Everyone gets muscle twitches from time to time, and lots of folks feel a little jittery if they drink too much coffee or don’t get enough exercise. But other people have a frustrating and chronic condition called restless leg syndrome, which makes their legs feel incessantly restless.
For these folks, dealing with the constant urge to move their legs or exercise is not just annoying: it can even be debilitating. Let’s take a closer look at RLS, where it comes from, and how you can treat it now.
Restless Leg Syndrome Explained
Restless leg syndrome or RLS is a chronic condition characterized by an unavoidable and uncontrollable urge to move one’s legs. When your legs are still, they may feel comfortable or “itchy” beneath the skin.
For most people, RLS is most frequent in the evening or during the night, particularly once they are sitting down or lying down. While RLS can be at least partially alleviated by moving around and/or using your legs to exercise, the condition can become worse with age, eventually getting so severe that it interrupts daily activities or disrupts sleep.
Causes of RLS
There are two primary areas you should look at when considering restless leg syndrome. One is the nerves and the other is the muscle and the balance of fluid there. Researchers have also identified several risk factors that could make you more or less likely to experience intense RLS as you get older, including:
- Genetic history of restless leg syndrome.
- Being pregnant. Pregnancy results in a lot of hormonal changes that can start or worsen RLS.
- Iron deficiencies can either cause or worsen RLS symptoms.
- Muscle movement issues.
Doctors typically diagnose restless leg syndrome by eliminating other conditions and looking for a few characteristic factors, such as an overwhelming need to move the legs or an urge to move the legs that gets worse when one is resting or inactive.
RLS Symptoms
Of course, one of the biggest symptoms of RLS is an urge to regularly move your legs, especially when you are sitting or lying down. However, aside from leg twitchiness, people also experience other symptoms of restless leg syndrome.
- Relief when the legs move around, such as by walking, stretching, or using exercise equipment to perform leg exercises.
- Worsening RLS symptoms in the evening.
- Leg twitching, especially when you are asleep.
- Strange sensations on and within the limbs that are often described as throbbing, itching, crawling, pulling, or aching.
- Sleep disturbances, daytime sleepiness.
- Leg cramps.
However, note that RLS is not usually accompanied by symptoms like leg numbness or muscle cramps, which may be indicative of different conditions. Furthermore, RLS symptom severity can vary dramatically from person to person. In some individuals, RLS will flare up periodically, then fade away for a time before returning.
Natural Remedies for Restless Leg Syndrome
In general, it’s not necessary to see a doctor for restless leg syndrome. There are lots of natural or home-focused remedies you can pursue in the meantime to alleviate or even treat RLS effectively. Here are natural remedies for restless leg syndrome.
1. Take a 1/2 Teaspoon of Sea Salt
Many people have poor electrolyte balances in their bodies, which means their muscles can’t recover properly at night. Add 1/2 a teaspoon of real Sea Salt to 4 to 6 ounces of water and drink it before bed to help restore electrolyte balance to your legs.
2. Exercise
First and foremost, individuals with restless leg syndrome can make lifestyle changes. Specifically, it’s a good idea to get more exercise in your daily routine. Exercising your leg muscles more regularly can help to alleviate RLS and even prevent RLS from affecting your evening relaxation by tiring out the muscles and making any symptoms much more tolerable.
3. Prioritize Certain Vitamins & Minerals
When you lose weight or fast and lower your insulin, your body uses salt to balance your fluids instead and your body’s magnesium and potassium levels are depleted because salt levels are being used up. When these nutrients are depleted some people may experience restless leg syndrome and they may notice that they are more often cold. Drink Livingood Daily Energyze to restore the balance of magnesium, potassium, taurine, d-ribose, and vitamin c.
4. Methylated B Vitamins
B Vitamins help the blood vessels that support the nerves in the legs. It’s important to replenish your B Vitamins in order to help out the nerve flow in your body! Methylated B vitamins are ones that are readily available since your body doesn’t have to do the work of converting making them super absorbable.
To that end, you should be taking Livingood Daily Multi-Vitamin or Livingood Daily Collagen + Multi which has a full multivitamin in it.
5. Check for Nerve Damage
If there is nerve damage to the lumbar spine, the hips, or the sacrum it could be the cause of your restless leg syndrome. Nerves in the lower spine or hips are ones that go all the way down to the legs. Ask your chiropractor to analyze these nerves in your body and work on rehabbing them in order to relieve symptoms of RLS. Rehabbing the lower back and hips will help you get straight to the source and address it at the source.
Summary
Ultimately, restless leg syndrome is something that those affected will likely need to deal with for the rest of their lives. Fortunately, there are ways to tackle this condition’s symptoms and ensure you can stay reasonably comfortable and get a good night’s rest without having to rely on potentially harmful medication.
Sources
Restless Legs Syndrome Fact Sheet | National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
Restless Legs Syndrome – Symptoms and Causes | Sleep Foundation
Causes of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) | The Johns Hopkins Center for Restless Legs Syndrome.
