The quality of evidence is downgraded by study limitations (lack of blinding), and by imprecise results (few patients and wide confidence intervals).
A Cochrane review [Abstract] 1 included 3 studies with a total of 201 subjects. All participants were of age 50 years or over and none had neurological disease. All studies evaluated a form of stretching for lower limb muscle cramps.
A combination of daily calf and hamstring stretching for 6 weeks reduced the severity of night-time lower limb muscle cramps (measured on a 10 cm visual analogue scale, VAS) compared to no intervention (MD -1.30, 95% CI -1.74 to -0.86; 1 study, n=80) in subjects over 55 years old. Calf stretching alone for 12 weeks in subjects 60 years and older made little to no difference to the frequency of night-time lower limb muscle cramps compared to sham stretching (1 study, n=97).The effects of combination of daily calf, quadriceps, and hamstring stretching compared to no intervention on frequency and severity of leg cramps in 50- to 60-year old women with metabolic syndrome remained uncertain (1 study, n=24). No study reported health-related quality of life, quality of sleep, or participation in activities of daily living. No participant in these 3 studies reported adverse events.
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