Using DMSO
DMSO has been used in veterinary practices for at least 30 years that I personally know of. Used to use it on injured racehorses when I worked at a lay-up track, and my vet used it a few years ago on a dog of mine that had gotten kicked in the head(chasing a horse). Works great on inflammation. However, the thing all the vets emphasized was NEVER mix DMSO with anything you don't want in the bloodstream. That includes dirt, oil, hand lotion, etc. DMSO is a very powerful solvent that takes EVERYTHING through the skin with it. So the problem with mixing Aspercream or anything else with it is all those 'other ingredients' that you are inadvertently sending into your skin. Preservatives, fillers, mediums like petroleatum, etc. could conceivably cause more problems than the 'active ingredients' can fix. When the vet mixes something with DMSO, it is as pure as possible, many times it is an injectable drug. So if it's not something you would inject into a vein, I would be very wary about using it with DMSO. I have used pure DMSO on myself many times, and have found that, on me, at least, that it works better on active inflammation than on chronic pain. Don't look for it to ever be approved for human use, there are some side effects besides the funky taste, and, since it was discovered as a by-product of the paper industry(according to the info I've read), the big drug companies can't patent it and charge big bucks for it. Hope this helps anyone considering using it.