TUESDAY, Aug. 27, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Stretching and meditation both help reduce muscle cramp severity for individuals with cirrhosis, according to a study published online June 11 in Liver International.

Elliot B. Tapper, M.D., from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and colleagues compared the effectiveness of stretching or meditation for 35 days in 98 patients with cirrhosis and a history of more than four muscle cramps in the previous month. 

The researchers found that both intervention arms experienced a reduction in cramp severity using a visual analogue scale (stretching, median of 1.44 points; meditation, 1.97 points). Compared with baseline, these changes were significant. However, there were no significant differences between the two intervention arms. Similarly, there were no significant differences in patient global impression of change for the two groups. Both groups experienced sleep improvement, but health-related quality of life (HRQOL) did not change. More patients significantly recommended stretching than meditation (79.2 versus 55.3 percent).

“Both stretching and meditation were associated with large and equivalent reductions in cramp severity and improvements in the patients’ assessment of their health status. Participants may have preferred the stretching intervention but there was a slight improvement in HRQOL using a visual analogue scale among those who meditated,” the authors write. “These data support the consideration of two nonpharmacological interventions for patients with frequent muscle cramps.”

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