A bar of soap under the bed sheets to stop leg cramps.
I had been bothered with severe leg and feet cramps disrupting my sleep throughout the night. I was ready to try anything -- so as silly as it sounded -- when I read about the bar of soap I tried it.
It worked great -- no cramps for a long time, then out of nowhere they came back, and I thought... OK, I knew that was too good to be true. But upon further investigation, I discovered that my bar of soap had fallen out from under the sheets and was on the floor. I immediately replaced it back under the sheets and have not been bothered with another cramp since.
I am very careful to make sure it stays there, especially after changing the sheets. I can find no explanation for the wonderful results the soap bar gives.
But, to be candidly frank, I have no idea about why the "soap under the bottom sheet" therapy may, in a high percentage of cases, be successful in preventing nocturnal leg cramps.
I have had several theories advanced, however. My favorite is that leg cramps are relieved by moving the legs and walking, so soap under the sheet leads to exercise because the soap is slippery and people have to move their legs at night to overcome this. I don't buy this conclusion but am keeping my skeptical eyes open for the answer.
