kind of post traumatic shock after what this baby had been through. Scary.
Hydration is good. But wow. If your infant is in so much pain that an icy/warm treatment sounds like a good idea, put down the icyhot and pick up the phone for their pediatrician.
You are my hero! Thank you for posting this – there’s no other useful site out there.
You’re welcome!
I had never had an incident with burning from Icy Hot before, until this morning when I put it on the back of my legs right after a shower. ONLY the back of my legs was burning like crazy. But there were no rashes, so I left it, and after a couple minutes it eventually subsided and cooled. I think the main reason was because I came out of the shower. I had never used Icy Hot on my legs right after a shower. Also, when my body’s more hot, Icy Hot has more of a cooling effect, and when it’s cold it has more of a heating effect, I’ve noticed. So I presume that when I was in the shower, not only were my legs being cooled greatly from the fresh air, but also I presume it’s because I washed off my body’s natural oils, so it probably came out dry. I do know my legs are naturally drier than my shoulders, so maybe that’s why it didn’t burn on my shoulders. So maybe it’s just don’t put it on something that’s cold and dry and more sensitive?
Maybe — in my case, my son was not fresh out of the shower but in his warm bed prior to the application. I do agree it has something to do with sensitivity, though.
it worked with neutrogena body oil light sesame formula too!!!!!!
Thank you!!! I put icy hot on my wrist forgetting it was covered in cat scratches and that the skin tends to break out with most ordinary lotions anyways. It hurt so bad and was really affecting my skin. This was the first link that popped up when i googled how to get icyhot off.
The olive oil helped a lot but didnt quite work all the way, i ended up using some baking soda as well and left a light powdering of baking soda on the skin afterwards and it stopped the burn.
You are a life saver!
Oh my goodness! Icy-hot on cat scratched skin? Owww. Glad you’re better now
oh my gosh.!
i lovee you for posting this!
i couldn’t figure out why it hurt so much when i put it on my knee, but it was almost intollerable.
i was googling things when i came across this on the like 20th page. ( i was desperate! )
it worked so well! thank you so mmuch.
I put on icy hot to relieve some muscle aches from two days of work outs and this time I guess I put on way too much. So much so that instead of relieving my aches it began to burn so much that it was making me feverish and get goose bumps! I went to try to wash it off with water from my legs but that didn’t work; and I noticed my legs getting red so then I googled a solution and came across this blog. I tried the olive oil and the cotton balls at first (with olive oil) werent working quickly enough because the burning was moving up to my groin area; so then i just poured the oil into my hand and bathed my legs in oil. This helped ease the burning; all in all olive oil was a great idea!! Thank you for sharing. I’m waiting for the burning to go away completely now.
Thank you again!
Wow this worked within 30 seconds! I have been working out a little too hard and am suffering from aching muscles. I asked my wife to get me some icy hot and I applied it to my entire torso (back, arms, etc.) and neck. after about ten minutes my skin whelped up 1/4 of an inch and turned a deep crimson red. I was desperate and no matter how cold a shower I took I couldn’t get relief. Then I found this site. Thanks lady and thanks for listening to God! One day on the other side of the pearly gates I want to shake your hand
You are a lifesaver. I had been in pain from an intense icy hot burning for about 4 hours. I kept rinsing, tried aloe vera, cold packs, cold towels, cold water and soap and nothing worked. As a last result I googled and found this website. My husband and I truly thank you. We were getting ready to go to ER.
oh my god. thank you so much. i just took a hot shower forgetting i had applied icy hot at my game earlier. needless to say, my arm was on fire. just googled how to get it off and this was the first site. i tried your method immediately, instant results. you just saved my night. <3
know that just in case you don’t have olive oil that any oil works or a lotion. What it is doing is pulling up the toxins up from the skin into the oil. Pretty much any greasy oil based solution will suffice. Thank you for making this blog, and letting me share the rest of the information. I work with all natural products, but… Every once in awhile I turn to something over the counter such as ‘Icy Hot’ needless to say with sensitive skin sensitive everything I’ve always had to have a backup plan to whatever I’m using including natural stuff. Yes, just because it says natural one can have a reaction as well. My theory if there is a problem, there is a solution this case being ‘Oil Solution’. thanks for posting and thanks for reading.
