Leg Cramps

Leg cramps are a common problem. In patients living at home, half (50%) of the people reported they had leg cramps (365 patients, 65 years of age and over, mean 78.5 years).  Leg cramps were more common for women (56%) than men (40%). Leg cramps were strongly associated with peripheral vascular disease and arthritis (Abdulla, Jones, & Pearce, 1999).

     Although people reported that leg cramps occurred anytime of over the 24 hour day, cramps were most prevalent at night (62%). About 20% of people reported that they had suffered from leg cramps for over 10 years.  Leg cramps may be associated with a wide range of underlying conditions, many of which are treatable (Monder, Wu, Thorpy, 2010). Surprisingly, only (40%) of leg cramps sufferers told their doctor; and of these, just over half received treatment (53%).  In this study, most people who received treatment said that treatment prescribed by their doctor was effective.

     Talk to your doctor or nurse practitioner about your leg cramps -- immediately if there is redness, bruising, or swelling.

If there is no obvious cause, your doctor or nurse practitioner may recommend:

• walking, stretching, and massage -- Calf stretching performed daily may prevent nighttime cramps from occurring--One uncontrolled study suggested that regularly stretching calves of legs done  three times per day was highly effective in curing nighttime cramps. However, amore recent controlled study showed that calf stretching was not an effective method.  So, if you try it and it doesn’t work, all you lost was your time.
• raising the head of the bed or raising your feet on pillows is sometimes recommended  although neither of these methods has been evaluated formally.

Your doctor or nurse practitioner may also recommend pharmacologic treatments.  There are many that have been studied for night-time leg cramps:  quinine, magnesium, calcium channel blockers, sympathetic inhibitors, vitamin E, vitamin B complex, and antiepileptic medications (Monder, Wu, Thorpy, 2010).
  
You need to discuss any medication use — including vitamins, herbal remedies, and over-the-counter medications with your doctor or nurse practitioner.

Link to most recent article on leg cramps:

• Monderer, R.S., Wu, W.P., Thorpy, M.J. (2010).  Nocturnal Leg Cramps. Current Neurology and Neuroscience Reports ,  10 (1), 53-9.
• Additional reference: Abdulla, A.J., Jones, P.W., & Pearce, V.R.  (1999). Leg cramps in the elderly: prevalence, drug and disease associations. International Journal of Clinical Practice, 53 (7), 494-6.