Though study of high potency 8% capsaicin patches reached statistical significance (p=0.044), they did not show a clinical difference from control patches. (dropped pain scores 0.39/10 more than control)
A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Controlled Dose Finding Study of NGX-4010, a High-Concentration Capsaicin Patch, for the Treatment of Postherpetic Neuralgia.
Lynn R. Webster et al.
Journal of Pain in press 2010 abstract here
- tried the patches up to 60 minutes
- Had to pretreat with emla cream local anesthetic
Compared to control it doesn’t look much different
Comment – I was actually hoping it would do more. Then I heard they are going to make the patches ridiculouly expensive. Given that it was one treatment one might consider taking it. Perhaps with add-ons like amitriptyline (when available again), would make it show more synergistic results…
too bad though