Icy Hot Heat Patches: Patients Feeling Burned

Seattle, WAPatients who used the Icy Hot Heat Therapy Patch to relieve their pain may be feeling a lot more sore than they expected. Some reported serious burns on the area of their skin where they applied the Icy Hot Patch. In some cases, the burns lasted for over a week and caused a great deal of pain.

In fact, over 200 people have reported suffering from burns after using the Icy Hot Heat Therapy Patches. They reported first-, second- and third-degree burns. Others reported blistering and irritation on their skin. However, it is likely that more than 200 people were affected by the burns, as they may have had a reaction to the patches and simply not reported it.

A spokeswoman for Chattem, maker of the Icy Hot Heat Patch, suggested that patients could be leaving the patch on for too long. According to directions, the patch should not be left on for more than eight hours. However, people who wrote to LawyersandSettlements say they only had the patch on for a few hours. One woman who suffered a burn said she did not even have the patch on for five hours. It was when she took the patch off, after returning home from work, that she experienced severe pain and realized she was burned.

Chattem received word about injuries to people who use the patch back in September. At the time, the company expanded a warning label to instruct people over 55 years old to apply the patch to their clothing rather than to their skin. However, since that time, more reports of burns have come in, affecting not only the senior population.

The Icy Hot Heat Patch was used to treat pain associated with arthritis, muscle strain, backaches, and sprains. It has now been recalled while Chattem determines whether or not in can be re-released on the market.

Burns can cause problems ranging from minor irritations to permanent disfigurement. Patients who have been burned by the Icy Hot Heat Patches say that the pain from their burns was far worse than the pain they were trying to treat. Many are now investigating the possibility of a lawsuit against Chattem, alleging the company knew about the risk of burns but failed to take the patches off the market or properly warn consumers.