WSJ, June 1, 2010

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When ingested, ginger can help to relieve muscle pain.

Pain Relief: Ginger appears to reduce exercise-induced muscle pain, according to a study in the Journal of Pain. Researchers randomly assigned 74 adults to consume two grams of either ginger (raw in one experiment and heat-treated in another) or a placebo for 11 consecutive days. On the eighth day, the participants performed series of bicep exercises tailored to mildly damage the muscle in their non-dominant arm. One day later, participants who had been given ginger reported feeling about 25% less pain, on a scale from "no pain" to the "most intense pain imaginable," than subjects in the placebo group. Though the precise pain-fighting mechanism is unknown, animal studies have shown that several chemicals in ginger reduce inflammation and the transmission of pain signals. The results also jibe with previous trials of smaller doses of ginger extract over a longer treatment period, which reportedly reduced joint pain in arthritis patients.

Caveat: By the second day after the exercise, the differences in pain between the test groups were statistically insignificant.

• Ginger (Zingiber officinale) Reduces Muscle Pain Caused by Eccentric Exercise