Leg cramps are spontaneous, strong muscle contractions. It often comes on suddenly at night,
The pain is so intense that it usually wakes you up and affects your sleep. Many elderly people who have cramps at night often suspect calcium deficiency and take calcium tablets for treatment, but feel that the symptoms do not improve after taking them. The causes of cramps in the elderly may include cold stimulation of calf muscle contraction, fatigue or poor local circulation after excessive sweating and metabolite buildup stimulating muscle spasm, in addition to calcium deficiency. If frequent leg cramps occur frequently, they may be related to vascular disease, especially arterial stenosis or occlusion of the lower extremities caused by atherosclerosis. When sclerotic stenosis or occlusion occurs in the arteries, the blood circulation in the legs is poor and the blood supply is reduced. Poor blood flow metabolites cannot be removed in time, and when local metabolites accumulate to a certain concentration, they will stimulate muscle contraction and cause painful cramps. In addition, when the blood supply is reduced, local tissues become ischemic and hypoxic, and metabolism becomes disturbed, resulting in painful cramps. Lower extremity arteriosclerosis occlusion For lower extremity arteriosclerosis occlusion, if neglected and not timely treated, the patient’s condition will worsen, intermittent claudication or resting pain will appear, skin color will become pale, purple-red, or cyanotic due to ischemia, skin temperature will decrease, skin injury will break easily, ischemic necrosis will form ulcers that are difficult to heal, and serious cases will lead to amputation. Therefore, when the elderly have frequent spasms of the lower limbs for a long time, it is recommended to go to the hospital and ask the doctor to check whether there is dorsalis pedis artery pulsation in the lower limbs. Depending on the situation, an ultrasound examination of the lower extremities should be done to observe the blood flow in the arteries of the lower extremities. If the arterial stenosis of the lower extremity is obvious, CT angiography of the lower extremity or arteriography of the lower extremity may be required. Treatment measures for lower extremity atherosclerosis and occlusion include controlling blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids, strictly quitting smoking, and walking daily to move the lower extremities to promote the formation of collateral circulation. Commonly used drugs include antiplatelet agents, such as aspirin and clopidogrel, etc.; drugs for vasodilation and promoting the formation of collateral circulation, such as cilostazol, Ambulac and prostaglandins. Interventional placement of endovascular stents or artificial vascular bypass is performed according to the angiographic situation.