Leg Cramp Remedies Earn Boos and Cheers

Nothing can ruin a good night’s sleep faster than a sudden leg cramp. There you are, sleeping peacefully one minute and then the next you are awakened by excruciating pain like a bolt of lightning.
No one really knows what causes these sudden, painful muscle spasms in the calf, the thigh or the arch of the foot. Doctors recommend several minutes of stretching before retiring to prevent cramps.
If that doesn’t work, they sometimes prescribe quinine. It may work, though the evidence is weak. It can also cause stomach upset or ringing in the ears. Some people drink tonic water with quinine to get the drug without the prescription.
Physicians may also suggest calcium or magnesium supplements, and for some people these minerals work. Others attempt to boost their potassium intake with potassium-rich foods such as low-sodium V-8 juice or bananas.
People have used home remedies for this problem for centuries. We recently wrote about an unusual recommendation for muscle cramps: a spoonful of yellow mustard: “My mother has leg cramps almost every night. Because of your column on yellow mustard, I got a huge supply of individually wrapped mustard packets. She keeps them on her nightstand and in her purse. When a leg cramp starts, she takes the mustard and the cramps disappear immediately.”
Although this remedy helps some people, not everyone finds it beneficial: “The spoonful of mustard did NOT do anything to alleviate my cramp, but it kept me up the rest of the night with indigestion. My esophagus burned all night long. What a terrible remedy!”
Another reader agrees that the taste of mustard in the middle of the night is unpleasant: “I received immediate relief. I do agree that the taste of a teaspoonful of mustard unaccompanied is thoroughly vile. I didn’t suffer any repercussions except an awful taste in my mouth.”
We suspect that the mustard works for some people because of the turmeric that makes it yellow. Turmeric contains curcumin, a powerful anti-oxidant that is being studied as an anti-inflammatory compound in diseases as diverse as arthritis and Alzheimer’s disease.
One popular remedy that appears inexplicable is soap. A plain bar of bath soap, not Dove, is unwrapped and placed under the bottom sheet where the legs rest. Although this approach has been circulating for years, we don’t know why it works. But we hear from readers like this one: “After reading that a bar of soap under the bottom sheet might help severe nightly leg cramps, I decided to give it a try. I too have been plagued with terrible leg cramps several times a night for nearly a year. I have tried every remedy I have ever heard of and nothing has helped–until I tried the soap.
“It is hard to believe that a simple bar of soap could possibly help, but it did. Not a single cramp in over a week. It makes absolutely no sense to me but you can bet I will continue to use it. I was desperate for a good night’s sleep and finally got it.”
It is very unlikely that the soap remedy will cause harm, such as heartburn. So if muscle stretches and a diet rich in potassium, magnesium and calcium don’t work, unwrap the soap