Non-drug therapy for secondary prevention of muscle cramps in the lower limbs
Six weeks of daily calf and hamstring stretching combined may reduce the severity of nocturnal lower extremity muscle cramps in people over age 55, but the effect on cramp frequency is unknown. Calf stretching alone, compared to 12 weeks of sham stretching, may make little or no difference in the frequency of nocturnal lower extremity muscle cramps in people over 60. Evidence for the effect of a combination of daily calf, quadriceps, and hamstring stretching on the frequency and severity of leg cramps in 50- to 60-year-old women with metabolic syndrome is very uncertain. Overall, the use of unvalidated outcome measures and inconsistent diagnostic criteria makes it difficult to compare studies and apply findings to clinical practice.
Given the prevalence and impact of lower extremity muscle cramps, there is an urgent need to carefully evaluate many of the non-pharmacologic therapies that are commonly recommended and emerging in well-designed RCTs across all types of lower extremity muscle cramps. Specific cramp outcome tools need to be developed and validated for use in future studies.
Hawke F, Sadler SG, Katzberg HD, Pourkazemi F, Chuter V, BurnsJ. Non-pharmacological therapies for the secondary prevention of muscle cramps of the lower extremities. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2021, No. 5. Art. No.: CD008496. doi: 10.1002 /14651858.CD008496.pub3. Accessed May 18, 2021.
Description.
Some people experience muscle spasms at night, generally due to problems during sleep, exercise, pregnancy, or hemodialysis. There are many ways to deal with these, but most of the methods are often the result of improperly designed clinical tests and have low quality scientific evidence. One of the suggested methods is daily stretching. This study investigated whether stretching the calves and hamstrings can reduce the cramps and make them less frequent.
The studies were.
reviewed 201 participants from three studies and was an investigation into the effectiveness of stretching in reducing lower limb cramps in people over the age of 50.
Results showed that a combination of daily calf and hamstring stretches may "reduce the severity" of nocturnal lower extremity muscle cramps in people over 55, but may make little difference in terms of frequency. The effect on people with metabolic syndrome is unknown, and there were no side effects reported in these trials.Also, no effects on sleep quality or quality of life have been reported from this intervention, and since the study was conducted on healthy individuals, the effects on people with neurological conditions are unknown.
Briefly, daily calf and hamstring stretching may reduce the severity of muscle spasms in the lower extremities, but no differences in frequency or other factors have been identified.
