Published November 2nd 2023
Fact Checked by Dr Mark Watson
Active Ingredients
Histamine Dihydrochloride - 0.025%
Histamine dihydrochloride is a histamine salt that was originally intended to be swallowed and used as a medication to treat some chronic blood diseases.
However, it has also started to become popular as an over the counter treatment to offer temporary relief from minor aches and pains in joints and muscles, as well as arthritis pain, sprains, bruises, and strains.
It is claimed to work as histamine dihydrochloride is said to be an analgesic, which is a medication or compound that has pain relieving properties.
Supporters say that if you massage a thin layer into the painful area it will provide soothing relief from joint pain and muscle aches, making it an ideal way to combat arthritis and other similar issues.
However, there are a number of problems with its use.
Not only are the benefits of its external use not yet conclusively proven, but it is also only approved for use in very short periods of between a week and ten days. Some users have also reported developing allergic reactions or negative symptoms from using it, with an example being a rash or damaged skin (1).
While all of these issues are never ideal, they are particularly problematic in medications that contain only one active ingredient, such as Australian Dream Arthritis Pain Relief Cream, as you are relying solely on it to combat your symptoms, and there is nothing to support it if it does not do what is says.
Inactive Ingredients
The list of non-active ingredients in Australian Dream Arthritis Pain Relief Cream is extensive and includes 17 ingredients.
These are butylene glycol, C13-14 isoparaffin, chondroitin sulfate, deionized water, emu oil, ethylhexyl stearate, glucosamine sulfate, sunflower oil, laureth-7, methylisothiazolinone, methylsulfonylmethane (MSM), polyacrylamide, potassium sorbate, sodium polyacrylate, tetrasodium EDTA, tocopheryl acetate, and trideceth-6.
Many of these will commonly be found in an over the counter pain cream, as well as in other medications of a similar nature.
While they will not provide pain relief or any other health benefits, they can support the cream in other ways. They can help it be absorbed more easily, improve its texture and stability, and prevent it from leaving a greasy residue, making it generally more effective and easier and more enjoyable to use.
However, three ingredients on the pack that are of note are chondroitin sulfate, glucosamine sulfate, and MSM. These are commonly found in joint pain supplements, as they are one of the most potent ingredient combinations for supporting the joints and combatting issues like arthritis pain (2)(3).
Unfortunately, they will only do this if they are included as an active ingredient. By featuring them in the inactive ingredients section, it seems that they have put a miniscule amount of each in the cream just so that they can put the words on the pack, in an effort to trick people into buying it.
This further brings the quality and efficacy of Australian Dream Arthritis Pain Relief Cream and the integrity of the Australian Dream brand in general into question, as it looks like this section has been intentionally used to mislead customers, which is usually only done on ineffective supplements.
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