I have Ehlers Danlos syndrome (EDS) which is a painful genetic connective tissue disorder. I have severe pain in my upper neck (cervical C1-C2) and upper thoracic area. These patches were recommended by patients in an EDS forum, so I decided to try them. I am so glad that I did!
Now, they aren't a miracle cure. But they DO help. I normally use Cryo-Derm in the liquid roll-on (which is very good and helps make bruises not turn so dark if you put it on early in an injury) for milder pain and Asper-cream lotion (original type) for more moderate pain. I love both of them and still use them (not under the Salonpas of course!) and highly recommend them (especially the Asper-cream).
I was skeptical that a patch could be better than a liquid or cream. But it is! I get 4-6 hours out of the patch. I've used them on my neck, shoulders, upper back, and even on my forehead for headaches (like the headache pads they sell, but do be careful and don't get it in your eyes or too close to them, right over the eyebrows is fine).
I can sometimes avoid oral pain medication (NSAID, Ibuprofen) if I use these. I also find them helpful to use also when the pain is severe and I still have to take an NSAID.
One thing I love is that the patches, which are smallish but still a good size-is that the area of pain relief is MUCH larger than the patch itself. I'd say about 2" circle around the edges of the patch also gets relief.
You can't do a lot of repositioning with the patches. You can a little, but probably not more than one or two times.
Also, they don't stick well to very hairy areas. My husband can get them to stick to his moderately hairy knee and it won't fall off. But I have trouble getting them to stick right under (and into) my hairline on the back of my neck.
So I cut my hair into a shoulder-length angled bob haircut and then pinned up all my hair and shaved underneath up to above the C1 vertebrae area. It can not be seen through my hair (which is fine and thin, not that thick) and so there is no "edgy" haircut that I might not choose for myself. You can not tell I did that, nor does it itch even with regrowth or feel weird in any way (I used an electric razor). Literally it is invisible unless I pinned my hair up (which I can't do now). It was a great idea I should have done sooner.
Even the other topicals I use absorb better in those areas instead of in my hair. I can use my TENS unit (love Tac-gel to reuse the electrodes) better in the area and am now about to also try Kinesio tape. I did find that I couldn't leave much hair in the area, it had to be pretty clean shaved. Again, I swear it can not be seen unless I put my hair up. I'm pretty sensitive and have had to shave other areas pre-surgery and found it "prickly" and itchy but this doesn't bother me at all.
I am going to be a fan of Salonpas for life. They do help and I think they are better than topicals. But I still think there is also a place for topicals too. Especially since the topicals go further and are cheaper. I highly recommend KONGDY Pain patches. They may not take all the pain away but they do help a lot.