Tiger Balm is a traditional Chinese preparation to relieve muscle and tendon pain for the red, and to soothe respiratory disorders and headaches for the white. Camphor, menthol, clove, cajuput or Chinese cinnamon are the great assets of this miraculous ointment. Discover the history of Tiger Balm and its many benefits!
Aw Chu Kin, the inventor of the Tiger Balm
There are several stories about him. Some say that Aw Chu Kin was a Chinese herbalist of the Imperial Court of China in the 19th century. He used to use a soothing ointment made of medicinal plants from the traditional Chinese pharmacopoeia to relieve the emperor from various pains.
At the end of the 1870s, Aw Chu Kin left China for the capital of Burma: Rangoon. He then set up a herbalist's shop and sold his own medicinal preparations from ancestral traditions which he alone had the secret of, including an ultra-efficient ointment to relieve physical pain. This is how the famous Tiger Balm came to be.
When Aw Chu Kin's sons build the brand
Aw Chu Kin passed away in 1908. His sons Aw Boon Haw (meaning gentle tiger) and Aw Boon Par (meaning gentle leopard) took over their father's business and decided to create the Tiger Balm® brand. In 1926, he moved the company to Singapore and exported their miracle balm to Malaysia, Thailand (which was then the Kingdom of Siam), China and Hong Kong (which was a British colonial city).
From there, Tiger Balm became a worldwide reference in terms of a natural soothing and analgesic herbal remedy.
The 2 original forms of Tiger Balm
There are 2 original formulations to soothe pain and relieve discomfort:
- Le red tiger balm This one acts on muscular and articular pains such as aches, sprains, cramps, osteoarthritis/Arthritis... It is the most widespread and the one that the sportsmen use before and after a training to limit the aches after their session. It is applied two to three times a day on the painful or tense zone by carrying out a light massage.
- Le white tiger balm This formula allows to decongest bronchial tubes and to relieve ENT problems, blocked nose, sinusitis, headaches... It is applied to the chest or the forehead.
In case of insect bites, you can apply a little balm to soothe the itching.
Be careful! Tiger Balm should be applied away from the eyes and mucous membranes! It is not recommended for pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under 7 years old.
The composition of the real Tiger Balm
Whether red or white, Tiger Balm is composed mainly of camphor, menthol, clove essential oil, cajeput essential oil and dementholized mint oil. In the red version, we find in addition to the essential oil of cinnamon of China. Its melting and unctuous texture is obtained from a mixture of petroleum jelly and kerosene.
Tiger Balm, the original or the counterfeit?
Faced with the success of this ointment, many creams have been created using the protected name Tiger Balm. How to make the difference when you don't know? Here are two important points to check:
- The capacity: there are only 4 different capacities: 4, 10, 19,5 and 30g.
- The lid and packaging: the lid is made of metal with a shade of golden bronze in the center of which is engraved a tiger. In addition, the name Tiger Balm is written around the tiger and some ideograms in madarin. The packaging is made of cardboard and is red, orange and blue with the tiger printed on it.
To avoid having to deal with counterfeit products that could be dangerous for your health, Santi-Shop offers you in its shelves the real Tiger Balm in its red and white version.