Pain relief sales rise as consumers turn to OTC

Back pain is one of the leading reasons adults under the age of 45 years call in sick to work, second only to the common cold, according to the American Pain Foundation. All told, back pain results in about 83 million lost work days each year and is cited as one of the more common work-related injuries, especially among those working in physically demanding jobs, and the leading cause of job-related disability and work limitations in those under 45 years of age.


And yet, according to a 2011 CareerBuilder survey, almost 72% of all workers typically go to work when they’d otherwise call in sick, which suggests a lot more people are suffering through the pain at work than nursing those sore muscles or bad back at home. That might explain at least some of the recent growth across external pain relief solutions. Across analgesic rubs, hot/cold packs, and muscle and body support devices, sales at food, drug and mass (minus Walmart) are up almost 5% with more than $830 million in collective sales, according to SymphonyIRI Group data. 


New product introductions in the second half of 2011 included McNeil Consumer’s BenGay Cold Therapy and both Performance Health’s Perform Pain Relieving Spray and Perform Pain Relieving Singles.

The article above is part of the DSN Category Review Series. For the complete External Pain Relief Buy-In Report, including extensive charts, data and more analysis, click here.