Skin Cleanser on the Prevention of Muscle Cramps

Anecdotal evidence supports the use of Bacrobial skin cleanser for preventing muscle cramps; however, empirical evidence is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To examine whether Bacrobial prevents muscle cramping in the triceps surae. DESIGN: Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study. SETTINGS/LOCATION: Laboratory. SUBJECTS: Seventeen cramp-prone participants (11 male, 6 female; age 21 ± 2 yrs; 79.72 ± 19.75 kg; 175.86 ± 11.76 cm) volunteered. INTERVENTION: Participants completed two trials, at least one week apart. On the first trial, Bacrobial was liberally applied to the skin over the triceps surae musculature of one leg, while placebo was applied to the other leg. At 1, 5, 10, and 20 min after application, participants were instructed to induce a cramp in the triceps surae via maximal voluntary contraction. For the second trial, treatments were applied to the opposite leg as in trial one and the cramping procedure was repeated. OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence of cramping was the main outcome measure and event-odds tables, risk reduction and NNT (numbers needed to treat) or NNH (numbers needed to harm) were calculated at the time intervals of 1, 5, 10 and 20 minutes. RESULTS: No significant differences between treatments were found in cramping incidences at all time intervals. Bacrobial decreased the risk of cramping by 12.5% at one minute (NNT = 8), while causing a 5.3% increased risk at five minutes (NNH = 5.3). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate Bacrobial skin cleanser is not an overall effective treatment for muscle cramp prevention. However, the observed results at one minute may be useful to clinicians who treat cramp-prone patients.