Disclaimer: None of the information in this article constitutes medical advice, and is just the opinion of the writer(s). We recommend that patients follow their doctor's guidance in regard to nervous system health.
Nervive is a brand that sells products for nerve health and pain relief. The brand claims to be the “world’s #1 selling nerve care company,” and claims that their supplement helps with nerve aches, discomfort and weakness.
But does Nervive contain ingredients proven to reduce nerve pain? Does it contain any unhealthy ingredients? Are the pills or cream better-formulated? And is Nervive better or worse than popular nerve pain supplements like SciatiEase?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more, as we analyze the ingredients in Nervive to give our take on whether or not the supplement is likely to be effective for nerve pain, and whether or not it's healthy.
We'll also also highlight some concerning ingredient label discrepancies, discuss the risk of side effects, and compare Nervive to other popular nerve pain supplements to pick our winners (and losers).
Key takeaways:
- Ingredient dose information discrepancies
- Contains inactive ingredients we consider unhealthy
- We do not currently recommend Nervive
Concerning Ingredient Label Issues
At the time of updating this article, there are several ingredient label discrepancies between the Nervive brand website and the Procter & Gamble (P&G) website.
P&G is the manufacturer of this supplement.
The calcium dosage is stated as 27 grams (g) on the P&G website, but 27 mg on the Nervive brand website, as documented below.
P&G website:
Nervive brand website:
Excessive calcium intake is clinically shown to cause severe health issues in some cases, so this type of ingredient discrepancy is unacceptable and is a consumer safety issue.
We urge P&G to publish accurate ingredient doses across all sales channels, and we’re surprised that such a large company would have such an obvious quality control failure (for years on end at this point).
Active Ingredient Analysis
The active ingredients in Nervive Nerve Relief capsules are shown below:
Thiamin, vitamin B6 and vitamin B12 are all B-vitamins, and a medical review published in the CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics journal found that B-vitamins help promote healthy nervous system function, and may be effective in treating peripheral neuropathy.
However, B-vitamins are quite easily attainable from food, and it may not be necessary to take supplemental B-vitamins without a proven deficiency in those vitamins.
Calcium is a mineral easily attainable from food, and we can’t find any clinical evidence that calcium supplementation in patients without calcium deficiency improves nervous system function.
Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) is included at a dose of 600 milligrams (mg).
This appears to be an effective dose. As we documented in our review of a supplement called Heal and Soothe, ALA has been clinically shown to reduce pain at a dose at or above 400 mg.
Turmeric extract and ginger extract are included in an Herbal Blend with a total dose of 30 mg, which equals an average ingredient dose of 15 mg.
This is a relatively low dose, and we consider these doses too low to have any meaningful effect.
As an example, turmeric was shown in a 2018 medical review to be effective for natural pain reduction, but the effective dosing range was described as 400 mg to 600 mg daily, or around 33x the average ingredient dose in Nervive Nerve Health.
Overall, we consider this supplement to be potentially effective for improving nerve health and reducing pain due to the inclusion of B-vitamins and ALA at effective doses.
Inactive Ingredient Analysis
Some of the inactive ingredients in Nervive are shown below:
Flavors is a broad descriptor which fails to explain which specific flavoring agents are used.
It also fails to describe whether the flavors are natural or artificial, which is an important consideration in our opinion, because we consider artificial flavors to be less healthy.
In 2018, the FDA removed seven artificial flavors from use as food additives due to concerns over their potential to cause cancer.
FD&C Blue No. 2 is an artificial dye, and as we documented in our review of Instaflex ingredients, there are legitimate toxicity concerns documented in clinical studies regarding all artificial dyes.
We do not currently recommend Nervive due to the inclusion of these inactive ingredients.
Nervive Cream Analysis
The ingredients in Nervive Pain Relieving Cream are shown below:
This product contains two active ingredients: lidocaine (at a concentration of 4%) and menthol (1%).
Lidocaine is an FDA-approved medication that was shown in a 2021 medical review to be effective at reducing pain levels, including neuropathic pain.
In one of the cited clinical trials, pain scores decreased by over 50% after eight weeks of topical lidocaine treatment.
Menthol was shown in a clinical trial published in the Journal of Sport Rehabilitation to significantly decrease pain scores at a concentration similar to that in Nervive Pain Relieving Cream.
While both of the active ingredients in this formulation have considerable research backing, there is one questionable inactive ingredient.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative that was shown in at least one clinical trial to be toxic to human cells, as we documented in our Nioxin Shampoo reviews article.
Overall, we consider Nervive Pain Cream likely to relieve pain, and we consider it to be better-formulated than the oral supplement.
We don't currently recommend this product due to the inclusion of phenoxyethanol.
Does Nervive Cause Side Effects?
Nervive does not appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, which makes it challenging to determine whether or not the product will cause side effects.
However, we can make an educated guess based on its ingredients.
Lidocaine may cause topical effects like itching, redness and swelling.
According to a meta-study published in the Medicina journal, 17 out of 100 individuals may be allergic to lidocaine, and lidocaine allergy can cause rare and life-threatening side effects.
This suggests that patients may wish to speak with their doctor about lidocaine allergy and potentially consider a patch test prior to using Nervive Cream.
We do not consider Nervive’s oral supplement likely to cause side effects, because all of its active ingredients are well-studied, and should be safe.
Nervive vs. Popular Nerve Pain Supps
Here's how Nervive compares to other popular nerve pain supplements in terms of formulation quality, in our opinion:
Nerve Control 911
Manufacturer received warnings from both the FDA and FTC over alleged unapproved health claims.
Nervive is the significantly more reputable brand, making it the winner from a consumer safety perspective.
Winner: Nervive
SciatiEase
Contains various research-backed active ingredients and no unhealthy additives, as we documented in our SciatiEase reviews article.
We consider this to be a healthier formulation than Nervive.
Winner: SciatiEase
B-Vitamin Complex
B-vitamin supplementation is clinically shown to be effective in relieving some forms of nerve pain.
A B-Vitamin Complex will often contain more B-vitamins than exist in Nervive.
We would recommend speaking with a doctor prior to using any vitamin or mineral therapy for nerve pain, because it may be unnecessary in the absence of deficiency of that vitamin or mineral.
Winner: B-Vitamin Complex
Nervive Pros and Cons
Pros:
- Research-backed active ingredients
- Cream should relieve pain
- Supplement may relieve pain
- Affordable
Cons:
- Ingredient dose discrepancies
- Oral supplement contains artificial color
- Oral supplement contains flavors
- Cream contains phenoxyethanol
- Doesn't appear clinically tested
- Less healthy than some competitors
