Muscle Cramps
Natural Remedies

Muscle Cramp Remedies

Horse Chestnut Root

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Christopher (Copper Center, Alaska) on 10/16/2007
★★★★★

My Mom had painful leg cramps all of her life. I started getting them in my early 40's. I have tried most of the other remedies with varying success but what works best for me is "Horse Chestnut Root" extract. It is preventive, not for immediate relief. If I start to feel them coming back, I just take two pills a day for a couple days. Sometimes no cramps now for 1-2 months at a time.


Horseradish

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Ken (Saint Louis, MO) on 07/17/2009
★★★★★

Horseradish works great for Muscle cramps, headaches, and ulcers. I eat a spoonfull with a glass of water and the cramps go away in a minute and do not return.


Hydrocortisone Cream

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Anna (Philadelphia) on 08/06/2013
★★★★★

Hydrocortisone Cream for sufficient temporary relief of spasms and overworked joints/muscles

I was rear ended in a car accident when I was 24. Since then I have been dealing with sharp stabbing burning pains in my neck. After 2 years of pain management my doctor has exhausted all techniques. Until one day he put his finger in the dip in my shoulder. INCREDIBLE PAIN surged, I felt like I lost the ability to stand or sit upright. After finding this out there isn't much that is able to be done about the horrible sensations that start in my shoulder and shoot to my neck. No prescribed external topical applications have been successful.

One day I was in so much pain I just started throwing different creams on myself. Surprisingly, I found that hydrocortisone cream temporarily relieves these neck spasms long enough to "forget" about it and move on to something else. I would say it's an aid to help me relax.

At first I had to apply frequently because I was so stressed from the pain itself. But used less eventually. Keep in mind that a hot shower stream of water beating on my neck caused "white light" ten out of ten pain that took me to the ER because I freaked out.

So I suggest applying this to a very sensitive painful area of the body due to deep debilitating muscle spasms. It really helped me get past the pain long enough to distract myself with normal activities.

Replied by Judy
(Arizona)
08/01/2015

Have you ever seen a chiropractor, massage therapist, acupuncturist or "trigger" therapist. The right professional will release that place in your neck. May take several treatments since you'd had it so long.


Hydrogen Peroxide

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Ms Peggy (Sacramento, Ky) on 10/03/2013
★★★★★

I don't know why it works, but read some where about using peroxide for muscle spasms. After suffering from them nearly every night for many years, I decided to try it. Rubbed a small amount of peroxide on the area of the charlie horse, and praise be it worked. They didn't come back the rest of the night. While pickle juice, and mustard do tend to help, I have to repeat fairly often. Now I keep the peroxide close by.

Replied by Dave
(Fountain Inn, Sc)
10/05/2013

Hello Ms Peggy from Sacramento;

My understanding of how the H202 is working to relieve leg's muscle spasms is simple: spasming may be lack of oxygen. Others deficiencies... Such as lack of magnesium can also cause spasms. But you got it right and found peroxide worked.

But go one step further. The spasms and the fact that extra oxygen helped is a possible warning for you. You might have oxygen deficiency in your system. I take Natural (not synthetic) vitamin E to help deliver oxygen throughout the body... Especially muscles. Remember the heart is a muscle.

So the point is this: If you were having muscle cramping for years and if the hydrogen peroxide helped, then you might be oxygen depleted and that is dangerous most importantly for the heart.

Vitamin E (which is refined out of virtually all our grains) is essential to oxygenate muscles. I've taken 800 iu daily for about 40 years. E does 20 different things in the system. By taking E, I don't have to take an aspirin to thin my blood, for instance. By taking E I don't worry about cholesterol levels, because nothing is sticking to arteries, the E coating the veins and arteries. By taking E I know there will be no sudden heart craved spasm of my heart... instant death.

Remember the heart is constantly working and of all the muscles the one you cannot afford to have spasm!

Natural E is called "d-alpha tocopherol" and you get it in health food stores ... not in drug stores which sell the synthetic.

Start with 200 iu daily and over a few months increase to 400 and then go to 800. E will dissolve existing plaque formation so the slow start up of E is better so there is not a sudden release of a clump of plaque.

Glad you found a solution,

Dave


Hydrogen Peroxide Inhalation

2 User Reviews
5 star (2) 
  100%

Posted by Ginny (NY, NY) on 02/19/2008
★★★★★

Hello. I wanted to give you an update for another hydrogen peroxide inhalation cure. I wrote in a couple of weeks ago about how it stopped my flu in its tracks after a few hours (yes, I never got sick). Well, last night while I was asleep, my left neck muscle and shoulder blade went into a spasm. It was very painful and even more so when I got up in the morning. I went around yelping like a dog every time I moved my head or left arm. Anyway, after a few hours of this, I suddenly remembered that Bill M had written about how he used his remedy to stop a muscle spasm. I got out my little sinus spray bottle filled with h202 and did 6 quick squirts into my mouth (I like to hold my breath as long as possible after I spray and then spit out the left over peroxide). The excruciating pain jolts went away almost immediately and my neck and shoulder were back to normal after a few hours. Actually I can't tell you how long it took because I forgot about it until tonight when I realized that not only did I have no pain, but I had full mobility of my neck! I have had this same spasm occur lots of times over the years and it usually takes a good 2-3 days to recover. I LOVE THIS REMEDY!

