Loqoa tapes (esflurbiprofen, mentha oil) for pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis

Are Loqoa tapes (esflurbiprofen, mentha oil) effective for pain and inflammation caused by osteoarthritis?

Package details: 70 sheets

Active components: esflurbiprofen, mentha oil

Therapeutic effect: reducing pain and inflammation in patients with osteoarthritis

LOQOA Tapes for Osteoarthritis Pain and Inflammation

Loqoa is a tape for arthritis associated with osteoarthritis. It contains esflurbiprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID), together with mentha oil in the tape formulation. Rather than being taken by mouth, the medicine is delivered through the skin over the painful area.

Osteoarthritis can cause pain during walking, rising from a chair, using stairs, or simply moving after a period of rest. These symptoms are often linked not only to structural changes in the joint, but also to inflammation in and around it. Loqoa tapes are intended to reduce this inflammatory pain and support more comfortable daily movement.

How esflurbiprofen works

When a joint is affected by osteoarthritis, the body can produce prostaglandins. These are chemical messengers involved in pain, swelling, stiffness, and inflammation. Esflurbiprofen suppresses the biosynthesis of prostaglandins, helping to reduce the signals that make an arthritic joint feel sore and inflamed.

Esflurbiprofen is the active S-enantiomer of flurbiprofen. This means it is the form of the medicine that provides the principal anti-inflammatory action. Like other NSAIDs, it acts by inhibiting cyclooxygenase enzymes involved in prostaglandin production. By lowering prostaglandin activity around the affected joint, Loqoa can provide arthritis pain relief without relying on a tablet taken by mouth.

A medicine designed to reach deeper joint tissues

Many topical anti-inflammatory products act mainly near the surface of the skin. For osteoarthritis, however, the painful tissues may be deeper: the joint lining, synovial fluid, ligaments, and structures surrounding the joint.

The esflurbiprofen tape was developed to provide strong transdermal absorption and meaningful delivery of the medicine into deeper tissues. Once the tape is placed over the affected area, esflurbiprofen passes through the skin and gradually reaches tissues involved in joint inflammation.

This local delivery approach is especially relevant for knees and other joints where pain is concentrated in one area. It allows the treatment to be directed at the painful site rather than depending only on medicine circulating after an oral dose.

Clinical evidence for deep-tissue penetration

The multicenter randomized clinical trial titled Comparison of tissue pharmacokinetics of esflurbiprofen plaster with flurbiprofen tablets in patients with knee osteoarthritis: A multicenter randomized controlled trial examined how esflurbiprofen moved into the synovium, synovial fluid, and plasma of patients with knee osteoarthritis.

The results showed that esflurbiprofen delivered through the tape reached the tissues inside the knee joint at substantial levels. After application, the highest concentrations in synovium, synovial fluid, and plasma were observed at 12 hours. This is important because the synovium and synovial fluid are closely connected with inflammatory pain in osteoarthritis.

The study found that synovial exposure over 24 hours, measured as the area under the concentration-time curve, was 4,401.24 ng·h/g with the esflurbiprofen plaster. This was close to the 4,862.70 ng·h/g measured with oral flurbiprofen tablets. These findings indicate that the tape can transfer esflurbiprofen into deep joint tissues at levels that differ markedly from those expected from many conventional topical NSAID products.

Pain scores in the esflurbiprofen group also decreased during the study period, supporting the medicine’s sustained analgesic effect. No major adverse events were reported in this trial.

What Loqoa may offer for osteoarthritis

For people living with localized osteoarthritis pain, Loqoa may be useful because it combines an established NSAID mechanism with a transdermal tape format. Its potential benefits include:

• Reduction of pain and inflammation linked with osteoarthritis
• Delivery of esflurbiprofen through the skin toward deeper tissues around the joint
• Sustained tissue concentrations after application
• Support for more comfortable movement during everyday activities
• A localized option for people whose pain is focused in one or a few joints

For arthritis pain relief, the value of a transdermal medicine lies in its ability to treat the painful area directly. Loqoa combines esflurbiprofen’s anti-inflammatory action with a formulation designed to move beyond the surface of the skin and into tissues relevant to osteoarthritis pain. Loqoa tapes help to control pain and inflammation, which may make it easier to stay active, continue rehabilitation, and manage ordinary activities with less discomfort.

Dosage and administration: patient should apply the tape to the affected area once a day. Never apply more than 2 tapes at once.

Contraindications and precautions: Store in a dry cool place, out of reach of children. Do not use on the wounded skin, mucosal membrane, areas with eczema or rash. Do not use for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Do not use for patients with gastric or duodenal ulcer, blood abnormality, liver dysfunction, renal dysfunction, cardiac function failure, hypertension, bronchial asthma, ulcerative colitis, Crohn' disease, an aspirin-induced-asthma or a history of it.

If a patient uses this medicine for a long term, they should receive regular clinical examination (urinalysis, blood test, liver function test, etc.)

Do not expose to sunlight or heat. If allergic symptoms occur, discontinue use.