VERNON - Chronic pain is something that impacts roughly 20 percent of adults, according to the United States Department of Health and Human Service. Chronic pain can lead to things like restricted mobility, opioid dependency, anxiety, and depression among other ailments.
With that in mind, The Feel Good Lab was born. It is a local company hoping to stop chronic pain as naturally as possible.
“I was asked over and over again to recommend an over-the-counter topical product,” said Gene Gresh, the lead pharmacist for The Feel Good Lab.
Gene built a career as a pharmacist specializing in customizing functional medicine for his customers.
“I would look at the products available, and I know the things you put on the skin go into the body, and there are many ingredients in these products that we don’t want to go into the body,” said Gene.
Gene was constantly looking for the most natural approach at a time when so many try to find answers in a pill form.
“We do have an opioid epidemic,” said Gene. “Right now, what I see happening is a lot of legislation and plans to reduce access to opioids, and very little in line with actually effectively treating chronic pain.”
The Feel Good Lab was created back in 2016, and now offers two over-the-counter pain relieving creams made with 30 ingredients, most of which, are recognizable.
“Our product is packed with things we actually want in the body, things that serve a purpose, like turmeric, which has been known for centuries as being an anti-inflammatory,” said Ryan Gresh, Gene's son, and a co-founder for The Feel Good Lab.
The Feel Good Lab is based in a New Haven office but was initially tested and founded in Vernon.
The product is produced out of an FDA registered facility in Miami, and then shipped and distributed from a warehouse in New Britain.
“I grew up in Connecticut, went to the University of Connecticut, met my two co-founders at the University of Connecticut, lived here afterwards, and when we first started the company we had plans to move it to California, in fact, we actually incorporated in California for the first year,” said Ryan. “But, what we learned in 2017, as we were building this business… we found being a small fish in a small pond was so much more beneficial… we care about the state, and so we decided to move the business back to Connecticut.”
The product is now sold at the original pharmacy in Vernon, in certain physical therapy offices, as well as through online retailers like Amazon. It has become so popular that is has also started garnering attention from some of the country's top athletes.
Ben Bergeron is considered by many to be one of the best Crossfit coaches. He has coached athletes to seven world championships, and his gym is based in Massachusetts.
Bergeron recently partnered with The Feel Good Lab because of the efficacy and the reliability he says the product offers.
“I am always looking for an edge,” said Bergeron. “I am always looking for something that will enhance my athlete’s performance.”
The Feel Good Lab has two products, one is a pain cream, and one is a sport recovery lotion, which has been especially popular with athletes like the ones Bergeron coaches.
“When I came across The Feel Good Lab sport recovery lotion it fell right into play with exactly what I wanted,” said Bergeron. “I hadn’t seen anything close in the market that could decrease pain, and give them stuff I want in their body anyways, it made total sense for me to work with them.”
From top tier athletes to everyday folks, The Feel Good Lab hopes to make chronic pain a problem of the past.
“There is no one-size-fits-all silver bullet to pain, or really any other medical solution,” said Ryan. “But, we found our product… has such a breadth of ingredients that work on multiple different pathways of pain affecting people with multiple different types of pain.”
To get the most out of the product, the team recommends applying it three to four times per day on clean, damp skin, preferably after a shower, or at the very least, after adding a splash of warm water to the affected site.
For more on the product and where to purchase it go here: https://thefeelgoodlab.com/