Holistic Treatment for Restless Legs Syndrome

Restless legs syndrome is usually treated with lifestyle changes as well as medication. RLS causes people to experience unusual sensations in the legs while resting. These sensations can come in the form of:

• Creepy-crawling feeling
• Burning
• Throbbing 
• Pulling

These unpleasant feelings will force you to move and rub your legs to relieve the symptoms. It is also important to note that the symptoms of restless legs syndrome tend to be worse at night. If left untreated, restless legs syndrome can diminish a person's quality of life through sleep deprivation. This can ultimately affect your ability to concentrate, perform in different activities, as well as impair your learning capability.

Restless legs syndrome can also make you develop mood swings, anxiety, depression, and other health problems. RLS has no cure. However, you can make certain lifestyle changes and take medications to help you improve the quality of your life. RLS treatments are aimed at preventing or alleviating the symptoms. They will also improve your sleep, correct the underlying conditions, and help you live up with this condition.

Restless Legs Syndrome: Lifestyle Changes and Home Remedies

If you have been diagnosed with mild restless legs syndrome, you can make certain lifestyle changes to alleviate the symptoms. The restless legs syndrome symptoms can also be prevented through:

• Limiting your intake of caffeinated drinks and foods.
• Not using tobacco or other nicotine products since they can trigger the occurrence of RLS.
• Ensuring that you take enough iron into your diet. You can also get iron from dietary supplements.
• Reviewing your medicines with your personal doctor to evaluate if they can be changed in case they trigger RLS.
• Doing regular exercises to flex your muscles.
• Engaging yourself in activities like talking to your friends, needlework, and video games if you intend to be seated for a long time.

You can also embrace the following activities to help alleviate restless legs syndrome:

• Take a hot/cold bath
• Use heat/ice packs
• Walk or stretch regularly
• Massage your legs
• Do mentally challenging tasks like solving a puzzle

In addition, you should adopt proper sleep habits to help you solve sleep related issues. You should make sure that your sleeping environment is cool, calm, quiet, and dark. Engage yourself in mentally challenging and distracting activities like crossword puzzles before you go to bed. Remove devices like TVs, computers, and even phones from your sleeping area to ensure that you’re not distracted at night when sleeping. Moreover, have a specific sleeping routine. This involves sleeping and waking up at the same time every day. You can also utilize breathing exercises and other recommended techniques to help you relax at night.

Medications for Restless Legs Syndrome

Your doctor can prescribe the following medications if you are suffering from mild restless legs syndrome:

• Horizant: this is an anti-seizure and pain-relieving drug
• Mirapex: this medication encourages dopamine to work properly. Dopamine is a chemical that helps the brain in controlling muscle movement.
• Requip: is a drug that is used to treat Parkinson's disease
• Neupro: a type of medication that is usually administered by a patch