Menthol-containing ointment (such as Ben-Gay or Vicks) that is rubbed on skin to relieve muscular or arthritic pain must never be used with a heating pad, the manufacturers warn. Modern Medicine (55#10:137) tells the sad story of a man who disregarded this advice and ended up in a hospital for one year. After applying the ointment to his aching thighs and forearms, he held a heating pad over each treated area for 15-20 minutes.
Next day, the treated skin appeared inflamed and was covered with large blisters, a reaction that did not respond to cortisone. Over the next few days he became feverish and lost all of the skin, fat, and underlying connective tissues down to the muscles (which became fully exposed) at all of the treated sites. His kidneys were permanently injured, too. During his year-long hospital stay, he needed repeated surgery to clean the “burned” sites and repair them with full thickness skin grafts.
The moral of this story: Read the labeling of all medicines and follow the instructions carefully.
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