Restless Leg Syndrome Treatment

Restless Leg Syndrome or RLS, also known as Wittmaack - Ekbom's syndrome, is a neurological disorder, which is accompanied by a throbbing, pulling and various other uncomfortable sensations, mainly in the leg and sometimes even in the torso and the arms. In this kind of a disorder, the person who is suffering from it, has a constant and irresistible urge to move his/her body in order to relieve the discomfort. Most of symptoms occur mainly during the night, when the legs are relaxed. People with this problem have difficulty in falling asleep with the pain and the discomfort, and the urge to just move the leg. Females suffer more from this problem than men and it can happen to any age group, but generally, it's the middle aged as well as the old aged people who suffer most. Well, there are several restless leg syndrome treatment that will help you solve this problem. Given below are some such treatments.

Causes and Symptoms

Before going into the details regarding the various treatment options, first let us take a look at the various causes of this syndrome. According to experts, the RLS is usually caused due to a chemical imbalance. This chemical is called dopamine and is responsible for the transmission of signal between the nerve cells present in the brain. In most of the cases the syndrome is hereditary in nature.

There are several symptoms of this problem too, but unfortunately these vary from one person to another. Discomfort in the leg (and sometimes in the arms or the torso), pain getting worse, specially during the night when the leg is rested, the pain reducing once the legs are moved, jerking of the legs while sleeping, are some of the common symptoms that most of the people suffer from. Unfortunately, RLS has no cure, but there are of course several treatments which will help in relieving the pain and also getting rid of the discomfort.

Treatment

Certain changes in your lifestyle will help you get rid of this problem and reduce the discomfort. If you prefer natural treatments, then here are some which are sure to help you:

• The first thing that you have to do is that you have to cut back on caffeine intake and also stop or reduce the use of tobacco as well as drinking alcohol.
• Do stretching exercises and also go for either jogging or walking or just pace around the room the next time you suffer from a pain like this.
• Applying heat or cold compression in the affected area will give you relief. Sleeping on your side with the pillow between your knees, also helps a lot.
• There are also several home remedies that you can try out in order to get rid of the pain and discomfort. One such remedy is to soak your feet in cool water (not cold) just before going to sleep. Helps a lot.
• These restless syndromes also indicates that there might be deficiency of iron and various other nutrients in the body. Hence, it's important that one takes in a daily dose of multivitamins that contains a high level of iron, and various other nutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin B etc, in order to make up for the deficiency.
• Keep a watch over your weight. An overweight person is more prone to this kind of a problem than a person who is fit.
• Yoga and meditation, as well as daily exercises, is of great help.

Of course, there are several drugs available in the market too, which is good for treating this kind of a problem. But it's advisable that you ask a doctor before you take in any medicine. Some of these medications might become ineffective over time, hence you might have to change them time and again. But, I repeat, do take the permission of the doctor before taking any of these medicines. These treatments are surely to help relieve the pain and get rid of the discomfort, but unfortunately, it will not be able to cure it. Just follow the above treatments and you will no longer suffer at night.