Pelvic Pain Unpacked, Episode 8 — with Tamar Hill and Dr. Charity Hill, MD
🌿 Key Takeaways
- Traditional topicals like Icy Hot and Tiger Balm work through a real biological mechanism called the gate control theory — but the relief they provide is temporary because they don’t address the underlying inflammation.
- CBD muscle cream offers a “double whammy”: it activates the same distraction mechanism as menthol-based products while also directly reducing the inflammation causing muscle soreness in the first place.
- Acting quickly on minor aches and strains — rather than waiting — can prevent compensatory injuries and stop the discomfort cycle before it becomes chronic.
- For surface-level soreness, CBD-infused patches offer a safer, more targeted alternative to cream in sensitive areas, with the added benefit of lidocaine for additional relief.
- THC-enhanced formulas provide stronger anti-inflammatory benefits for conditions like arthritis, while THC-free options remain available for anyone concerned about drug testing.
If you’ve ever reached for Icy Hot or Tiger Balm after a long workout, a weekend warrior mishap, or just the general wear and tear of getting older, you’ve probably wondered if there’s something that actually works better — and lasts longer.
In Episode 8 of Pelvic Pain Unpacked, host Tamar Hill of MedRoots — a company specializing in CBD products for pelvic discomfort relief, muscle soreness, menopause support, wellness, and increasing pleasure — sat down with co-host Dr. Charity Hill, a physiatrist and pelvic discomfort specialist who also serves as MedRoots’ medical advisor. Both hosts bring a personal angle to this conversation as former competitive athletes: Tamar played Division III basketball and softball, while Dr. Charity Hill played Division I volleyball for the Temple Owls, helping lead her team to the Sweet 16.
Years of athletics — and years of getting older — mean both hosts have plenty of firsthand experience with muscle soreness and the long list of products marketed to relieve it. This episode breaks down the actual science behind why traditional topicals work, where they fall short, and why CBD muscle cream has become a go-to natural discomfort relief option for so many people.
Why Most Muscle Soreness Resolves on Its Own
Before diving into treatment options, it’s worth understanding what kind of soreness you’re actually dealing with. Many conditions are short-term — a strain or sprain typically resolves within six to eight weeks with basic care like ibuprofen.
Chronic conditions behave differently. Dr. Charity Hill speaks from experience here: she has meniscus tears in both knees that flare unpredictably, often triggered by cold weather. “Sometimes it hurts a lot, and sometimes I can’t feel it at all,” she explained. “Things come and go.”
For people who can’t rely on NSAIDs like ibuprofen — whether due to heartburn or other contraindications, which becomes more common with age — a different category of solution is needed to get through flare-ups until the body’s natural healing cycle runs its course.
The Classic Topicals: Tiger Balm, Icy Hot, and the Rest
Both hosts grew up using Tiger Balm — purchased in bulk from Costco in the Hill family household. Other familiar names came up in the conversation too: Icy Hot, Ben Gay, and capsaicin cream (derived from hot peppers). Witch hazel was mentioned as well, though both hosts agreed it tends to be low on the effectiveness scale compared to the others.
What’s interesting is that all of these products work on the same underlying biological principle. They don’t eliminate the discomfort signal — they distract from it.
The Real Science: Gate Control Theory
This is where the conversation gets genuinely fascinating. Dr. Charity Hill first learned about this concept in medical school, watching a pediatrician pinch or tap a child’s skin elsewhere on the body while administering a vaccine. The distraction kept the child from crying during the shot. The doctor called it the gate control theory.
Here’s how it works: your nervous system has limited bandwidth to consciously process sensory information at any given moment. Discomfort signals travel through smaller-diameter, slower nerve fibers — like a single-lane country road. Pressure, heat, and cold sensations travel through larger, faster nerve fibers — more like a ten-lane expressway.
Dr. Charity Hill: “It basically can override it. This is why putting ice or heat on something can feel so good.”
When a faster signal — pressure, heat, or cold — reaches the brain, it effectively “closes the gate” on the slower discomfort signal trying to get through. This explains a lot of instinctive behaviors: squeezing or pinching an injury, slapping an itch, massaging a cramping muscle. These are all unconscious applications of gate control theory already at work in everyday life. Even movement itself can provide some relief, since it activates joint-position sensory fibers that fall into that same faster, larger category.
How Traditional Topicals Use This Theory — And Where They Fall Short
Icy Hot, Ben Gay, and Tiger Balm all lean on gate control theory through a combination of mechanisms:
The physical act of rubbing the product onto skin activates pressure receptors through touch — which is part of why these products are rubbed in rather than just sprayed on. Menthol stimulates temperature receptors, tricking the body into perceiving heat or cold, which helps block the discomfort signal traveling to the brain. And the strong scent of these products adds an additional layer of sensory distraction.
The catch: this blocking effect is temporary. Once the menthol sensation fades, the underlying discomfort returns, because these products never address the inflammation actually causing the problem in the first place.
How CBD Changes the Equation
This is where CBD muscle cream offers something genuinely different. When combined with menthol or other complementary ingredients, CBD doesn’t just trigger the same gate control distraction — it also directly reduces inflammation at the source.
Dr. Charity Hill: “It’s a really nice double whammy as far as treating local muscle discomfort, as well as local inflammation, and utilizing this awesome, underutilized gate control theory of discomfort.”
This combination is particularly effective for soreness close to the skin’s surface — areas like the shins, for example. Dr. Charity Hill shared a personal example from her own ACL reconstruction: the patellar tendon graft site carries chronic, surface-level discomfort from the original surgery. Applying CBD topically to that area meaningfully reduces both the inflammation and the discomfort, with longer-lasting effects than menthol-only products provide.