Replied by Ramona
(Greater Boston, MA)
10/18/2008
★★★★★

Muscle spasms/leg cramps

In the middle of the night, I am often awakened by horrific leg cramps (calves). I, too, remembered the Bill M. peroxide inhalation....took out my handy-dandy nasal spray bottle with 3% peroxide, and inhale about four sprays at once, and hold my breath as long as I can. The pain disappears within ten seconds. This works for me, and might help someone else.

Ramona


Hydrogen Peroxide Topically

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Nattakit (Bangkok, Thailand) on 02/26/2011
★★★★★

I woke up one night with a terrible muscle cramp at my calf. The muscle was hard as stone and caused a dreadful pain. I could only think of a small atomiser filled with H2O2 for my inhalation. I then sprayed over my calf within seconds the pain was gone and with some rubbing, the muscle was soft and the next morning I walked without any pain or stiffnes in the muscle. I used 3% H2O2. This works well in my other time.


Hypothyroidism Link to Leg Cramps

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by B From Tx (Texas) on 06/11/2017
★★★★★

I was diagnosed as hypothyroidism 20 years ago. I visited my daughter in Montana and went to see a naturopath. He suggested thytrophin pm from Standard Process which I still take every day. Also, I take vitamin d3 because it is low. I would just like to say if anyone has leg cramps (charlie horses) it could be your thyroid and therefore best to check. Its a bummer, but better to be safe. I will never take medication from the main stream doctors. My thyroid issue is under control and so is leg cramping of which is a symptom of low thyroid and low vitamin d3.


Iodoral (Iodine & Potassium Iodide)

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by GertJr (Madison) on 07/18/2021
★★★★★

I asked about cures for leg/foot cramps and got many good responses, but nothing worked. I finally learned that thyroid can cause this problem, so I started ioderol. Fantastic, brain fog cleared with the first tablet (12.5 mg) and the cramping gradually got better. I had a dr appointment anyway and mentioned to the dr that this had helped, so he tested for thyroid (the dr who refused to test before! ) and it was low, so he started me on levothyroxine and told me to stop the ioderol.

Did that and, within 3 days, the leg and feet cramps are worse than ever. So, I added back in the ioderol, and, voila! the cramps are better. I go back in 2 weeks for a recheck of the thyroid, to see if the levo is helping.

Any thoughts? I will tell him what happened and what I'm doing for it, but I need to cover all the bases and need input. Thanks.


Ivory Soap

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Francis (Honolulu, USA)
★★★★★

I have some friends who suffer from leg cramps at night. I subscribe to Health & Healing and and found an article about the cramps and a cure that works. It said to keep a bar of "Ivory" soap on your nightstand and when the cramps come, just rub the soap bar on the leg and the cramps will go away very quickly. I told my friends about it and they tried it and said it works. In the article Dr. Whitaker said he doesn't know why it works but it does.


Lemon Juice

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Mister (EUSSR) on 11/04/2022
★★★★★

When I was doing a prolonged fast, I got serious muscle cramps in my legs at night. These became painful, kept me awake, and also persisted during the day. I drank water with a lot of mineral salts added (sodium, potassium, magnesium, chromium) but the cramps persisted.

This was not sustainable, so on the second or third night, I was about to break the fast. But first I tried drinking various herbal teas with liberal amounts of lemon juice (from concentrate, with sodium sulfite preservative). The cramps disappeared quickly and continued drinking of lemon juice allowed me to continue the fast for a total of 10 days.

The remedy must have been the lemon juice, because the herbal teas were very watery by themselves. I don't know why fasting caused such terrible muscle cramps, but I bet it's either the citric acid or vitamin C that completely relieves the symptoms.


Lobelia, Trace Minerals

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Drwelby (California) on 05/09/2014
★★★★★

Leg Cramps:

LOBELIA Extract (brown liquid available in large health food stores & from herbalists). The most powerful antispasmodic natural medicine. In essence, a cramp is a a 'spasm' or knot of the muscle. A quick liberal spray or splash of the lobelia rubbed into & about 3" around the circumference of the cramped area & relief will be momentary & complete.

TRACE MINERALS
The other people's recommendations of trace minerals, AC vinegar etc daily will treat the 'cause' of the cramping if taken daily as an addition to the daily diet..(its a 'food' not a medicine) on an ongoing basis. And..improve digestion (& therefore absorption of minerals from food) & general quality of health in many regards.

