Soap in Bed?

No, it's not the title of a new R-rated movie.

At the risk of having my dear readers think I've gone completely bonkers, I've decided to share a little folk cure I've discovered in the past week.

Ever since I had Nicholas at the ripe age of nearly 42, my body has never been the same. My joints are sore, my muscles feel ancient, and my bones are creaky. I creep out of my chair if I've been sitting at my desk for too long, and night time is the worst. I often wake up with aching hips. Honestly, there's nothing like having a baby in your 40s to make you feel old (in more ways than one!). I wouldn't change a thing, believe me, except I could do without the aches and pains.

The Oregonian has a natural health column every Sunday, and a few weeks ago it mentioned a cure for leg cramps or pain: placing a bar of soap in the bed. I tend to be very skeptical of homeopathy and the like, so I guffawed a bit when I read it. However, I also thought: "What could it hurt?"

My brother's girlfriend had happened to give me a lovely-smelling herbal soap for my birthday, so on a whim I placed it in the bed one evening. You probably already have guessed the result: yes, it actually works!! I have been free of hip pain all week! One night Kieran walked off with my soap (which was on a bedside table), so I grabbed an old bar of Ivory that had been in our upstairs bathroom for God knows how long. It didn't work. I woke up with hip pain again.

So I've concluded that it has to be a fresh bar. I googled this remedy and found tons out on the internet (but no scientific basis for why it works), including an article on snopes.com. Someone wrote in on one of the web sites that he or she replaces the bar every couple of months. Apparently it's also supposed to help with restless legs, but Mike hasn't given up his Requip yet.

So there you have it--you can think that I'm wacko. But I'm a wacko without pain in my hips now! Hooray! Between the soap in bed, my attempts to eat wheat free, and my neti pot (see below), who knows what will be next! A chiropractor? :)

But if you are suffering from any kind of leg or hip cramps or pain in bed, what possible harm could a little soap do? Give it a try, and tell me if you have any luck!