Sports, muscle ache, and Tiger Balm

Believe it or not, and I didn’t initially, that the whole exercise 3 times a week advice is actually a very doable routine for anyone. I wasn’t a particularly active person in high school (other than joining the dragon boat team for a couple years) nor in my 20s, but in the past few years, I’ve taken up recreational sports with quite some vigor.

some of my sporting equipments, ignore the two kitteh

My typical week starts with badminton on Monday night, then either a Tuesday or Wednesday evening futsal session, follow by my regular Thursday night futsal (on going for the last 4-5 years), and another perhaps another futsal on Saturday and sometimes a Sunday badminton session too.

If any of these sessions are canceled, I sometimes substitute it with cycling. Something that I enjoy a bit more than running since it’s easier on the knees and I get to travel a bit further and be able to carry water.

Hence the four pairs of shoes in the picture – badminton, running/cycling, futsal turf, futsal hardcourt. Ignore the two nosy kittens.

I document my exercise routine on Endomondo (add me if you’re on it!)

Tiger Balm warm and cool plaster, ointment

With all these exercise sessions, I am no stranger to muscle ache and (sometimes) joint pain, and when it comes to this, there’s one trustable name that we are familiar with – Tiger Balm. In fact, when I opened the package of the new Tiger Balm Plaster, Haze immediately recognize the smell.

While we are more familiar with the traditional Tiger Balm ointment, the are now two types of Tiger Balm plasters available in the market – one warm, and another cool relief.

Tiger Balm hydrogel plaster with stretchable material and additional adhesive

The warm plaster is mostly used for effective relief for chronic pain such as arthritis and rheumatism, while the cool plaster is catered for the relief of acute pain such as muscle ache, sprain, and backache.

After another session of badminton, my often sprained left ankle was acting up a little bit, perfect opportunity to try the new Tiger Balm cool plaster.

the cool plaster feels pretty good on my often sprained left ankle

packet comes with 2 hydrogel pack and 2 adhesive plaster made with stretchable material. Though the instructions printed on the adhesive sheet stated 9 steps, it was actually quite a lot easier to apply:

• remove adhesive back
• place hydrogel on top
• remove hydrogel plastic
• remove additional adhesive
• apply on muscle/joint

just follow the instructions printed in every packet

The plaster felt pretty good on my ankle, it is stretchable and does not impede movement, and additionally it does allow air to flow through too plus its comfortable to wear. The cool feeling came on some 5-10 minutes after application and really does provide good relief from the joint pain that was bothering me a bit.

Each pack of Tiger Balm Plaster contains 2 units, large pack goes for RM 6.80 while the smaller one is priced at RM 5.20. You can find them at all key chain pharmacies such as Guardian or Watson and nearby pharmacies.

I’m gonna keep some in my sports bag 😀