[wdfifteen]

I use the 1% “active ingredient” Voltaren on my hands and the best I can say is it doesn’t irritate my skin. Any pain mitigation is marginal.

My doc recommended a brace, which just restricted movement of my thumb. My goal was to be able to function without pain, but the brace just kept me from using my thumb. It helped mitigate pain but didn’t get me to my goal. Nothing does.
It’s the same story with my back, knee, and hip pain. If I sit on my ass and do nothing, nothing hurts. All the braces and narcotics do is encourage me to sit on my ass and do nothing. I don’t need drugs and gadgets for that, I can do that on my own.
In searching for something that will let me get up and function without so much pain NSAIDs seem to help the most. I can’t take them right now because my back is still healing.