Exercise and Dry Needling Treatment Combination in Nocturnal Calf Cramps

Kars State Hospital50 enrolled

Overview

The Investigators aim to evaluate the effectiveness of dry needling treatment in addition to stretching exercises on cramp duration, cramp intensity, cramp frequency, sleep quality, and sensitivity of myofascial trigger points in patients with nocturnal calf cramp.

Nocturnal leg cramps are sudden, involuntary, painful contractions of the lower extremity in the nighttime, most often in the calf muscles, that gradually lessens. Its etiology is not clear. It can be seen in electrolyte disturbances, drug side effects, neuromuscular diseases, diabetes mellitus, peripheral vascular pathologies. It has been mentioned in the literature that myofascial trigger points in the gastrocnemius muscle may be associated with nocturnal calf cramps. Our aim in this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the combination of stretching exercises and dry needling therapy on cramp duration, cramp intensity, cramp frequency, sleep quality, and algometer measurement in patients with nocturnal calf cramps and whose had myofascial trigger point in the gastrocnemius muscle.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Enrollment

Conditions

Nocturnal Leg Cramps Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Interventions

Stretching exerciseOTHER

Stretching exercise: Stretching exercises were planned for 30 seconds, ten repetitions for each stretching, 10 minutes in total, four days a week, for two weeks.

Dry needlingOTHER

Dry needling: A total of 3 sessions of dry needling, once a week, were applied to the gastrocnemius muscle.

Eligibility

Min age: 18 YearsMax age: 50 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * Patients with only nocturnal calf cramp * Patients with a trigger point in the unilateral gastrocnemius muscle * Being between the ages of 18-50 Exclusion Criteria: * Patients using diuretics or hypertension medications that may trigger cramping * Those with a chronic disease history * Those diagnosed with spinal stenosis * Electrolyte disturbance in laboratory tests

Locations (1)

Kars State Hospital

Kars, Turkey (Türkiye)

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

Change in calf cramp duration

How many seconds the patient feels cramp is questioned. Higher values represent a worse outcome

Time frame: 3 months

Change in Number of Cramps

How many times a day the patient feels cramp is recorded. Higher values represent a worse outcome

Time frame: 3 months

Change in cramp intensity levels with visual analog scale

How intense the cramp felt by the patient was recorded with a visual analog scale. The score is between 0 to 10, and higher values represent a worse outcome.

Time frame: 3 months

Change in algometric sensitivity measurement

Myofascial trigger point sensitivity in the gastrocnemius muscle was measured with an algometer. Higher scores represent a worse outcome.

Time frame: 3 months

Change in sleep quality

The sleep quality of the patients was evaluated with the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality index. The global PSQI score is then calculated by totaling the seven component scores, providing an overall score ranging from 0 to 21, where lower scores denote a healthier sleep quality.

Time frame: 3 months

Data from ClinicalTrials.gov

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