My neck was sore so applied the new icy hot i bought yesterday. its the medicated roll on-16% icy hot, After 20 minutes it was burning so bad that i wanted to cry. (but i didn’t
) i washed my neck with soap and water. and the soap actually cooled it off for a few minutes. then the burning came back. thats when i googled icy hot burns. It took 2 treatments of olive oil for me to subdue the burning sensation on my neck. Now it is still burning but at least it is tolerable. perhaps i do a third one. thanks for your blog post!!
You’re welcome! Sorry I really don’t know what more to do for the roll-on stuff. Seems it’s fairly indestructible!
Just had my daughter come up to me in tears because she just sprayed on some generic version of ICY HOT. I just put in the search for a remedy in and came across this site. Thank God it worked. It took the excruciating pain away and she is now washing the rest of the olive oil off. Thanks for the info
i dont know about the burning but my back was in pain so i rubbed some icy hot and some how i scratched my back and it started itching really bad i was scratching like a dog who had fleas bad i was jumping and crying because it itched so bad i took 3 showers within 24 hours but im gona try the olive oil thanks!
To all the people who uses the icy hot roll-on product on product, I stupidly applied it to my butt due to soreness from working out i felt like i was dying so i had to do something i searched online for solutions this is the first page i cam upon and it says to use olive oil after washing area with soap, well i first wiped the area with just water then applied lotion it still was burning so i washed it with soap and i took a cotton ball applied vegetable oil and immediately felt relief, then wiped it with a cotton ball with water on it!
Well, after all my crying, my husband woke up so, even though I thought the Icy Hot had been neutralized, I had him rub on the olive oil. All I can say is that although I thought the Seba Med soap had taken care of the burn, after the olive oil, it feels NORMAL – not like burned skin. He was shocked by the severity of the burn. It was definitely a chemical burn. Thanks again for this info. I think we should all send letters to the makers of Icy Hot and similar products to put this remedy ON THEIR PACKAGING!
Tami, and Rachel, I am so glad this helped you out. Honestly every time a reply comes in I’m just thanking the Lord for sending an answer that would help so many people!
honestly i didnt work for me im missing half the skin on my inner elbows from the burn its killing me
Thanks it helped but i was dieing finding the answer cuz it was bruning me lol maybe if you could put ** OLIVE OIL WORKS*** in the first sentence lol.
its almost 4 in the morning and if it wasn’t for this, i’d probably have had to wake up everyone in my house to help me get rid of the burning on my back and legs. now its a light tingle and for some odd reason im really cold. but i don’t really care, as long as the burnings gone! thank you sooo much!
I wanna hug u!!!!!!!
I can always use a hug, and I don’t even mind the smell of icy-hot ;-D Glad you’re feeling better.
=) ahhh relive
I really appreciate this post actually! I had the roll on kind on and fell asleep only to wake up two hours later with burnt off skin and red bumps all over. I tried washing it off four times and it just kept burning and burning and I have about a foot of burnt skin up and down my spine. I finally tried your oil trick and immediately the burning was reduced to being almost non-existent. I literally contemplated going to the ER and this saved me!
Thank you!
My story is just like your last one. Used the roll on, was fine, went to sleep, woke up an hour later feeling like my skin was on fire or boiling! I tried using soap and water like the package states, but it did no good at all! My skin was crimson red and bubbled up where I put it on, which was on the side and back of my neck, upper back over my spine and left deltoid. I woke my fiance up with my groaning while trying to wash it off in the shower and feeling like it was only getting worse. I asked her to Google something and this was like the 4th result. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SAVING ME A TRIP TO THE ER, because I had already made up my mind in the shower thatwas where we were headed! If it hadn't been for your site, I'd still be in excruciating pain on my way to the ER! God Bless and take care!
You are so very welcome! Glad you're OK.
You’re an angel for posting this. Thankyou so much!
Thank you so much!!!! My brother was burning so back he was getting mean, if it wasnt for you i probably would of brought him to the hospital!!! thank you!!
No problem!
Thank you! Put some icy hot on my knee for pain and could not stop the burning. It actually woke me up from my sleep. Cold water, aloe gel, soap, lotions, nothing worked! And even if my trackies or the blanket touched the burnt spot it would burn like on fire for a good 2 hours. Your blog finally allowed me to go back to sleep. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much, and as you warned in your article, the roll on stuff is terrible, but i found this after my legs were so red and i could hardly stand it, and it worked after a few times
Thank you so much! I started using icy hot on my calves and knees after long runs because I thought it was equivalent to icing. I always use the deodorant stick type until last night, when I only had the roll on type and figured it would be the same. Two hours after applying it, my legs were on fire. I tried rubbing it off, lubriderm lotion, a cold shower, and aloe vera, but it only got worse. Finally I found your article and ran to the convenience store to buy olive oil (don't usually have it in my dorm). Within minutes of applying it, my legs felt GREAT. The burning was completely gone and I was able to get some sleep before my morning class. Thank you so much for posting this … it saved me from a lot more pain and probably a trip to the hospital.