I find the following taken at least twice daily approx 15mins before meals is an easy quick & relatively pleasant:

  • 3 T AC Vinegar
  • 1T Raw Honey (NOT pasturized or boiled sold in markets)
  • 1/4 to 1/3 cup hot water

Stir & drink


Loosely Tied String

1 User Review
5 star (1) 
  100%

Posted by Deb Nelson (Aws) on 08/22/2016
★★★★★

For muscle cramps, I don't know why it works, my family ties 100% cotton string loosely around the ankle. We use string used to tie roasts in the meat market. Can be purchased at any kitchen store. This remedy has been used in our family for five generations or more. I keep my strings on at all times. We put them on children with growing pains, pregnant moms, and older friends.


Magnesium

8 User Reviews
5 star (7) 
  88%
1 star (1) 
  13%

Posted by Rosiland (Mexico) on 11/27/2022
★★★★★

I have had leg cramps for years and I tried all sorts of things. I did magnesium and potassium plus some product from Standard Process. None of them worked, my cramps were so severe they would wake me up at night crying from the intensity! Then I read that MAGNESIUM GLYCINATE is the magnesium to take (magnesium citrate does nothing for leg cramps, I know I tried it). I ordered it from Luma Nutrition since I respect the quality of their products. The next time I had a leg cramp it was intense for a second or two and then it disappeared completely on its own without me having to get up and walk around. It happened one other time but since then I have been sleeping peacefully with no cramps or even a hint of cramps.

Replied by Cris
(Virginia)
12/17/2022

How much do you take? I bought it as well, and it was great the first couple of nights but last night I had one cramp after another.

Art
(California)
12/17/2022
2304 posts

Cris,

If a dose adjustment to your magnesium glycinate does not give adequate relief, magnesium chloride oil or mag oil will help as it allows higher magnesium tissue levels locally than magnesium glycinate can give. Here is a link to a typical spray mag oil product :

https://www.amazon.com/Magnesium-Oil-Spray-STRENGTH-Essential/dp/B01N0KQ9QJ/ref=sr_1_10?crid=1SP29Q1TQ06KF&keywords=mag+oil+spray&qid=1671328580&sprefix=mag+oil,aps,191&sr=8-10

Just spray on and rub in. Relief is usually felt in a minute or three. Apply before sleep and this usually eliminates muscle cramping in the legs or elsewhere during the night.

Art


Magnesium
Posted by Grace (Camp) on 09/26/2017
★☆☆☆☆

I soak in epsom salts, apply mag oil, take a mag tablet daily, add potassium with my supplements, etc and still have leg cramps. No prescription meds to cause it. What else can I try?

Replied by Teena
(Melbourne Australia)
09/26/2017
233 posts

Hi Grace I would still suspect a mineral requirement not being met. Add some Trace minerals to your daily water or more easily add 1/4 tsp sea salt (with it's 84+ essential minerals) to your daily water. And make sure you are drinking enough water for your body weight, so many of us are not. Also see watercure. Best to you

Replied by Charity
(Faithville, Usa)
09/26/2017

Runners use vitamin E for muscle recovery....

When did they start and what was happening to you, your environment or diet when they started....information helps a lot when trying to find solutions. Does an aspirin or blood thinner like galic capsules help it....might be blood clot...

Replied by Mmsg
(Somewhere, Europe)
09/26/2017

Grace, try eating a banana a day for leg cramps.

Replied by Gord235
(Vancouver, British Columbia)
09/26/2017

Try a Calcium-Magnesium combination for leg cramps. Has worked every time for me.

Replied by Carnic Eagle
(Australia)
09/27/2017

I sometimes find it's more circulation issue than than lactic acid build up? I have found stinging nettle herb great.

Replied by Janet
(In)
09/27/2017

Grace. First a mag tablet caught my eye. You can reduce it in water. It will become more bio available to the body. If it takes longer than 5 to 8 minutes to break up, chances are it is noy breaking up in your gut. Also you can take your mag oil as supplement. Magnesium chloride, 5 to 6 drops in water provides approx 250mg of mag. 2x a day.

My husband has had some cramps. He depletes all his minerals working 7 days 12 hours in the heat.

These are often impossible to determine why. I have a list of steps I take from this happening.

Serrapeptase, high potency. As a precaution against any blockages.1 capsule on empty stomach in am.

Baking soda. 1 whole lime, 6 to 8 tsp, squeezed in a glass or 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar. Add 1/2 tsp baking soda. Let fizz. Add 1/2 glass of water and drink. 2x a day 1/2 hour after meals 5 days out of 7.

Am. 1/4 tsp of potassium bicarbonate powder added to 1/2 glass of water in am.

