Tag: pickle juice

This morning I went searching for information on muscle cramps and it led me to an interesting news story, here.

Most people suffer occasional, if not frequent muscle cramps. I have certainly had my share, so I am familiar with that excruciating “kill me now!” pain that they cause. Most of my muscle cramps affect my toes or my calf muscles. My previous boss would get cramps in his hands that looked brutally painful. My husband Dan generally experiences his worst cramps in his thigh muscles.

Last night, Dan’s right thigh muscle cramped. I heard him let out a moan/groan/scream cuss word. By the time I got to the kitchen, he was clutching the back of a chair. By his facial expression, I was convinced that he was suffering a heart attack. Quite possibly one that could turn fatal at any moment. Through clutched teeth, he mumbled that he had a cramp in his thigh.

Having no idea what I could do to help, without risking making the situation worse, I started to gently massage his thigh. The muscle felt like twisted steel rope. The pain went on, and on, and ON! I don’t know how long it lasted, but it seemed to go on for ages. Gradually the cramp eased to the point where Dan could move. He slowly and cautiously walked (shuffled) across the kitchen and livingroom until the pain ramped down to a dull ache.

This morning, I set out to determine what could be done to diminish the frequency, severity, and duration of muscle cramps before one of us lost a toe or a leg to one of these insidious events. I expected to read about the prevention of dehydration, or the need to take supplements such as magnesium or calcium. I did not know what, or if, I would find anything to ease a cramp that was already in progress.

Amazingly, I found a number of articles, from credible sources that suggested PICKLE JUICE as a quick and effective means for releasing a muscle cramps. While a number of theories have been tested as to how pickle juice alleviates muscle cramps, most research that I came across pointed to the same conclusion. If one is suffering from a severe muscle cramp, tossing back a couple of ounces of pickle juice triggers a reflex in the back of one’s throat that shuts down the misfiring of neurons in muscles throughout the body, effectively releasing the muscle cramp.

Apparently this is not news to a lot of athletes, who have been using pickle juice to ease muscle cramps for years – and who totally swear by it.

Personally, I have not tried it – yet! But the next time Dan gets a muscle cramps – I will be ready. Maybe I will tell him that it is vodka, just in case he is not into the whole pickle juice experiment. 😏

That is my news for today! If anyone has tried pickle juice as a muscle relaxant, I would love to hear about the results in the comment section below. 😊

Take care and have a great day! 💞