This ties back to the broader cycle of chronic discomfort discussed in a previous episode: breaking the cycle requires interrupting both the discomfort-to-brain signal and the inflammatory response that triggers muscle spasm in the first place. CBD works on both fronts simultaneously — whether applied topically through a cream or used internally through a suppository, the underlying mechanism of reducing inflammation and muscle spasm is the same.
A Real Patient Story: Relief After a Car Accident
One of the more memorable stories Tamar shared came from an unsolicited testimonial at a medical conference. A physician approached her after a session and explained that she’d recently been in a car accident, leaving her with significant back discomfort. As a working medical professional, she’d been prescribed muscle relaxers and other medications, but the side effects made it difficult to function at work.
She remembered she had MedRoots suppositories on hand, used one rectally, and reported it was the only thing that brought her real relief — finally allowing her to wean off the muscle relaxants she disliked. Tamar mentioned hearing a similar story from another person dealing with neck discomfort using the same method.
Dr. Charity Hill: “It gets it through your whole system.” She noted that combining a topical CBD cream with an internal suppository can be especially effective for injuries — like her own ACL reconstruction — that involve both surface-level and deeper soreness simultaneously.
Targeted Relief for Different Conditions
For more localized issues like tennis elbow, a high-quality, full-spectrum CBD topical cream alone can provide substantial relief by maximizing the gate control mechanism alongside CBD’s anti-inflammatory properties.
For arthritis-related discomfort, general muscle creams help, but a stronger THC formulation tends to be more effective for deeper relief. Topical THC absorption is significantly lower systemically compared to ingestible forms like gummies, meaning users get targeted local benefit without meaningful whole-body effects.
Why Acting Early Matters: Avoiding Compensatory Injuries
One of the most practical insights from this episode involves something most people don’t think about until it’s too late: compensatory injury patterns.
Tamar shared her own history of repeated ankle sprains growing up. When an injury changes the way someone walks — their gait — it creates downstream stress on other joints. The hip, the opposite leg, and the back all start compensating for the original injury.
Dr. Charity Hill: “I see a lot of people walking in a boot for a long time because they tore their Achilles, and now their IT band on the other side is acting up, or their back and joints are all thrown out.”
Her philosophy is simple: the earlier you apply muscle cream and anti-inflammatory care to a new ache or strain, the more likely it resolves quickly rather than escalating into a long-term, chronic discomfort cycle. As she puts it, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure — which is why she keeps muscle cream on hand at all times.
A Family Habit Worth Adopting
In a lighthearted moment, both hosts described how their 74-year-old mother offers muscle cream to house guests the same way most people offer a beverage. It’s become a running family joke — but it also reinforces a real point: consistent, proactive use of topical relief is a normal and valuable part of everyday wellness, not just something you reach for after a major injury.
Maximizing Relief: Combining Modalities (Carefully)
Dr. Charity Hill recommends combining multiple gate control strategies for maximum effect — pairing a topical cream with ice or heat and a TENS unit (a device that delivers mild electrical stimulation to the skin).
One important caution from personal experience: never combine a menthol-containing product with a heat pack or TENS unit on the lower abdomen, especially during menstrual cramping. Dr. Charity Hill learned this the hard way — the combination led to excessive sweating and burning that required an immediate shower. The lesson: less is more, especially in sensitive areas.
Beyond Cream: Patches and the Period Pack
For areas where muscle cream isn’t practical — or could migrate to places you don’t want it — MedRoots offers a patch as a safer, more targeted alternative. The Period Pack combines suppositories similar to the Wellness+ line with the patch, specifically designed for menstrual cramping relief.
The patch has a few standout advantages. It stays adhered for up to 48 hours, tested through surfing and running in Florida heat without falling off. It contains lidocaine in addition to CBD, combining a numbing effect with anti-inflammatory action. And it can be cut and resized for targeted use — Tamar mentioned cutting a strip for plantar fasciitis relief on her foot, since a full cream application there felt impractical before putting on shoes.
The patch is the better option for areas near sensitive skin, while muscle cream remains ideal for joints and larger muscle groups.
Choosing the Right Option for You
For everyday topical muscle soreness, CBD muscle cream stands out as a meaningful, natural discomfort relief option compared to traditional choices like Icy Hot and Ben Gay. MedRoots’ muscle cream contains a small amount of THC, which enhances the anti-inflammatory effect beyond what a CBD isolate alone can offer.
For anyone who is drug-tested or wants to avoid THC entirely, MedRoots also offers a CBD-isolate patch with no THC, combined with lidocaine for additional pain-blocking benefit — giving you options no matter your situation.
Ready to Try Natural Discomfort Relief?
If you’re dealing with everyday aches, old injuries that flare up, or muscle soreness that just won’t quit, MedRoots has a full lineup of CBD-based solutions designed to work with your body’s own pain-blocking mechanisms — not just mask them temporarily. From our full-spectrum muscle cream to our durable 48-hour patches and the Period Pack, there’s an option for almost every situation.
📞 Call us: 833-797-7576
🌐 Contact us online: medroots.com/pages/contact
Stop settling for relief that fades in twenty minutes. Try something that actually works with your body.
This article is based on Episode 8 of Pelvic Pain Unpacked featuring Dr. Charity Hill, MD, physiatrist and pelvic discomfort specialist. It is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider before making changes to your wellness routine.