Relief for nighttime leg cramps

by Billy the Ex-Bethelite 45 Replies latest social physical

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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  Okay, I'm closing in on 500 posts, but have almost no 'new topics' to my name. I don't feel like starting anything profoundly spiritual. So, I'll share this tip that has worked for my kinfolk.

  On both sides of my family, we frequently suffer from nighttime leg craps. I usually wake up with a screaming charley horse in my calf, then I try to stretch-walk-massage it out until the cramp subsides and I can get back in bed and go to sleep. For the next several days, the calf will be noticably swollen and painful. I've also awoken to cramps in my feet. Others in the family also get cramps in their thighs at night. We've tried all kinds of things with little or no success, until we got this tip: Put a bar of soap in your bed. Doesn't seem to matter what brand of soap or whether the bar is wrapped or loose, just leave it somewhere near your legs or feet for the night. Unbelievably, it works for all of us. No more cramps.

  Has anybody else heard of this? If you suffer from nighttime leg cramps, give it a try and let me know.

  B the X
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  brinjen

  I've never heard of that one, but yes, I do suffer from night time leg cramps and I will try it.
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  asilentone

  eating bananas will prevent nighttime leg cramps!
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  restrangled

  Billy, thats just about the craziest solution I have ever heard. I get them and just get up and stand on my legs. Doesn't make for the greatest sleep but it stops the cramps.

  I'll try your suggestion and let you know.

  r.
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  restrangled

  Asilentone....I eat 2 bananas a day...I still get leg cramps.

  r.
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  BFD

  Bananas cured my leg cramps. I'm told it's the potasium. Never tried the soap thing. Are you serious?

  BFD

  PS- I don't sleep with the banana, I eat it.
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  brinjen

  While we're on the subject, at induction training for my new job we were given a few good tips in Occ Health & Safety.

  If you're inclined to bend one knee when you stand, try standing with that leg slightly forward instead. Another good one one was to sway very slightly side to side or front to back. You're shifting the weight constantly plus the movement in your legs helps the blood flow in your calves and feet, the cause of leg and foot pain (not to mention varicroise veins).

  If you're reaching up for something, stick your butt out () slightly first, keeps the weight focused on your heels rather than shifting it all to your toes.

  For your hands, the thumb is for co-ordination, not strength. Your strongest finger is actually your pinky ( we did a few 'excercises' on this one, it's true).

  First Occ Health & Safety class where I didn't fall asleep from boredom.
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  sweetface2233

  Hmmm...I, too, have suffered from leg and foot cramps, not only in my sleep, but at any given time during the day, since I was a little girl. No matter how much water I drink, potassium I take, or stretching I do, I still succumb to thigh, calf, and foot cramps. I also remember that my brother had the same problem when he was a teen; not sure if he still does. I have never heard of this regimen. How big does the bar of soap need to be? I think I have a hotel sized bar in my makeup bag from my trip to the ocean in March. I don't think I have purchased a bar of soap since my divorce 4 1/2 years ago. Does the same effect work if I throw a bottle of body wash between the sheets?
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  Billy the Ex-Bethelite

  I believe a potassium deficiency can be a cause of cramps for many people. In which case, bananas would help those people.

  I think with our family, it is a constriction in bloodflow. Not necessarily bad, since none of us have varicose veins. My guess is that the soap somehow relaxes the bloodflow, thus eliminating the cause of leg cramps... at least for us. But that's just a guess.

  Yep, sounded like the craziest thing we'd ever heard, sounds kinky too. Me? Oh, I slept with a bar of soap last night.

  B the X
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  fjtoth

  Ann Landers has mentioned this bar of soap thing several times, and each time she does she gets zillions of letters from her readers thanking her and saying they no longer get such cramps. Another suggestion: If you already have leg cramps, just squeeze the skin between your nose and upper lip for immediate relief. Nobody seems to know why the bar of soap thing works, but Ann Landers has said it doesn't matter what brand you use or whether the bar is large or small. Frank