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Which Soap Cuts Cramps Best?

Q. I have used a bar of soap under the bed sheets for the last nine months or so to get rid of leg cramps. I change the bar every 3 months.

Recently I used a bar of Dove soap instead of the Dial I had been using. My husband and I both experienced leg cramps again.

Is there a reason why Dove soap doesn’t work although Dial does?

A. We don’t know why soap under the bottom sheet helps some people avoid leg cramps. One hypothesis suggests that the fragrance is key.

Popular folklore claims that Dial beats out Dove when it comes to preventing leg cramps. Perhaps that’s because Dove is not real soap, but rather a synthetic detergent bar.

Karl offered this testimonial: “For forty years my wife would wake up with foot cramps at night. I would end up massaging her foot until the cramps subsided. Out of pure desperation, she tried the soap theory.

“I would tease her, calling it her silly soap, but silly or not it works. She hasn’t had foot or leg cramps since she started sleeping with it. Sometimes however, I have to push that soap bar, lying under the bottom sheet, back over to her side of the bed. It definitely has a severe case of wanderlust. She has not had a cramp in many years now, therefore I’ve not been awakened in the middle of the night from cramping events. Both of us are pleasantly amazed.”

Some people find our flat Bed Soap bars are more comfortable under the bottom sheet.

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About the Author
Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist who has dedicated his career to making drug information understandable to consumers. His best-selling book, The People’s Pharmacy, was published in 1976 and led to a syndicated newspaper column, syndicated public radio show and web site. In 2006, Long Island University awarded him an honorary doctorate as “one of the country's leading drug experts for the consumer.”.
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