Restless legs syndrome is something which many people will know about. It’s a medical condition that causes you to have an urge to move your legs or your arms, in some cases. It can also cause weird sensations.
The fancy name for restless leg syndrome is Wittmaac -Ekbom syndrome. People describe the feelings they get as like burning or itching. Some people even call it tickling. Not everyone who gets this suffers in a major way. Some people find their symptoms are mild. A lot of people who have the condition find it quite difficult to explain – if you’ve never had it it’s hard to understand. You can read more about it at www.restlesslegsyndromesymptoms.net.
When you’re lying down or just sitting down it tends to make you feel like you should be up and moving. You can get temporary relief from it by doing just that. This syndrome can start at any time – there’s no age barriers to it – and it tends to get worse as you get older. Stretching and walking can help keep the symptoms manageable and some people oscillate their legs up and down to get relief.
There isn’t a definite time when symptoms come on – some people find it mainly happens in the evenings, but it’s possible for it to occur during the daytime too. One common factor seems to be that it stars at a time when you’re sitting down for a time, or lying down.
There is another condition which is sometimes mistaken for RLS and that is night time twitching, or periodic lim movements. This is when you kick and straighten your legs while you’re asleep. Most people aren’t even aware that they are doing it. In some cases it can happen hundreds of times a night, which can lead to tiredness the next day. It does tend to be more common in older people. Anyone with RLS is likely to have an 80% chance of having the periodic limb movements also.
The cause of restless leg syndrome is generally unknown. It has been associated with a number of things, like obesity, smoking, iron deficiency, nerve disease, and so on, but in a lot of cases there is just no known cause. It does, however, seem to tend to run in families so if your family have a history of hit you have a higher chance of suffering from it.
This article is not intended to diagnose any illness or ailment. You should always consult a medical doctor for health related information, diagnosis or treatment.