Exercise and Dry Needling Treatment Combination in Nocturnal Calf Cramps

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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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.

Detailed Description
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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.

Official Title
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The Effectiveness of Exercise and Dry Needling Treatment Combination in Patients With Nocturnal Calf Cramps

Conditions
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Nocturnal Leg Cramps, Myofascial Pain Syndrome

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Stretching exercise
* Other: Dry needling


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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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

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 50 Years


Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Prospective randomised controlled
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Exercise Group<br>It describes the exercise protocol that the patients will do. | Other: Stretching exercise<br>* 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.<br>|
| Experimental: Exercise plus Dry Needling Group<br>It describes the exercise protocol to be performed by the patients and the methodology of dry needling to be applied. | Other: Stretching exercise<br>* 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.<br>Other: Dry needling<br>* Dry needling: A total of 3 sessions of dry needling, once a week, were applied to the gastrocnemius muscle.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in calf cramp duration | How many seconds the patient feels cramp is questioned. Higher values represent a worse outcome | 3 months | 
| Change in Number of Cramps | How many times a day the patient feels cramp is recorded. Higher values represent a worse outcome | 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. | 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. | 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. | 3 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Dry needling, Calf cramp, Myofascial trigger point