Soap-under- the-sheet therapy for nocturnal leg cramps?

astro · November 25, 2004, 1:08am

What is supposed to be the mechanism of cure here?

DR. PETER GOTT
DEAR DR. GOTT: I don’t know how the soap-under-the-sheet technique works for leg cramps, but it does. I have been diagnosed with restless legs syndrome and, since using the soap therapy, have had no symptoms. I now can sleep through the night for the first time in man y years. Thank you for the tip.

DEAR READER: Since I first published this remedy for nocturnal leg cramps, I have received dozens of letters from readers who endorsed this novel approach.

Recently, I have also received mail from patients with restless legs syndrome, a serious and uncomfortable disorder of unknown cause. These RLS patients have had success with the soap. Although it would be irresponsible of me to endorse this as a cure for RLS, the initial responses have been overwhelming. I’ll update you in a future column as I receive more feedback from readers.

To review the technique briefly for people who may have missed previous columns, here is what to do: Take a bar of soap (large or small, new or used, but no Dial or Dove) and place it under the bottom sheet of the bed in the area of the feet and legs. Go to sleep and see what happens. If you sleep, undisturbed by leg cramps or RLS for a full night, let me know. And, of course, write me if the technique is ineffective. I’m looking for honest and objective analyses.

Lobsang · November 25, 2004, 1:16am

Sorry if this is slightly off topic but I have RLS and find that a simple cure is to increase the amount of iron in your diet. Even take multivitimins which have a 100% iron RDA.

Mr.Blue_Sky · November 25, 2004, 1:18am

The gullibility of the patient?

TellMeI_mNotCrazy · November 25, 2004, 2:13am

What I want to know is how a “cure” like this even gets discovered. Did someone fall asleep with a bar of soap between their feet, and wake up the next morning and say “Eureka!”?

Askance · November 25, 2004, 2:15am

Yes, sorry about that. I should have used the soap to wash with.

Askance · November 25, 2004, 2:17am

TellMeI_mNotCrazy · November 25, 2004, 2:17am

Its-a no problem.

Bob_Scene · November 25, 2004, 2:31am

I don’t know what is supposed to be the mechanism of cure here, but it sure sounds like hiring a guy to dance around and shake rattles.

CapnPitt · November 25, 2004, 3:45am

A. People want miracle cures. See placebo effect above.

B. People are eternally confusing correlation for causation. Just because the bar of soap was there in no way means that it caused the cramps to go away.

For the record, my mother continues to believe in this particular cure even though I’ve gotten her to admit that it can’t work. And she’s a nurse of 30 some years! :rolleyes:

DrDeth · November 25, 2004, 7:40am

However, Tonic water (the real stuff with quinine in it) IS a treatment for such. Man, what an excuse for a tall gin & tonic as a nitecap!

C_K_Dexter_Haven · November 25, 2004, 2:10pm

I dunno about iron, but a doctor can prescribe various medications for restless leg syndrome (Mirapex is the one I take.) Seems more effective than soap.

DougC · November 25, 2004, 11:58pm

- - The solution may be not so much a cure as an alleviation of symptoms. If the cramps are caused by poor circulation from being in a specific position and the soap makes it uncomfortable to be in that position, then you might very well automatically change to some other position. …Similar to the tennis ball cure for snoring.
    ~

TellMeI_mNotCrazy · November 26, 2004, 12:20am

I might accept this if it weren’t for the fact that he excluded specific soaps - Dove and Dial - and doesn’t seem to give any real strict guidelines as to where to put the soap - just that it should go in the area of feet and legs.

vivalostwages · November 26, 2004, 2:02am

I drink straight tonic water every night. No leg cramps anymore.

Some calcium and magnesium wouldn’t hurt either.

But I wouldn’t put any faith in a bar of soap.

Cheez_Whia · February 20, 2005, 6:21pm

Just a BTW-my husband’s doctor prescribed quinine for his leg cramps. Works great!

vivalostwages · February 20, 2005, 8:54pm

It may be too soon to say if there is a connection here, but my mom and I have been following the Perricone program as best we can for a couple of months, and she has seen a decrease in the frequency and intensity of leg cramps. It could just be that we’re eating more dairy and thus getting more calcium. We also got rid of coffee, flour, most starches, processed foods, fast foods…Supposedly some of these things are inflammatory.

Just a possibility.

williamweigand · February 21, 2005, 7:32pm

In a more recent column, one of this doctor’s readers reported success with one of the previously excluded soaps. Interpret that any way you like.

PandaBear77 · May 7, 2012, 4:45am

Reviving an old thread …
It works. For me, anyway. I have restless leg syndrome. At the foot of my bed under my fitted sheet is a bar of Irish Spring. My legs haven’t given me any trouble since I stuck it there.

My mom used the same thing for her (severe) leg cramps that would wake her up at night.

I figure it’s most likely the placebo effect. Thing is – I don’t care. It’s a hell of a lot cheaper than a prescription, safe to try and if it works … kinda hard to argue with the outcome.

TreacherousCretin · May 7, 2012, 5:53pm

This. My wife and I both suffer from RLS. The soap trick has worked for her, never has for me. We both suspect it’s a placebo, and a placebo that works is good enough for her.

dracoi · May 7, 2012, 7:10pm

While quinine does help RLS and leg cramps, the dosage in tonic water is laughably small. My wife and I did the math at a point when she couldn’t get pills (the pharmacies were literally out because of short supply). She would have had to drink several gallons of tonic water a day to get the same dose as her pills.

So… I’d say a gin and tonic is about as much a placebo as the bar of soap. Unless of course you believe in homeopathy, in which case the dilution of quinine in tonic water should make it millions of times stronger than the pills.