You are so very welcome!
Thank you! I thought it was an allergic reaction. I did water & took a Benadry, but the olive oil did the trick. I've never had problems with the patch … It was the roll-on.
Thank gd for this website!!!!!! The pain was unbearable and I thought it was never going to stop burning. Lesson learned- roll on icy hot= nightmare! If it weren’t for the olive oil trick, I might have had to go to the ER. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!
You’re so welcome! I’m glad it worked for you.
Thank you SO much! I actually used the roller Icy Hot tonight on my knee and leg, and my knee is on fire (the leg only a little). I tried the olive oil, and it’s finally taken the burn/pain down to bearable! It’s not gone, but it definitely helped. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I’m so glad God gave you that answer.
I am, too. I’m glad its helped so many people with their burning skin — and maybe its helped more people realize God is real, too.
I get answers to prayers like this all the time — couldn’t make it without that help!
i’m sooo anxious to try this! i was having severe foot pains and i usually apply a bit of icy hot to my feet before i go to bed to soothe them while i sleep and when i wake up the next morning the effects have warn off. i guess i applied a little too much this last time though and i decided to rinse it off before heading to school. i have now been sitting, miserably, in my different classes since 8:00 this morning and have though about nothing other than the severely uncomfortable pain on the bottom of my feet! i hope this works for me as well as it has worked for the rest of ya’ll.
P.s. it’s nice to know that the roll-on icy hot is way worse than the original cream icy hot. that was definatly mistake number one! i will NEVER buy the roll-on stuff again!
A few people have said that if you use soap and water first, then use the olive oil, it’ll help. Also, I don’t think this can un-burn your skin, but it should help put a stop to further burning. Feel better soon either way, averagejane!
THANK U SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel much better now!! That was living hell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A leg of fire and brimstone, eh? Glad you’re feeling better
AMAZING! Just an FYI, this was the first result to my Google search for “icyhot red burning pain” and you are a lifesaver. My arms were sore from a workout and I was planning on playing golf in the morning. I used the EXACT product you mention, the IcyHot roll-on stick, before I went to bed. About an hour later, I woke up in extreme pain with the “on fire” sensation everyone is describing. I located your article and BOOM, problem solved. Thanks so much for the relief, the sleep I will now get, and avoiding a doctor visit.
Ah, I’m so glad this is coming up in search engines again! I’d switched my site name and for a while there, it was lost. I’m glad you found it!
Thank you sooooooo much! This stuff really work
Thank you so much. Just put on Icy Hot today for the first time and I apparently overused it. I was burning so much while trying to sleep. I got up, read your post, went straight to Kroger at midnight to buy olive oil and followed your instructions. It worked perfectly! Thank you so much!
My boyfriend bought the roll on icy hot for his shoulders and neck. About 5-10 mins after application it started burning and he turned very red. He also applied some to his foot which had no reaction. We didn’t have olive oil but used vegetable oil instead and it did the trick! Thanks!
Good to know, I put Tiger Balm on my upper leg about 10 minutes ago due to muscle aches and pains. Within 30 seconds after applying and rubbing the balm in, my leg felt as though it would blister from an extreme burning sensation. I tried my best to scrub it off with water, but that didn’t work. Then, still in a LOT of pain, I ran to the freezer and got my little BooBoo Buddies (gel ice packs) and applied those. It didn’t do the trick that great, but the pain has subsided. Good to know about the oil….I will go and buy some soon to have on hand just in case!! Needless to say, the Tiger Balm is headed to the garbage can.
I so could have used this information last night, but googling was the last thing on my mind! I have used Icy Hot before with no problems (actually i seemed immune to it…maybe it was expired lol). I had bought the roll on for my husband to use while away with work so it would be easy to apply. He said he used it alot with no problems and it worked great. Well I’ve been working out alot and my arms were so sore so last night I had him put it all over my upper arms. At first it got FREEZING, more so than I thought it should have, to the point it hurt. Then all of a sudden it got so HOT I couldn’t stand it. I couldn’t go to sleep at all because it felt like my arms were on fire! Around 4:30am (applied at 1am) I couldn’t stand it and got up and washed it off with soap and water…DID NOT help. Finally around 5:30 I guess it wore off because I fell asleep. I didn’t know this could have been a side effect and of course my husband thought I was overreacting lol! Glad to know I wasn’t going crazy! Will def pick up some olive oil to keep on hand incase I am ever in this predicament again!!
