Restless Leg Syndrome

 Many people suffer from a particular disorder that makes your legs move around or feel like moving around for absolutely no reason. Your body may feel exhausted, but once you get into bed you cannot stop kicking your legs around and feel as though your legs need to keep moving. This restless feeling in the legs is symptomatic of a disorder known as Wittmaack-Ekbom syndrome, otherwise known as restless leg syndrome. This syndrome is technically a neurological disorder, and is relatively common. This article explores the symptoms, causes, and remedies of this uncomfortable and irritating condition.

If you've experienced the feeling of restless legs before do not panic, it is extremely common to experience the symptoms of restless leg syndrome, most of the time it is only temporary. When the symptoms develop into a chronic disorder then the individual can be said to truly have restless leg syndrome, or RLS.

The causes of RLS are not known exactly, though there are many suspects. Iron deficiency has been identified as one of the most common causes of the disorder; those suffering from anemia may therefore also suffer from restless legs. Being pregnant is also a common cause, many pregnant women in their third trimester complain of the symptoms. Drugs can also cause the problem, particularly excessive use of tobacco, alcohol, caffeine, and antidepressants. The symptoms are fairly consistent, involving feelings of itching, burning, aching, pain and numbness, accompanied by a persistent urge to move one's legs around.

Although the syndrome isn't understood extremely well, there are some treatments available. Some medications are known to help; extreme cases of the syndrome are often treated with medication otherwise used for Parkinson's disease. Muscle relaxants and narcotics like opioids are also often prescribed, although symptoms should be rather severe to resort to such powerful medication.

For those with somewhat less severe symptoms, or those who do not want to take such powerful medicines, there are a variety of home remedies available. One particularly soothing remedy is to soak one's legs in a hot bath, this relaxes the muscles. You can also treat your legs by applying cold packs and warm packs every so often.

Learning some breathing exercises can also go a long way, anything you can do to increase the proper flow of blood in the legs will help reduce the symptoms, especially stretching. One last thing to consider is to cut down on your caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco consumption; these harmful stimulants exasperate the problem and should be avoided.