Magnesium is quite good for controlling chronic pains, headaches, leg cramps, sprains and strains, body aches, low back pain, sciatica, fibromyalgia, and much more. However, its pain-relieving power is enhanced when combined with essential oils like menthol and winter green1.
Magnesium is an essential micronutrient, but it may help manage many health conditions at higher dosages. It participates in the hundreds of body functions. It is necessary for energy production and plays a vital role in the formation of proteins2.
Magnesium and pain relief
Magnesium has a mild relaxing and desensitising effect on the brain centers and it reduces the pain sensation. However, that is not all. It also helps relieve anxiety, muscle tension and exert a myorelaxant effect. Therefore, it is especially good for musculoskeletal pains.
Some of the pains in which magnesium helps have more to do with changes in the brain. Just take an example of migraine headaches. A few decades back, researchers used to think that these severe headaches occur due to changes in blood vessels. But now they know that these headaches are linked to changes in the brain. Therefore, it is a neurological condition2.
Pharmacological drugs can help with migraine, but they are highly toxic. However, magnesium is one of the safest ways to nullify migraine headaches and prevent them. Moreover, using magnesium oil has some distinct benefits as gentle massage with it may help in many ways.
Similarly, another common problem is lower back pain. Almost half of all women would experience this distressing condition during their life. It not only causes pain but also considerably muscle spasms, along with anxiety. A gentle daily massage with magnesium chloride combined with essential oils may help substantially relieve lower back pain.
Another common and emerging painful condition these days is fibromyalgia. In this condition, a person has tenderness at various body parts. However, this tenderness is quite challenging to manage, as doctors simply do not know the cause. Nevertheless, now they think that it has lots to do with hypersensitivity to pain due to some changes in the brain. Therefore, experts recommend using supplements like magnesium or physiotherapy. Essential oils like menthol and wintergreen can also help improve mood, reduce pain, and even help divert attention from the condition.
Leg cramps are common condition, and one cause of the condition is magnesium deficiency. But, that is not the only reason, and science is still struggling to understand the condition. However, again, topical magnesium with the power of essential oils can be pretty good for daily use and pain relief3.
Menthol for relieving muscle aches and relaxation
Menthol is often added to various pain relief remedies, and studies show that it can help in many ways. One of the ways it helps is to divert attention, reduce anxiety, and elevate mood.
Menthol is also suitable for brain health; thus, using it with magnesium has some added benefits.
Menthol is commonly added to various balms. It is suitable for topical use and oral ingestion. It is also added to oral medications and even used as a flavouring agent to foods.
Menthol is also quite good for respiratory health. Additionally, it is worth understanding that people love its aroma, and it has some relaxing and mood-elevating effects. Thus, it has benefits for brain health and mood and has pain-relieving properties.
Wintergreen oil – time tested remedy for pains
Wintergreen oil is an extract of the wintergreen plant, and hence the name. However, now studies show that this oil is particularly rich in methyl salicylate. Although synthetic methyl salicylate is also available and added to many pain relief remedies, using natural wintergreen oil is always a better and safer option.
Wintergreen oil or methyl salicylate is especially good for reducing muscle spasms and reducing pain sensation. It is an excellent topical remedy for sprains and strains. However, it may also be suitable for lowering localised spasms in painful musculoskeletal conditions like lower back pain, arthritis, and much more.
Wintergreen oil and menthol work better together
Most traditional balms pain relief remedies tend to use these two essential oils together, and there is a reason. It appears that these natural remedies work more effectively when used together. They are pretty good for relieving pains of various origins.
There are many studies showing that they work quite well when combined. Thus, in one of the clinical studies, researchers tested the topical use of these two essential oils in various painful conditions in 208 patients. The study found that these two can provide significant pain relief in a few hours in most cases of sprains and strains4.
What is good about essential oils is that they are also suitable for use in pain, not caused by disease. Just take an example of DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), a common problem in those training extensively. Controlling pain is essential for effective training in sportspeople. Moreover, body and muscle aches caused by DOMS may also affect sleep quality. Studies show that wintergreen and menthol essential oils can help with DOMS 5.
Combining magnesium with wintergreen oil and menthol for added benefits
Magnesium is a nutrient with wonderful pain desensitising action, and the same is true for wintergreen oil and menthol. Although essential oils are commonly used together for pain relief, there are very few supplements or topical applications that combine the power of magnesium with these essential oils.
However, there is little doubt that combining magnesium with wintergreen oil and menthol would have wide-ranging health benefits. Such a combination would be a perfect remedy for most common pains. It would be a broad spectrum, safe, and natural way of pain relief. Muscle magnesium spray by Meo Body is among the few products that combine these ingredients in a single topical spray.
References
- Na HS, Ryu JH, Do SH. The role of magnesium in pain. In: Vink R, Nechifor M, eds. Magnesium in the Central Nervous System. University of Adelaide Press; 2011. Accessed February 26, 2022. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK507245/
- Office of Dietary Supplements - Magnesium. Accessed February 26, 2022. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
- Garrison SR, Allan GM, Sekhon RK, Musini VM, Khan KM. Magnesium for skeletal muscle cramps. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012;2012(9):CD009402. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD009402.pub2
- Higashi Y, Kiuchi T, Furuta K. Efficacy and safety profile of a topical methyl salicylate and menthol patch in adult patients with mild to moderate muscle strain: A randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, multicenter study. Clinical Therapeutics. 2010;32(1):34-43. doi:10.1016/j.clinthera.2010.01.016
- Hill JM, Sumida KD. Acute Effect of 2 Topical Counterirritant Creams on Pain Induced by Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation. 2002;11(3):202-208. doi:10.1123/jsr.11.3.202