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 function.
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 the supplement helps with nerve aches, discomfort and weakness.
But does Nervive contain ingredients proven in clinical research to reduce pain and aid nerve health, or are these just marketing claims? Does the supplement contain any questionable additive ingredients? What about Nervive Cream? And how do real users rate and describe the effects of Nervive products?
In this article we’ll answer all of these questions and more as we review the ingredients in Nervive based on medical research. We will give our take on whether the supplement and cream are likely to be effective, or if they’re a waste of money.
Because Nervive’s supplement contains a large number of ingredients, we’ll break our ingredient analysis into two sections: active ingredients and inactive ingredients. We’ll also share real, unsponsored Nervive user reviews.
Active Ingredient Analysis
The ingredients shown above are from Nervive Nerve Relief, which is a dietary supplement taken once daily.
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 medical 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, 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 potentially effective for improving nerve health and reducing pain due to the inclusion of B-vitamins and ALA, however we have some concerns about the ingredient lists and the inactive ingredients, as we discuss in the coming sections.
Ingredient Label Discrepancies
At the time of publishing 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.
As shown in the previous section, the calcium dosage is shown as 27 grams (g) on the P&G website, but 27 mg on the Nervive brand website. The ALA dosage is shown as 600 mg on the P&G website, but 300 mg on the Nervive brand website. Ingredient doses from the Nervive brand website are shown below.
This type of ingredient discrepancy is unacceptable, because it prevents consumers from making safe and informed choices about the ingredients they put into their bodies.
Keep in mind that we consider the minimum effective dose of ALA for pain relief to be 400 mg, so it’s incredibly important to know whether the dose is actually 300 mg or 600 mg. We would consider the former dose likely ineffective but the latter dose likely effective.
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. What makes this ingredient discrepancy even worse is that the Amazon listing, at the time of publishing this article, is different from both the P&G website and the Nervive brand website.
The Amazon listing shows an ALA dose of 600 mg and a calcium dose of 27 mg.
Nervive Inactive Ingredient Analysis
There are two questionable additive ingredients in Nervive Nerve Health that health-conscious consumers may wish to avoid.
Flavors is a broad descriptor which fails to explain what 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 artificial flavors are much less healthy than natural flavors.
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 shown in medical studies regarding all artificial dyes.
Real, Unsponsored Nervive User Reviews
Nervive is sold on Amazon, which is a more objective resource for customer reviews than a brand’s website in our opinion. Their most-reviewed product on Amazon is the same Nervive Nerve Health supplement we reviewed above. It has over 8,000 reviews on Amazon and an average review rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars.
The top positive review from a verified purchaser is written by a user named “KAREN TAYLOR” who claims the supplement was effective for her husband’s diabetic nerve pain:
“It really does help the nerve issues my husband has in his feet because of diabetes. He would wake up with his feet throbbing in pain. We know for a fact this product helps because after a month of taking the pill he thought Nervive was not helping him so he told me not to order the product any more ; just after one week of not taking Nervive he realized it was helping manage the nerve pain.”
The top negative review from a verified purchaser comes from a user named Sergio Herrara who claims the product had no effect:
“That product SAID after 15 days you will see results.. THAT IS A BIG LIE!! I only have 5left (30 pills) the cram's continues like nothing. That is not working. Now I can not get my money back, I took all those pills for nothing???? Putting garbage on my system that doesn't work.!!!!!”
A TikTok user named “LouisvilleMakeupJunkie” claims that Nervive Cream helped her significantly:
@louisvillemakeupjunkie I found some help for body pain! #nervive #bodypain #chronicillness #chronicpain #SplashSummerVibe #longcovid ♬ Roxanne - Instrumental - Califa Azul
Nervive Cream Review
Nervive also sells a topical product called Nervive Pain Relieving Cream. This product contains two active ingredients: lidocaine (at a concentration of 4%) and menthol (1%).
Lidocaine is an FDA-approved medication that’s 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 additive ingredient.
Phenoxyethanol is a synthetic preservative that was clinically shown to be toxic to human cells, as we documented in our Nioxin Shampoo reviews article.
We consider Nervive Cream to be better formulated than Nervive’s oral supplement.
Does Nervive Cause Side Effects?
Nervive does not appear to have been studied in any clinical trials, so we can’t say for certain whether or not the brand’s products cause side effects. However, we can make an educated guess based on the ingredients included.
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 safe and well-studied.
Where to Buy Nervive for the Best Price
Nervive is sold on a number of online retailers. Here’s a price breakdown at the time of publishing this article:
CVS: $27.99
Walmart: $20.14
Amazon: $18.80 (link to official product listing)
Nervive is currently 33% cheaper on Amazon than CVS.
Our Clean Anti-Inflammatory Picks
There are natural compounds which have been shown in clinical studies to support optimal joint health and relieve pain.
Cinnamon was shown to reduce inflammatory markers in a 2020 clinical trial. The study authors concluded that “Cinnamon could be regarded as a safe supplement to relieve pain.”
Illuminate Labs Ceylon Cinnamon Extract is our standardized cinnamon supplement, which is third-party tested for purity and potency and costs only $15 at a subscription price.
Collagen is the core structural protein in joints, and has been clinically shown to reduce arthritic pain.
Bulletproof Collagen Powder is our top collagen supplement pick because it only contains one ingredient: collagen peptides sourced from grass-fed animals.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is clinically shown to be effectively absorbed through the skin, and CBD caused "significant improvements in pain" when applied topically in a 2020 clinical trial.
Cornbread CBD Lotion is our top CBD lotion pick, because it also contains menthol, which was shown in a 2022 clinical trial to reduce pain scores.
All of the products recommended in this section are entirely free of ingredients that we consider to be unhealthy or unsafe.
