Health Benefits

1. Relief from Pain
Capsaicin is a well known analgesic. It numbs the location wherever it is applied and block the nerves from carrying the sensation of pain. That is why it is used in creams to relieve joint pain in arthritis [1]. One can make a homemade cream using chili oil and some cream base, like beeswax. Or, one can directly apply chili oil on the painful joint. Capsaicin is very effective topical pain reliever for people suffering from osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. This study finds that about 80 % of arthritic patients get significant pain relief within 2 weeks of regular usage.

2. Relief from Post herpetic neuralgia
Capsaicin has found to be an effective pain reliever in neuralgia [2]. It relieves the characteristic burning pain which feels like an electric shock. Similarly, chili oil can help in reducing pain in other kinds of neuralgia, like diabetic neuropathy. Capsaicin has also been found to alleviate some pain in trigeminal neuralgia [3], a condition that causes facial pain along the trigeminal nerve. These are strong evidences for the effectiveness of capsaicin based creams for reducing the extreme discomfort in nervous system related pain and tingling.