Cramp Bark.
Aka Guelder rose, Snowball bush, high bush cranberry, water elder, wayfaring tree, White dogwood, Love roses, Pincushion, rose elder, European cranberry bush, kalyna. Latin name – Viburnum opulus.
When the common name of a plant references an action, it is often the property for which a plant is primarily known. Cramp bark is a case in point. Excellent for cramps! Cramp bark is excellent for muscle cramps and has a particular affinity for the female reproductive system.
If the period experience features pain in combination with cramping we call it dysmenorrhea. Anti-spasmodic is an important quality in this case. An herb that is anti-spasmodic will reduce muscle tension, spasms, and cramping. They help to reduce pain. For PMS, dysmenorrhea, period pain this herb is excellent. It acts as an antispasmodic and relaxant.
Action on Muscles
What is fascinating about this cramp bark is that it acts on both smooth muscle and skeletal muscle. What is the difference?
Skeletal muscle – These muscles are controlled voluntarily and are those muscles attached to our skeleton. These muscles pull on our skins or our bones. Also known as striated muscles because they have obvious stripes. Skeletal muscle is our flesh – those muscles that make up our body.
Smooth muscle – muscle that is not under our conscious control. These muscles have no visible striations. Smooth muscle makes up the body of our hollow organs like the bladder, the small intestine, blood vessels, and stomach. Smooth muscles move very slowly, contracting and releasing in waves.
Cramp Bark Botany
Viburnum opulus is a small deciduous tree. It will grow anywhere from 8 to 12 feet tall. Native to Europe the tree is well naturalized in North America. Medicinally the bark of the plant is used. The leaves are palmate with 3 lobes and have an appearance somewhat similar to a maple leaf. The leaves are opposite and a dark green. In autumn they will turn a deep red. The flowers are in corymbs. Large flowers form the rim and smaller flowers are in the centre of the flower cluster. The larger flowers are sterile while the smaller flowers are fertile. Flowers are white.
Cramp Bark – Viburnum opulus
Cramp bark has glossy red berries. The berries are used to make ink and can be made into jam. The tree likes moist moderately alkaline soils and prefers full sun to partial shade. Butterflies love the flowers of cramp bark. To gather bark for harvest I take a look at the tree and see where it might need pruning. I thin out these branches and then strip the bark from them.
Team Approach
I may or may not have used this analogy before but if I have, I have. Imagine having a single stick in your hand. Try to snap the stick. Relatively easy yes? Imagine a bundle of sticks. Try snapping the bundle in half. Much more difficult!
I work almost exclusively in formulas. I assemble a team that acts to achieve benefit for my clients. If I did not have access to a wide selection of herbs – I would consider using cramp bark alone but I feel that it, and most herbs, work better when combined. I would use cramp bark in a formula at about 20%. The other 80% I would include other herbs that are antispasmodic, relaxant, and an herb that would act as a circulatory stimulant to ensure that all constituents can reach the tissues.
Motherwort and black cohosh would be two examples of herbs that would fit well into a formula for menstrual cramps. It is true that not every person who menstruates has a regular cycle but if you do have some idea of when your menstruation will begin any formula works best if you begin to take it before you are experiencing the cramps.