Tips To Manage Restless Leg Syndrome

Introduction

Restless leg syndrome commonly referred to as RLS is a disorder of the neurological system. It is also known as Willis-Ekbom disease and many Americans are diagnosed with it every year.

Restless leg syndrome can be painless or very painful depending on the severity of the condition. A patient suffering from Restless leg syndrome usually has pain in the legs or feels pins and needles. This occurs while they are resting on their bed or sitting in chairs.

More women are afflicted with RLS than men and this disease can keep the patient awake in the night because the legs are restless.

Doctors usually prescribe dopaminergic drugs like Mirapex Generic to treat this condition. The severity of the disease can vary from patient to patient. The following tips will help you manage RLS:

Lifestyle Changes

Generally, if you make lifestyle changes you will see positive effects. Nobody knows the reasons for restless leg syndrome but doctors feel that if you make lifestyle changes the symptoms can be managed better.

When you make a lifestyle change the first change is in your diet, stop eating foods that make you fat and lethargic, eat healthy food and include lots of good protein in your diet. Drink moderate amounts of alcohol and caffeine.

In fact, you can avoid these altogether if possible. Some foods make you stay awake during the night; you should completely avoid such foods. If you are a smoker, stop smoking, it will not only help you get rid of your restless leg syndrome symptoms, it will be beneficial for your overall health.

Manage Pain

Restless leg syndrome can be very painful. You can manage the pain by using hot compresses on the leg followed by cold compresses, the alternating of hot and cold is known to be effective and doctors advice it.

You can also manage the pain by taking a hot bath before sleep. A study found that leg massage had a good effect on people with restless leg syndrome. The symptoms reduced considerably when leg massage was done twice a week, but when the leg massage was stopped the pain returned after a few weeks.

Exercise

Another way to manage restless leg syndrome is to prevent it with exercise. The Restless legs syndrome foundation states that people who exercise regularly have lesser symptoms when compared to people who do not exercise.

The exercise can be moderate exercise such as walking or jogging, it does not need to be strenuous exercises. Any exercise for your legs is good exercise as you will not feel restless at night and the chances of a good night’s sleep increases.

Alternate forms of exercises like yoga are also very beneficial and people with restless leg syndrome are often advised to try them. In fact, a study found that yoga was really beneficial because people with the condition were able to sleep well and manage their stress and moods better. Even meditation helps a lot because it reduces stress and promotes sleep.

Doing aerobic exercises is good. You can also try pilates or Zumba. You need not go to any studio or gym to do these exercises; you can check videos on YouTube and do these exercises. For best results you need to do these exercises regularly.

Sleep

The main problem a person faces with restless legs syndrome is lack of sleep. When your leg hurts or when your leg wants to exercise in your sleep, naturally you are going to get up and this will harm your sleep.

The ideal way is to promote sleep by going to bed on time. Our body clock likes regularity and if you start to sleep for example at 10 pm every night, your body will get accustomed to it and you will get a good night’s sleep. But if you keep changing your sleep timings your body will not be accustomed and you may have trouble sleeping.

Another way to improve sleep is to get a good comfy mattress. The mattress you sleep in can cause loss of sleep. So get the best sleep improving mattress. Sometimes a mattress that is not very comfy can induce better sleep than the best mattress, so you need to do some research on this.

Aromatherapy is another option to induce sleep. There are many fragrances that can make a person sleep and sleep well. You need to visit an aromatherapy shop and enquire about it. Not all aromas will make you sleep, you need to test a few and select the one that is best for you.

Do not think about sleep, it will come naturally. One or two nights you might not be able to sleep but if you follow the above mentioned tips you will start to sleep on time and your restless legs syndrome symptoms will also reduce.

Conclusion

Although RLS doesn’t typically lead to other serious conditions, symptoms can be annoying at best to incapacitating at worst.

Severe RLS can result in depression and many people with RLS find it very difficult to fall or stay asleep, which may lead to excessive daytime drowsiness and an overall lack of daily energy.

If you think you may have RLS, don’t hesitate to consult with your doctor. Your doctor will usually conduct a basic physical and a neurological exam, and perform some routine blood tests to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms. If your doctor determines you have RLS they may then prescribe you a dopaminergic drug, etc.

At the end of the day, if you don’t get your RLS in check, it may continue to impact your overall quality of life. Being depressed and having no drive or energy can be a huge burden on work and family life. For this reason, don’t be afraid to seek help from a specialist.

About Theresa Duncan

Originally from Detroit, MI, Theresa has been offering health and fitness advice for the last 30 years while working as an engineer. She decided to turn her passion into a profession, and finds nothing more satisfying than helping others reach their health and fitness goals.