Pain-killing gels

Factual Questions
1

Hmm, I don’t use these things, but my roommate had a back pain today, and used some (I think) tea-tree oil to ease the pain. She seemed to be using it like that Deep Heat type stuff.

Which led us to wonder: how do these spray/gel/ointment type pain relievers actually work? In fact, do they work at all?

On edit: I’m thinking of these “spray on your sore leg and all will be well for a while” things, not tea-tree oil particularly.

2

Bio-freeze, Ben Gay, and similar menthol/peppery tingling rubs work pretty well. The ones that tingle and feel hot or cold work by stimulating the nerve endings with a non-pain sensation. Your nerves prefer to “listen” to one kind of sensation, like pain.Distracting them with a non-pain input provides temporary relief.