Hair styling product cannot be used to treat knee pain

"KNEE PAIN?" reads Malay-language text overlaid on a Facebook video posted on March 12, 2025. 

The video features a man showing a jar of Brylcreem hair styling cream, claiming it cured his knee pain by "almost 80 percent" after three months of applying the product. He further adds that the cream would work for the elderly who struggle with knee problems.

"Try it. Send this video to anyone who has knee pain," he says.

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Screenshot of the false Facebook post, taken April 30, 2025

Identical videos were shared on the same user's Instagram, TikTok and YouTube accounts -- racking up more than 280,000 views.

A similar claim about the Brylcreem hair product curing knee pain also circulated in a 2020 post on Facebook.

Social media users left comments apparently backing up the video's claim: "Yes, that's right... brylcreem contains petroleum gel.. Before this I used it for hair.. Now I use it for my knees.. best find."

"Nothing wrong with trying it out and it's not expensive either," another wrote.

However, a Malaysian representative from Unilever, which produces Brylcreem, told AFP on April 28: "Brylcreem is a hair styling product. It is formulated to be used on hair and is not intended for other applications."

Meanwhile, orthopaedists said there was no evidence to support the use of hair cream for knee pain.

"There is no scientific evidence to suggest that any hair cream can function as an effective treatment for knee or muscle pain," said orthopaedic surgeon Dr Suhail Suresh Abdullah at Sunway Medical Centre in Malaysia's Sunway City (archived link).

"The ingredients in the product, such as mineral oil and beeswax, have no known therapeutic effect on joint inflammation, or nerve-related pain," he added.

Dr Nazrul Nashi, a consultant at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at Singapore's National University Hospital (NUH), said that Brylcreem is not approved by any major health authority, such as the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a treatment for joint or muscle pain (archived link). 

"The scientific treatments that work for knee pain include topical painkillers, which contain ingredients such as anti-inflammatory medications," he told AFP on April 30.

Both experts said knee pain worsens over time if ignored, especially in aging-related conditions like osteoarthritis. They said early diagnosis and conservative management are key to treat the condition effectively.

AFP has previously fact-checked other purported health remedies here and here.