BLESS YOU! I’m a runner and a dancer and have never had a problem with icy hot, Bengae, tiger balm or toast until last night. I got a pedicure on Wednesday and went running on thursday. Before I went to bed I applied some toast on my calves and shins around 10 PM. At around 5 AM I was woken up by an excruciating pain on my legs. My legs literally felt like they were on fire! Finally at 7:30 I couldn’t take it and researched on google and found this remedy. I was a little skeptic at first but I think I would’ve done just about anything at that point to get the burning to go away! Awesome home remedy and so glad I came across this!
PS. Don’t try using bandaid wash to get the burning to stop it makes it even worse and makes your skin all bumpy!
Ooh! Good to know. I’m glad you’re better now, Beth!
so I bought my husband Lakota extra strength cream for him arm because it has been very sore lately, and turns out his arm feels like he’s literally on fire! he went to wash it off and put aloe gel but doesn’t seem to be helping, I googled it and came to this. it relieved the pain temporarily but his arm is hurting really badly again. I’m not sure what else to do at this point :/ he is in a lot more pain than he started off and can’t fall asleep!
Is his arm burning again or is it hurting because of the pain? I think this trick has worked for several other people who used Lakota. If it’s hurting but not burning, I’d put something warm or cold on his arm — depending on what helps it more — and take him to the doctor as soon as you can. Which I know isn’t always easy. I hope it goes well!
My wife had a discomfort in her neck from working on the laptop for a period of time. IH has heloed me in the past, plus a coworker of her’s had recommended it for her. Low and behold i remembered I had the roll on from a shoulder injury. Applied it to her neck and it lit her on fire. I persued on line services. I washed it off with soap and water thoroughly as Ms Velda suggested but had no olive oil. But ALOE worked wonders. Cooled her neck down quickly for a peaceful nights rest. Thankyou again for your informative post.
You are a lifesaver!! I am so glad I came across your blog since I was looking at a night of no sleep with the roll on IcyHot all over my back. Thank you so much!!
Worked like a charm. That Roll-On type of Icy Hot is NASTY, never had a problem with the other kinds. Definitely stay away form this stuff.
Cross country and track have always lead me to Icy Hot for my aches and pains, but this was the first time I tried the roll on kind. I was just about in tears while desperately trying to find any solution for my nasty, raised Icy Hot burn! Thank you so so much, you’re a live saver! Roll on Icy Hot is a no-go.
I’m glad you pulled through, Brianna. That stuff really can hurt
Oh my gosh thank you so much my legs have been burning from icy hot for the last 4 hours so I desperetly looked on the internet and found this! You are a genious!
My husband put some icy hot on his neck this morning. He usually uses biofreeze which has 3.5% menthol. Icy Hot has 16%!!! It started burning immediately and was still burning 30 to 40 minutes later. Tried the olive oil and it immediately worked. Amazing. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Relief! I have never had a reaction to these types of muscle creams but tonight I did. I used Arbonne’s “Herbal Muscle Massage” and my calfs were on fire! I googles reactions to the active ingredients & found your advice. I had nothing to lose so I tried it….the burn is almost completely gone & certainly tolerable…more like a warmth at this point. Thank you for posting this!! I was started to get scared because nothing else was working. Plus it’s now 4 AM & I have to work tomorrow so a little
sleep is much appreciated.
it worked the burning stopped or atleast it minimized it to a tolerable level thanxs great watching out.
Thank you very much! This was a life-saver tonight. Our next step was to head to the ER. Nothing else would work after applying the roll-on Icy Hot. Thanks so much!
I’m just happy you’re all alright
Have you considered the cause of the leg aches your son is experiencing. My llittle man used to wake up all the time with leg pain. The Dr said “growing pains” and nothing to be done. A little research said maybe a food sensitivity. Two leading causes of these pains are dairy, particularly the casein in dairy, and gluten sensitivity. We removed dairy products and his pain went away almost immediately. Just something to try.
