When you go to bed at night, your legs are like “possessed” and you have to keep moving, either walking around or massaging hard, otherwise your legs are like a million ants crawling around, making it unbearable. Alas! Another long night of insomnia must be faced. If you have similar symptoms, pay attention, you may be suffering from “restless legs syndrome”!
“What is restless legs syndrome?
Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as restless legs syndrome, is a sensory-motor disorder of the nervous system that is common in patients with sleep disorders. People are still relatively unfamiliar with this disease, in fact, it is not uncommon in the population, foreign epidemiological data show that its prevalence is 1-10% of the total population, the prevalence in China is about 1.2-5%, common in middle-aged and elderly people, more women than men.
The specific cause of restless legs syndrome is not clear. Patients with primary restless legs syndrome often have a family history, while patients with secondary restless legs syndrome can be seen in iron deficiency anemia, pregnant women or maternity, uremia, rheumatic diseases, diabetes, Parkinson’s disease, etc. Although restless legs syndrome is not life-threatening, it seriously affects the quality of life of patients and can easily lead to insomnia and anxiety, which can cause daytime sleepiness and reduced work capacity due to sleep disorders at night, and can even lead to other diseases.
Due to the lack of awareness of restless legs syndrome, many people do not realize that it is a disease, so that they do not seek medical attention in time, or seek medical attention as insomnia or other diseases, and some non-specialist doctors also mistakenly think that it is calcium deficiency, bone and joint or muscle diseases due to the lack of awareness, resulting in a high rate of mis-treatment and under-diagnosis of the disease. According to statistics, only 32% to 81% of patients with restless legs syndrome seek medical attention, and only 6% of these patients receive a correct diagnosis.
Are your legs “restless”?
The clinical manifestations of restless legs syndrome are as follows: 1. When sleeping or resting quietly at night, discomfort begins to appear in the legs, such as coldness, soreness, numbness, tingling, burning, ants, etc. Some people feel that they “don’t know where to put their legs, but they don’t feel right when they put them horizontally or vertically”.
2, when the leg discomfort, only constantly moving the lower limbs or out of bed, or massage, pounding the lower limbs, the symptoms can be reduced, but once lying in bed, the above symptoms will reappear or aggravate.
3.(Periodic limb movement disorder).
4. Due to sleep disorder at night, it is easy to be tired and sleepy during the day.
To deal with “restless legs”, try these tricks: for the symptoms of relatively light restless legs syndrome, you can try the following methods, or can be more comfortable, but also more helpful to sleep.
1, before bedtime hot water soak feet, you can also use your hands to rub the heart of the feet, until hot, red so.
2, strengthen the legs during the day, such as walking, jogging, kicking, etc., but exercise should be moderate, excessive physical exercise during the day may exacerbate the symptoms of restless legs syndrome.
3.Less coffee and coffee-containing drinks, quit smoking and drink less alcohol.
4. Massage your legs or do some leg stretches before going to bed.
If the symptoms are more severe, medication such as dopamine agonists can also be taken.