About Salonpas
Salonpas traces its roots to a 1903 Japanese patch prototype developed by Hisamitsu Pharmaceutical, a company founded in 1847 in Tosu, Saga Prefecture. The Salonpas product line itself was introduced in Japan in 1934 and first exported overseas in 1937. Hisamitsu America, Inc., headquartered in Florham Park, New Jersey, has been the brand's sole importer and distributor for the US and Canada since it was founded in 1987. In 2008, the Salonpas Pain Relief Patch and Salonpas Arthritis Pain Patch became the first FDA-approved over-the-counter topical pain relief patches sold in the United States.
Hisamitsu America describes Salonpas as the No. 1 doctor and pharmacist recommended OTC topical pain patch brand in the US, and the wider Salonpas franchise as the world's leading OTC topical-analgesic patch brand by category. US retail sales grew more than tenfold since 2010, surpassing $200 million in 2023. The current US lineup spans patches, gels, creams, sprays, and liquids, including a Lidocaine 4% line that pairs the brand's long-running hydro-gel delivery technology with the maximum-strength lidocaine concentration available without a prescription.
Brand website: us.hisamitsu
What Salonpas makes
Salonpas's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Lidocaine Pain Relieving Gel-Patch
hydro-gel patch with maximum-strength OTC lidocaine, for back, neck, shoulder, knee, and elbow pain — featured on BestRatedDocs
Pain Relief Patch
the original Salonpas patch, FDA-approved for OTC sale in 2008
Arthritis Pain Patch
menthol/methyl salicylate patch formulated for arthritis pain
Pain Relieving Gel-Patch HOT
warming variant of the hydro-gel patch line
DEEP Relieving Gel
topical gel format for larger or hard-to-patch areas
Jet Spray
no-touch aerosol spray for pre- and post-activity muscle relief
Why we recognized Salonpas
The BestRatedDocs Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our category reviews. Salonpas earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: assessed against clinical criteria, verified specifications, and real-world user outcomes, and judged on merit.
Salonpas products we rated highly
Salonpas Lidocaine 4% Pain Relieving Gel-Patch
Built on Salonpas's hydro-gel delivery technology, which drives lidocaine deeper into tissue than dry fabric patches. In our review, the flexible 3.93" x 5.5" patch conformed well to curved anatomy like the lower back, shoulder, and hip without peeling, and the unscented formulation held up for fragrance-sensitive users. A cooling sensation on application also gave immediate comfort while the lidocaine absorbed.
Read the 7 Best Lidocaine Patches of 2026 guide →What earned Salonpas the recognition
- The Salonpas Pain Relief Patch and Arthritis Pain Patch were the first FDA-approved over-the-counter topical pain relief patches sold in the United States, a genuine regulatory first for the category, dating to 2008.
- Hisamitsu America positions Salonpas as the No. 1 doctor and pharmacist recommended OTC topical pain patch brand, with US retail sales that grew more than tenfold since 2010 to surpass $200 million in 2023.
- Patch technology tracing back to a 1903 prototype and a 1934 product-line introduction in Japan still underpins the hydro-gel delivery system used in the brand's current lidocaine patches.
- The featured Lidocaine 4% Gel-Patch combines the maximum-strength lidocaine concentration available without a prescription with a flexible, unscented hydro-gel patch that conformed well to curved areas like the shoulder and hip in our testing.
- A broad lineup spanning patches, gels, creams, sprays, and liquids gives buyers multiple formats built on the same core pain-relief ingredients.