I was in a Country Clothing/Saddlery retail shop last week, and found something I'd seen on the tv a long while ago and forgotten about. It was hugely praised for it's pain reduction properties in many people, with no end of problems of differing severity. It's called Rapigel, and on the outside of the jar, states it's for animal use only (predominantly dogs and horses). However, even the girl at the checkout said she uses it for the arthritis she has.
Unable to believe my luck, I bought a jar of it, (I suffer greatly with back pain for three quarters of it's length, degenerative at the bottom half, and arthritic upper half, bad hips, knees and a shoulder!) Soon as I got home, I put some on, the alcohol in it was quite obvious, but wow, after a short while, I found my back pain was greatly reduced, and I was able to stand up without my knees screaming!! AND I was able to walk around pain free!!
I highly recommend this stuff, many people use it, it just isn't advertised for humans cause the correct testing and all that hasn't been done on it. People have bystepped that, and use it anyway. Great stuff.