Natural Remedies for Pain/Tendinitis?

With my recent foot issues, I have taken to looking at natural remedies - which I've always been interested in anyways.  The first one I tried was DMSO, which I will admit, definitely helped with my initial foot pain.  I could barely walk without pain at first, but after a few applications of DMSO, I was able to at least walk mostly pain free.  Unfortunately, it is rough on the skin, so I have cut way back on that.  Plus, I would think after the initial anti-inflammatory response, it wouldn't do much.

The next thing I have tried, that I read about on the Pose running site from Dr. Romonav (founder of the method) was that using Apple Cider Vinegar was useful, so I've been doing that for a couple of days, and it definitely seems to be helping.  I've also been putting my foot in a little tub with magnesium and apple cider vinegar.  It smells bad, but I can tell you that the pain subsides with it.  I've also been taking magnesium supplements (in the form of Epsom salts).  From my research, I've found that a lot of anti-seizure meds cause depletions of a lot of key nutrients in the body, including magnesium... I've also read that exercise/running depletes magnesium in the body (the more running you do, the more magnesium you need).  Based on MORE research I've done, I've found that chronically tight muscles might be related to magnesium-deficiencies.  This does make sense to me, and I've heard it before.  Sooo, in addition to taking magnesium internally, I came up with an idea.  My calves are tight, and it's caused several issues in the past.  Part of my injury is supposedly caused by tight calves, so I've been stretching/massaging the calves, and immediately after, the foot doesn't hurt, but inevitably, the pain returns shortly, so I can see this as being a huge cause of my pain.  SOOO, what I did was concoct my own little "muscle relaxer" for my calves.  I put magnesium with a little warm water, coconut oil so it spreads easily and a TINY bit of DMSO to let it penetrate to the muscle more easily (but not enough to cause irritation).... AAAnnnnddd, what do ya know.  It hurt significantly  less after I applied it to my calves.  Oh, and I've also been using heat instead of cold, which also relaxes things and helps everything feel better.

So, I don't know, maybe it was a placebo effect,but I'm not so sure it was, as I do know that magnesium is really important to preventing muscle cramps/spasms. I have a little roll-on thing that is supposed to help cramps, and it does help relax my muscles (it's mostly magnesium), but it's really expensive, and my little concoction is almost the same thing, but WAAAYYY cheaper.

So, does anyone else use natural remedies for pain?  What do you think - do they actually help, or is it just a placebo effect?  I will try to keep everyone posted on my foot progress :)  Obviously, rest has played its role in letting the initial inflammation subside, but the past few days, the pain has stayed at about the same level, so I decided I need to be proactive in trying to make this stupid foot pain disappear.  I take enough medications, and I actually have prescription muscle relaxers, but I don't want to take more than necessary (and my doctors know I take a magnesium supplement - I'm just adding some extra to it), especially since the body becomes dependent on that stuff if you use it too frequently.

Alas, I will keep this one (relatively) short.  Hope everyone has a fabulous Wednesday :)

Love,
Nina