Notebook


The magic of mint: pain relief from a garden product By Dorothy Dobbie


A


t this time of year you learn something about yourself. No matter how hard you worked


out all winter, it didn’t inure you to the aches and pains that follow a good day in the garden. Sure, you’ll even- tually loosen up and the little-used winter muscles will begin to respond, but those first few days can be pain- ful. I


have come across something


that may be helpful to you: a prod- uct called TPR-20. I stumbled on it a couple of years ago while watching a morning CTV television show in Ottawa. The interviewer was airing a weekly segment called Healthy Living and interviewing her regular guest, Stephen Brown, president of the Family Physiotherapy Centres. He had brought with him a family physician, Dr. John Kindle, and they were talking about


this remarkable


product. It treated muscular and joint pain, including arthritic pain, like nothing they had ever seen, they said. Best of all, the ingredients were all natural and there were no side effects They told anecdotes about patients


who had achieved amazing relief by using the cream, TPR-20. The doctor had even used it on himself to heal a muscle pull so he could play squash. When I discovered that the prod-


uct was invented by and being manu- factured and sold by a man named Blair McInnes who lives only blocks away from my Winnipeg home, I was blown away. We met – he walked over to deliver a couple of samples – and he told me his story as we sat in my garden. “I was recovering from a heart


attack,” said Blair. “I didn’t want to take morphine or any of


the drugs


that are commonly used and that can impact on other parts of my body when they are taken internally.” As often happens when you encoun-


ter a major health issue, the event can have a profound impact on our think- ing. Suddenly it became important to Blair to leave a legacy for his chil- dren and other people. Blair realized that, as an entrepreneur and business investor and having ‘dabbled’


in the


health industry for 20 years, he had made a lot of friends and contacts in


Save the Monarch Butterfly


Plant Milkweed


Ontario Home and Gardener Living magazine has launched a campaign to help save the monarch butterfly. You can help by planting milkweed at home to attract butterflies, as it is the only plant upon which the butterflies will lay their eggs. We are offering free seeds to those who want to get involved. For more information, visit us at:


savethemonarchbutterfly.wordpress.com www.facebook.com/SaveTheMonarchButterfly


the field who had the knowledge to create products that would be easier on people and make their lives better. He created Trans Research Labs Inc. and set the wheels in motion. “Originally, we developed TPR-20


to help with arthritis pain,” he said. “Later we learned that it was really useful in the immediate relief of burns and bites and stings and for incidental pain such as when your kid falls down and hurts his knee. It takes the pain away almost immediately.” The key active ingredient in TPR-20


is Lidocaine, the painkilling stuff your dentist uses. Lidocaine has been used by dentists for decades as a topical gel and an injectable anesthetic with very few side effects. Originally produced under the name Xylocaine by Swedish chemist Nils Lofgren, the substance has been on the market since 1949 and is safely used as a local anesthetic for a broad range of pain. The second key ingredient is


menthol, obtained from mint, which itself has


local anesthetic proper-


ties. “It has the ability to chemically trigger the cold-sensitive TRPM8 receptors in the skin responsible for the well-known cooling effect,” says Wikipedia. It is similar to the capsa- icin found in hot peppers but has the opposite effect to produce a cooling sensation. Menthol encourages blood flow to


the skin and promotes absorption of other ingredients in topical formula- tions, in this case, helping to carry Lidocaine to the source of the pain. The testimonials from friends and


aquaintances are remarkable and consistent. It works. In the past year or so, Blair and


now his associate, Adam Topp, former CEO of Winnipeg’s Health Sciences Centre, have had the prod- uct purchased for sale by Rexalls and London Drugs. It is widely distrib- uted by Boots Pharmacies, the largest drug store in the U.K. For me, this is a wonderful story


because it underlines the efficacy of natural products in helping us heal.


6 • Early Spring 2014 www.localgardener.net


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