U.S. Topical Pain Relief Market Expected to Reach $3,272 Million by 2027—Allied Market Research

According to a new report published by Allied Market Research, titled, “U.S. Topical Pain Relief Market by Therapeutic Class, Type, Formulation, and Distribution Channel: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2020–2027," the U.S. topical pain relief market was valued at $2,612 million in 2019, and is projected to reach $3,272 million by 2027 at a CAGR of 3.7% from 2020 to 2027.

Topical pain relief medications are pain killers that are directly applied, rubbed, or sprayed on the skin over painful muscles or joints. They are designed to relieve pain as they are composed of different ingredients such as opioids, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), salicylates, capsaicin, and others. These products have a heating or cooling effect that stimulate the nerves near the pain point and relieve pain. When pain is localized, patients highly prefer topical treatments as adjunctive therapy, which can be as effective as oral treatments and cause fewer side effects. There are different types of topical pain relief formulations available in market which includes cream, gel, spray, patch, and others.

The factors that drive the growth of the U.S. topical pain relief market include increase in prevalence of arthritis chronic pain, diabetic neuropathy, & other pain disorders, rise in geriatric population, fewer side effects caused by topical pain relief as compared to oral medications, wide availability of topical pain-relieving drugs, and high adoption of topical pain relief products by sportsperson. However, topical pain relief medications can cause irritation and these products are usually characterized by an unpleasant odor, which is expected to impede the market growth. Conversely, the development of an online platform for topical therapeutics is anticipated to provide lucrative growth opportunities for the U.S. market growth.

COVID-19 is a large family of viruses that causes illness ranging from common cold to more severe diseases. This pandemic has disrupted growth in many economies across various domains. The COVID-19 outbreak will impact the topical pain relief market in the U.S. The COVID-19 pandemic has stressed healthcare systems in U.S., so that many clinics, pain services are no longer open for public services because of safety. Patients with COVID-19 who are receiving opioids treatment can be more susceptible to respiratory depression and the absorption of fentanyl drug during transdermal administration such as fentanyl patch may increase with fever and could increase opioid side-effects. Therefore, patients who are prescribed transdermal opioids drugs with increased side effects who become drowsier may require patch strength to be reduced, or alternatively replaced with drugs. Thus, there is negative impact of COVID-19 on opioids topical pain relief market is observed.

The U.S. topical pain relief market is segmented into therapeutic class, type, formulation, and distribution channel. On the basis of therapeutic class, the market is bifurcated into non-opioids and opioids.  

The non-opioids segment accounted for the largest share in 2019 at around 70.77%, owing to higher usage in treatment of mild to moderate pain and lesser side effects as compared to opioids, increase in awareness regarding adverse effects of non-opioids, surge in number of geriatric population, growth in number of patients with chronic pain, rise in prevalence of arthritis and other joint problems drives growth of the segment. 

According to distribution channel, the market is classified into pharmacies & drug stores, e-commerce, and retail & grocery stores. The e-commerce segment is anticipated to depict significant growth during the forecast period due to rise in preference for online purchasing of drugs over the traditional methods, increase in awareness of online pharmacy, and rise in number of internet users

Key Findings Of The Study 

• On the basis of therapeutic class, the non-opioids segment accounted for more than half share of the U.S. topical pain relief market in 2019
• On the basis of formulation, the patch segment exhibits fastest growth and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.3% from 2020 to 2027.
• On the basis of type, the prescription pain relief segment held largest market share in 2019 and is expected to remain dominant throughout the forecast period
• On the basis of distribution channel, the e-commerce segment exhibits fastest growth and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 3.8% from 2020 to 2027.