Q. I must share a remedy I have used for years for nighttime leg cramps. There is no prescription, no side effects, and it is simple and readily available.
Just pinch the bridge of the nose (pretty hard) for 5 to 10 seconds. You can feel the cramp dissolve. It has never failed me and I love telling others about it and seeing their pain relieved. I hope you won’t discount this treatment as “silly.” Leg and foot cramps can be seriously painful, and this technique really works.
A. This is a variant on another technique readers have shared. Here is one account: “For about 15 years, I suffered agonizing leg cramps, usually at night. I couldn’t sleep and would almost panic at the thought of having one.
“Taking quinine helped, but it caused ringing in my ears. One day I read an article about Frank Broyles. When he was coaching at Arkansas, he told players with leg cramps to pinch the upper lip right beneath the nose and hold it until the cramps eased. I thought this sounded odd, but I tried it.
“When the cramps started, I pinched my upper lip and the cramps gradually went away. I don’t how or why it works, I just know it did for me.”