Iodine foot painting. 5% lugols iodine painted on foot in 1 inch square on foot before bed. This enriches the iodine in lower body as it often gets little being used up in the rest of the body is a great companion to mag oil.

1/4 tsp of sea salt in water. This provides all the trace minerals in correct amounts to enhance mineral status.

Progesterone cream. Applied 2x a week to help balance hormones. Apply to trunk 1/2 tsp. This was surprising but it worked.

Liquid chlorophyll 1/2 tsp in a liter of water. Add 20 drops liquid phosphorus. Drink 1 oz as needed. This is also a great pain tonic.

20 mule team borax. 1/8 tsp in a liter of water. Drink through the day in beverages. 4 days out of seven. Balance hormones. Replaces fluoride with boron in body.

My daughter applies potassium bicarbonate directly to her leg to stop cramping. She reduces it in water and swipes it on.

I suspect you need a good vitamin d levels test. You may find out you are low. It is foundational to health. Good levels allow for absorption and utilization of all your efforts. My Mom had restless legs that got cramps and painful. Taking d3 and its companions made all the difference. There is a home test too. I have not tried myself. Reading Dr. Michael Holicks book or watching his you tube information and following his dosage chart (google it) will offer great insight into this.

These are all effective on their own. But cramping and heath status can be many things. We have found it takes a day to discover if you are on the right track. 3 days to be well on the way to stopping and real healing.

Eliminations

Msg

Table salt..use sea salt only

Plastic

Aluminum

Foods containing...gmos...commercially grown insecticide sprayed food. Glyphosates..gluten

Soy

Fluoride

Aspartame

Bath soak or 1/2 the ingredients for foot soak.

2 cups epsom

1 cup borax

1 cup hydrogen peroxide...to oxygenate the body

1 cap fish tank dechlorinator...to protect heart from chlorine steam. 20 minutes.

Janet

Replied by Lisa D
(South Dakota)
07/04/2020
★★★★★

You need to try mag. oil spray. You can get it at a health food store. I tried the pills. Got nothing so I tried the oil spray and I'll never try anything else. I have been awakened to some horrific leg cramps and spray it on and within minutes it's gone. I've even sprayed it on like half way down my leg and I got a cramp and it stops where the spray ended it's the weirdest thing but the best ever. My spray is a mandatory item on my night stand.

Replied by Orh
(Ten Mile, Tn)
07/05/2020

Lisa, ORH here, you right on the money gal.

Transdermal is the best way to get stuff into yo body without going through your digestive system. DMSO will drive it in PDQ. SAS..... SIMPLE AS SHEET

==ORH==

Replied by John
(SC)
12/20/2022

This may help others with what I have learned. I work with a person who, since he was a teenager, suffered from muscle cramps for decades in his calves and legs. He was been using and OTC remedy that contained magnesium among other things for the cramps but still got them. I suggested the magnesium flakes solution but he had magnesium which he began using and has some relief but not totally. I researched the condition and was not getting what I needed to help him.

I noticed the post about using hydrogen peroxide and the lack of O2. No one had this mentioned in any articles or some medical information I read yet it is an issue and another part of the cause. My friend knew of a woman who made to order CBD products for people with different problems. He spoke to her about leg cramps issue and she made him some special gummies which probably had CBD oil and some THC. He has to divide the gummie, take a piece at night and for about three days has not had any leg cramps.

When he comes into work he has more energy and feels great. If you look back to history of cannabis you'll find that just before it was declared illegal back in the 30's it was an OTC remedy used often for many medical problems. Let's not forget CBD oil gained popularity after it was successfully used some years ago for a very young child with seizures whose family moved to another state to be able to use the oil on her. She went from having many seizures a day to being almost seizure free.


Magnesium
Posted by Michael (New Zealand) on 07/21/2016
★★★★★

Magnesium is essential for a host of bodily functions. Muscles depend on magnesium a great deal. The modern Western diet mitigates against adequate magnesium balance in the body. The average, modern person lacks enough magnesium and this can often lead to a miriad of problems, the cause of which (inadequate magnesium in some/many cases), is frequently over-looked. Even if our food choices contained adequate magnesium (very doubtful these days because of soil depletion), then we are still left with the problem of the difficulty of the body being able to ABSORB whatever magnesium is available. Magnesium is not easily absorbed internally!! What to do? Well, I have found that Magnesium Chloride is the most easily absorbed and it fixed my severe, leg muscle cramps in a flash! Really ... very quickly. I was so impressed. Other people favour other types such as the Citrate form but for actual severe cramping I would stick with liquid Mag. Chloride as I know it worked for me at least. Having said all of the above, spraying on just a little Mag.Gel to the affected site and giving a QUICK, brief rub will help greatly, as will Epsom Salts 15 minute bathing, as Magnesium is often best absorbed through the skin (trans-dermally).



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