Relief for Restless Legs

Resting each day is an important part of keeping your health in check. However, for some people, Restless Leg Syndrome keeps them from being able to rest after a long day. This condition primarily affects a person’s legs when they are resting. Patients experience discomfort such as tingling or burning, and often feel an intense need to move their legs when resting. These problems affect between 7-10% of Americans. Finding the cause of RLS and treating it correctly is the best way to stop your symptoms from happening. Find out all the information you need to know about Restless Leg Syndrome and how to combat it!

What Is Restless Legs?

You can call it “restless legs” or “restless legs syndrome”, but either way, it’s a pain for those who have it. Millions of people won’t know what it’s like to have restless legs, or what that even means, but many others will. Having restless legs doesn’t just mean that you haven’t gotten enough rest. It means that your legs feel like they are unable to rest. A person’s body needs so much rest that we generally spend 1/3rd of our day sleeping. However, even sleeping can be a struggle when you have half of your body bothering you.

Restless legs is a syndrome that primarily affects the legs when a patient is resting. A person could be sitting down working or enjoying a movie. They could be sleeping in the middle of the night. Or they could be standing working on something. All of the sudden, a person’s legs start to tingle and itch and the need to move becomes unbearable. This itching to move is almost impossible to ignore and becomes worse the longer a person does ignore it. The condition is considered a neurological disorder because it involves uncomfortable sensations in the nerves of the legs. This is sometimes known as “dysesthesias”. When restless legs syndrome comes on suddenly, it can make it impossible for a person to continue doing what they were doing. It’s often hard to guess when symptoms will come on as well.

Not Only Restless

Symptoms of this condition hit suddenly, much like a muscle spasm does without warning. Most patients have to continually move their legs to relieve the nerve sensations that drive them crazy. If symptoms hit in the night, a person is constantly getting up to move their legs until the sensations go away. Symptoms can last a few minutes or even an hour depending on the person. Plus, a person can feel the itching to move not only in their legs, but also in their arms and hands. Symptoms in many patients include:

• Intense tension or the feeling that you must move
• Insect-like crawling sensations
• Discomfort in the limbs such as tingling, burning, cramping or itching
• Constant walking in the night to try to get rid of the sensations
• The inability to sit, lie down, or stand still for long periods of time
• Feeling relief when swinging the limbs, walking or pacing fast around a room or flexing the muscles

Many people with this condition start to have other problems set in such as fatigue or sickness because of the lack of sleep they get. This isn’t a condition you just want to ignore, or you’ll find yourself miserable.

Your Body’s Nerves

As we mentioned, this is a nerve disorder, but different than neuropathy. Neuropathy is nerve damage or dysfunction, but one that generally results in numbness, tingling, loss or range-of-motion or more. You will definitely feel your symptoms if you have restless legs. You have your central nervous system in your body (the brain and spinal cord) and the peripheral nervous system. Peripheral nerves are all the small nerves that go through every part of your body and help you to feel. Studies estimate that there are around 100 billion nerve cells in your body. What if several billion of them suddenly started producing feelings of tingling, tension or pain in your legs? A person with restless legs has just that happen.

Many pregnant women will feel restless legs, especially the longer they are pregnant. Researchers know that people with chronic conditions such as kidney disease, neuropathy, diabetes, Parkinson’s and more have restless legs. Unfortunately, most cases are idiopathic, meaning that medical professionals can’t find an exact cause for a patient’s symptoms. However, there are treatments that can help take away your tension and tingling.

Relief for Restless Legs

When you feel symptoms come on, getting up and moving around is the quickest way to make those symptoms go away. However, who wants to be getting up every hour at night? To reduce your risk for restless legs, eat a balanced diet full of vitamins and minerals. Nutrient deficiencies (such as a lack of iron that causes anemia) can cause restless legs symptoms, and so can alcohol use. Stop bad health habits and invest in nutritional supplements if your diet is poor. At our office we have found that patients find effective relief through:

• Electrostimulation. This stimulates all of the nerves of the body, calming overactive nerves and sending nutrients to all your tissues via your blood circulation.
• Massage therapy. This relieves muscle tension caused by stress and fatigue.
• Chiropractic adjustments. Some patients have pinched nerves and neuropathy that set off restless legs. Realigning the spine can make symptoms go away.
• Customized stretches and exercises. These keep the muscles stimulated and can reduce cramping and tension in the night.
• Peripheral neuropathy treatment to treat damaged nerves.

Every patient will respond differently to different treatments, but you will find relief through one of these methods. If you have restless legs or similar problems with your nerves, don’t let the problems continue! Call Mile High Spine & Pain Center today at (512) 806-0015 and let us help you finally get the rest you want!