From these posts, I asked my husband's dr about the patches and he prescribed them. They have been, along with the Lidocaine patches, the only things that have truly helped with his ear pain. Thank you all for the VALUABLE information! He is actually able to walk outside and enjoy his days now. So many times, it is folks like you, giving support and information, that makes all the difference. We certainly can't expect the doctors to know every little thing and helping them helps ourselves. As Gary states above, the patches do cause some constipation and we did consult our nutritionist about that and adjusted some things.