Curious stuff – thanks for the tip! Ethan only gets these now and then. To me, it seems directly related to times he’s had his feet cold and wet (at a splashpad, for example) and hasn’t had them properly warmed up afterward. If he’ll have a warm shower or bath after such an event he’s just fine.
Thank god for the internet, and thank god for you. Used roll-on icy hot tonight before bed and woke up in agony. I’m just so happy google is so accessible. I thought I was going to have to go to the er!
thank you so very much. i used lakota (not icy hot but it helped just the same) and the burning got so bad i was in tears and tried the olive oil and it worked. you are amazimg. i cant thank you enough
I found the icy hot patches work so much better than the cream/lotion ones. They are more expensive but are extremely effective and don’t have any burn.
Thank you SOOO much!!! I put icyhot on before I went to bed tonight and legitimately woke
the oil (i used vegetable cuz I didn’t have
God bless you, I can’t wait to get back to sleep!!
up because of the pain behind my knees
olive) worked wonders and you reminded me of the best medicine of all! Prayer
Olive oil worked like a charm, used Lakota roll on multiple times today for calf muscles, legs were getting hot after soccer practice so went in hottub…. Huge mistake!!!! Legs on FIRE…..googled your site, wiped on some olive oil and tickety boo…. Relief!!! Thanks!!!!
Ouch!! I’m glad you found this!
Dearest Velda, I used Icy hot many times before and found relief, however tonight I needed to use it on my shoulder and neck area by my ear. Within minutes not only did the product burn badly it reddened the skin area so bad it scared my husband. I am so thankful for your taking the time to do this blog and for your relationship with the higher source. The two of you have saved a lot of us, according to all those who have taken the time to reply to you, from excruciating pain, bless you and thank you. Susan
Thank you, Susan. I’m glad you’re alright.
Holy cow! Googled this in a fit after having a bad reaction to icy hot. I have used it a number of times before, but never had a severe burning sensation before. I hopped in the shower and that only exasperated the problem more. I started to panic, especially when I saw how a young girl passed away after using too much. I found this blog post, ran to our kitchen and started pouring on the olive oil. That was about 10 minutes ago, and now I can say I am comfortable enough to relax and fall asleep. No more burning, just a nice relaxing cool feeling on my leg. Thank you so much!!!
Cheers, Zachary — I’m glad you’re alright!
I just want to say thank you so much for posting this. God bless.
Thank you so much, the inside of my arm is on fire! Thank god it isn’t terribly bad. But, I shall follow your steps to get rid of the burn because I’d like to get some sleep now.
My name is Brent, And I’m a Mormon.
YAY! I think you’re the only other Mormon who has commented on this post. Glad you’re alright
I just want to say thank you. I pulled a muscle in my calf and thought that pain was bad but the burning hours after using the muscle rub was uncontrolable. I was ready to go to emergency room for fear i was having a chemical burn. So again thank you very much for posting this remedy. LIFESAVER
Don’t thank me, thank God. I’m glad this worked for you, too.
Does the icy hot still continue to work once you have applied the olive oil and wiped it off or are you basically running it all off?
The olive oil trick pretty much removes the icy hot. If you still need pain relief, I’d recommend a hot water bottle.
Too late for me. I just got through a Lakota burn. I used what ever dieper creams and calamin lotion. I have been using the same bottle for last 6 months but tonight I used it after a shower. Bad idea there is no warning about wet skin and Lakota. I put some oil on at the end here and now I feel no warmth of burning at all. Thank you my personal angel.
I am glad to have found this remedy! I have had this happen a few times, and it is always miserable. I will know what to do if it happens again. Thanks! I am a single Mormon mom too.Fran
PS… I am a geek also! Fran
Another single mormon mom who is also a geek!?! My goodness, a kindred spirit! We should find a way to catch lunch sometime.
Thanks-you just stopped my crying/screaming with this tip.
You bet.
I just used it cause I left aspercream heat on all night, found this site and the pain literally went away in seconds thank you mormonmom
These are the same things I used when I sprayed myself with bear mace also, it works for pulling out almost any burning sensation
I was in almost crying pain I used a full bottle of that aspercream on my whole body including my butt and back of my knees, this saved me from hours of pain, thank you very much
Back too bed I go
P.s. thank you single Mormon mom, how do I get rid of these chemical burns now
Ooof, sounds like you had quite the night, Robert! Re: the chemical burns, I don’t know what to do with those. Maybe some Aloe with Vitamin E would help, but I think your best bet is just waiting for your skin to heal.