Print this page
Email a friendNo Science Behind Soap Remedy
Newspaper Columns, Editorial February 19, 2007
Sometimes a remedy defies logic. Usually there’s no science to support it either. That’s certainly the case when it comes to putting a bar of soap under the bottom sheet to stop leg cramps or restless legs.
One reader (who happens to have doctorates in biomedical engineering and physics) took us to task for suggesting this remedy. He asked, “What is the mechanism of action for a bar of soap under your sheets for relieving any type of pain? Answering that this is anything but an old wives’ tale discredits everything you have done in the name of science.
“As a fellow scientist and university faculty member, I feel it is your responsibility to educate your readers using accepted scientific principles. When you do not, you are performing a disservice to the rest of us.
“What's next? ‘We have heard from many readers that it helps to have a leprechaun in your pocket when looking for gold at the end of the rainbow, and we cant see how it would hurt.’”
We can’t pretend that soap under the sheet is anything more than a folk remedy. We can’t explain how it would work, and we don’t know for sure that it does. Nonetheless, we have been impressed with readers reporting success.
One wrote: “I've been a long-time sufferer of sciatica. Recently, I was diagnosed with degenerative joint disease resulting in tarsal tunnel syndrome in my left foot. The pain was nearly unbearable. After your column on the soap mystery, I could not believe it but I thought I have little to lose.
“I keep the bar of soap underneath my sheets all the time. It's been over a month, and I've been noticing much less pain and more energy. I shared the article with a co-worker who also is benefiting. Her sister, a nurse, is puzzled by this.”
Their training may predispose nurses to be cautious: “Being a nurse, I was VERY skeptical about the soap remedy. Statin medicines give me leg cramps. I decided the bar of soap could do no harm. It worked the very first night and has continued to work for the past three months. I can't figure out how it can possibly help, but it does.”
Another reader found a bar of soap more helpful than prescription pain relievers: “I had an unsuccessful replacement of my right knee 18 months ago and my left thigh suffers from meralgia paresthetica (thigh nerve pain).
“The bar of soap works wonders. The pain in both legs almost disappears when I go to bed. I tried to do without soap one night and after about 30 minutes of tossing and turning I put the bar back under the sheet to relieve the pain.
“I have to replace the soap about every two months to stay pain free. I said good-bye to Celebrex and Mobic, which were not easing the pain.”
Leg cramps can be extremely painful and there are no drugs approved to treat them. We only wish there were some studies to help us understand the soap phenomenon.
Anyone who is fascinated by such oddball remedies may be interested in our new book, Best Choices From The People’s Pharmacy (Rodale Books).
Our rule of thumb with such remedies is, if they won’t hurt and might help and are inexpensive, why not give them a try? We can’t explain the soap remedy, but doctors can’t explain how many prescription drugs work, either.
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.com.
© 2007 King Features Syndicate, Inc.
Reader Comments
I would just like to say that I am a believer in the soap under the sheet controversy. I have had restless legs for a long time, especially in bed at night. When I tried the soap I have not had any problem. I have been using it for a few months. I told my daughters to try it. Can't do without it.
Posted by: Florence Mills | May 30, 2007 3:28 PM
Just want to add my own experience about soap under the sheet. I am 40 something and have had leg cramps for years nothing has worked until 2 nites ago I tried the bar of soap. the nite before I tried it I was up 12 times with severe leg cramps from top of my legs to my foot and in agony. I put the soap under the sheet the following nite and have slept thru the nite for the past 2 nites NO CRAMPS. Don't know why or how and don't really care as long as it works.
Posted by: joann | June 18, 2007 11:27 AM
I have been living with ever worsening pain in my legs. I get such severe cramps at night, that I get anxious just thinking about going to bed. I know the chances are good that I will wake up screaming.
It got worse about 9 months ago when I began waking up with my left leg achy, stiff and feeling extremely swollen, although it wasn't swollen at all. The discomfort persisted all day long, not just night time and it severely affected my mobility.
I got advice of all kinds -- take more calcium, magnesium and potasium. Take quinine. Exercise before bedtime, don't exercise before bedtime. My doctor wanted to do MRI for pinched nerves and to put me on Lyrica. Nothing worked and the MRI showed nothing!
Then last week, my sister-in-law told me about the soap under the sheets. At any other time I would have told her to cut back on the sauce! But I was in such discomfort and so depressed about how it was limiting my activities that I decided to try it. What did I have to lose.
Well after the first night, the pain went away and the swollen feeling and stiffness decreased dramatically. No Cramps! After one week I'm able to sleep comfortably, walk normally and the pain is hardly present. My husband feels it's all a placebo effect but I know differently.
As to the so-called scientific community, here's my challenge. Instead of scoffing at how unscientific this treatment is, these PhDs should be lining up 6 deep to research it -- what makes so many Non-PhDs tout the unscientific phenomena.
A while back, penicillin was just a mold used widely by "folk doctors". It wasn't until scientists took it seriously enough to test it and find out what made it such a good "folk medicine" that penicillin, and consequently the other -cillins, became widely available. Today's science fiction often becomes tomorrows scientific "discovery". Science is not limited to the known; it's not static. On the contrary, a large part of science is that questioning curiosity about why something appears to be working when it shouldn't -- the inquisitiveness that makes a doctor a good scientist. Think outside the box, Mr. Doctor of Biomedical Engineering and Physics -- prove us all wrong! I dare you!
Posted by: Ana | August 9, 2007 2:38 PM
I have legs cramps so bad I can hardly stand them. One of my customers told me about the soap remedy. Last night , while on the computer, my legs started cramping so bad, that I just could not continue to sit there. Remembering her telling me this , I went and got a new bar of Safeguard from the bathroom cabinet and just held it to the back of the calf of my leg. Within a minute the cramps stopped. I was amazed. Applied it to the other leg and same results. Also, my arm was in a sling due to having messed it up in a fall. So what's to lose...I put the bar of soap inside the sling against the painful area and my arm also stopped hurting. No science needed to make me a believer!
Posted by: Laura | August 12, 2007 5:44 PM