Lettuce can soothe the pain of nettle stings.
Lettuce is an effective method of pain relief
A new study has found that rubbing a lettuce leaf on the skin is an effective way of relieving the pain from a brush with the treacherous plants as the juices from the vegetable have a cooling impact.
In an experiment, nine NHS emergency doctors rubbed stinging nettles on both forearms before being blindfolded and asked to put dock leaves on one arm and lettuce leaves on the other.
After 20 minutes of treatment, the doctors were unable to tell the difference between the two leaves and the pain eased at the same rate for both.
The experts from NHS Fife have theorised that the sap from the leaves is a more important factor than the plant species itself.
They wrote in the Journal of Emergency Medicine: "If so, any large, fresh and non-toxic leaf would do the job, and dock may have become the leaf of choice simply because it grows in similar habitats to nettle.
"It is possible that the same relief would have occurred with no treatment at all, and our study design does not permit us to conclude that either dock or lettuce is better than simply doing nothing.
"We conclude that dock leaf may work for nettle stings, but lettuce may be just as good, and relief comes quickly either way."