8 Tips For Fighting Restless Legs Syndrome

Restless Legs Syndrome, called Ekbom syndrome by scientists, not only affects the quality of your sleep, but also keeps any person you sleep with awake too, as you’re likely to kick around during the night.

What causes restless legs syndrome?  Different people suffering from restless legs syndrome experience different symptoms, such as cramps, a feeling of bugs crawling under your skin, pain and throbbing, among others.  The results, however, are basically always the same - during periods of rest, your legs get frantic… and your hands may sometimes even go frantic, too.

So how can you combat this imbalance in brain chemistry?  Here’s what the doctors recommend:

1. Exercise before going to bed. Exercising during the day has shown that you will be less likely to be bugged by RLS during the night.  For best results, you should do deep knee bending and other leg exercises just before going to bed.  Exercise helps by releasing endorphins, the body’s natural painkilling substances that may ease restless legs symptoms.
2. Take vitamin supplements. Studies show that iron deficiency can cause restless legs syndrome, and this is just one vitamin deficiency that is thought to cause restless legs syndrome.  To cover all bases, you can simply take a multivitamin and mineral supplement daily to protect yourself against all and any vitamin deficiencies that cause restless legs syndrome.
3. Drink Wine. Some people report relieving their symptoms simply by drinking wine.  Although there’s no scientific evidence behind this, for some people wine does the trick.  Initially, it was thought that red wine could prevent restless legs syndrome, but other wines may have the same effect.
4. Stop smoking. One theory is that smoking impairs blood flow to leg muscles.  This has worked for some people, so if you’ve been thinking about quitting smoking, now might be the right time.
5. Soak your feet. Soaking your feet in cool water just before bedtime is a good way to chill restless leg pain.  Soaking in extremely cold water may result in nerve damage, so keeping the water at least around 50°F would be a good idea.
6. Give your legs a massage. Giving your legs a brisk rub or using a mechanical massaging device brings relief for many people.  Experts say that this shuts off pain impulses caused byrestless legs syndrome.
7. Don’t eat a big meal late at night or before bed. Digesting a big meal causes activity in your nervous system which can trigger symptoms of restless legs syndrome.
8. Avoid caffeine. Some studies have shown that eliminating caffeine from your diet can bring relief.  In general, stimulants can aggravate restless legs syndrome.

If you need a serious resource for taking care of your RLS, this may help.

Technorati Tags: Cures For Insomnia, Insomnia Remedies, Restless Legs Syndrome

Tags: Cures For Insomnia, Insomnia Remedies, Restless Legs Syndrome