How to treat restless legs syndrome - the methods and rules for treatment of Ekbom syndrome

In the middle of the 20th century, this disease was examined and described by the Swedish neurologist Karl Axel Eckbom, who gave him the name of restless legs syndrome.

Despite the fact that the disease was discovered a long time ago, few people know about it today, and even feeling the symptoms of restless legs syndrome, not everyone is turning to medical care, thinking that this is due to usual fatigue.

According to statistics, 10-25% of the population suffer from EKBOM syndrome worldwide.

Almost all age groups are subject to it, but most often symptoms of illness are experienced by middle-aged and elderly people , as well as pregnant women. There is also evidence that women suffer from this syndrome more often about 1.5 times than men.

What you should know about the ECDOM syndrome

The patient feels itching, burning, crawling, cramps, numbness in the legs of .And stop these symptoms only with the help of motor activity.

As a result, it turns out that instead of sleeping, a person has to walk around the room to calm the itching legs. And this, in turn, leads to sleep disorders, and sometimes to depression.

The insidiousness of the disease lies in the fact that as soon as a person lies down again, unpleasant sensations come back.

The exact cause of the Ekbom syndrome has not yet been established. It is only known that this disease can be inherited. It has also been established that RLS causes when:

• lacks a dopamine hormone that is responsible for motor activity,
• iron deficiency,
• uremia,
• during pregnancy,
• due to excess weight,
• as a result of taking medications aimed at treating neurological problems.

Unpleasant symptoms appear at least once a week, and sometimes more often, appearing in the evening and at night, especially from midnight to 4 hours, and by the morning subsides.

How to treat restless legs syndrome

To make an accurate diagnosis, the doctor, when referring to a patient, clarifies the symptoms of the disease and conducts an examination, and also performs the following procedures to help rule out the presence of other diseases:

• blood test for iron level;
• myography;Electroencephalogram
• .

If you do not treat the syndrome of Ekbom, then its symptoms, progressing, eventually begin to affect the quality of life of its owner, leading to insomnia and a depressed state.

Treatment of Restless Leg Syndrome pursues such goals:

• elimination of the causes of the disease;
• treatment of sleep disorders;
• treatment of depression.

Therapeutic therapy is performed using various techniques.

Day regimen and lifestyle

In order to get rid of the effects of discomfort in the legs, need to change the way of life:

Regularly give the legs a moderate physical load: stretching, "biking", flexing and unbending, slow walking. It is especially useful to do this shortly before going to bed.

1. It is useful to rub your feet intensively, take hot and cold foot baths( in the absence of contraindications).
2. It is necessary to abandon alcohol, as well as caffeinated drinks and products.
3. An important condition for recovery is the cessation of smoking.
4. It is necessary to observe the regime of the day, going to bed and waking up always at one time.

Drug therapy

As for the medical treatment for RLS, they are usually used if the patient has a pronounced sleep disorder or has signs of depression that has developed against the background of the disease.

Such preparations are often used here:

1. Benzodiazepines ( clonazepam, alprazolam) - promote sleep onset, but are capable of causing dependence when used for a long time. Also a side effect of their use is daytime drowsiness, decreased libido, episodic confusion at night. Therefore, they can be used only for a limited time and strictly under the supervision of a doctor.
2. Dopaminergic drugs ( levodopa) - are quite effective in the syndrome of EkboM.May have side effects such as nausea, dry mouth, headache, dizziness, irritability, muscle spasms. But all this, as a rule, manifests itself in an easy degree.
3. Dopamine receptor agonists ( ADR) - their effectiveness is comparable with the efficacy of levodopa. They can be taken daily for a long time without significant harm to health. Side effects of ADR: nausea, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, drowsiness during the day. In order to avoid these phenomena, taking the drug starts with small doses. It should be noted that, eliminating the symptoms of the syndrome of Ecopom, dopaminergic drugs do not always contribute to the normalization of sleep, so their reception should be combined with sedatives.
4. Folic acid, magnesium, iron preparations, vitamins B, C, E - are used to replenish useful minerals in the body, the deficit of which can cause RLS.
5. In rare cases, when particularly intense pain can not be eliminated with other drugs, is prescribed opioids. But their use is unsafe, as they relate to drugs and cause addiction.
6. Anticonvulsant drugs - used as an additional remedy for the syndrome of EkboM.
7. If a patient develops depression, trazodone and monoamine oxidase inhibitors are used. But these drugs do not help all.
8. During pregnancy, prescribes iron preparations of the second generation , which do not harm the fetus.

Additional techniques

As an adjunct to drug therapy and a correct lifestyle in the treatment of the syndrome of EkboM, physiotherapeutic procedures are applied to which are:

1. Vibromassage .
2. Magnetotherapy is the use of magnetic fields that have anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-edema effects.
3. Mud applications is a method using curative mud. With its application, blood circulation improves, the movement of erythrocytes improves, and metabolism normalizes.
4. Lymphopress - the creation of pressure on the lymphatic system in order to normalize metabolic processes in the body and increase the tone of the veins of the lower limbs.
5. Reflexotherapy is a method in which special needles are introduced into special points on the body.
6. Darsonvalization of the shins - with the aid of a special device, an effect on a certain part of the body is effected by a high-frequency, rapidly damped current.

Complexities of treatment

With Ekbom syndrome, there can be certain difficulties with the diagnosis, and accordingly, the appointment of an adequate treatment.

This is primarily due to the fact that symptoms of the disease manifest at night , while the patient can visit the doctor only during the day, when nothing disturbs him.

In addition, not always the patient can intelligibly explain what exactly is bothering him. Therefore, often a doctor can make an erroneous diagnosis: varicose veins, joint diseases.

You can avoid the error in this case with polysomnography - a study during which the patient sleeps, while sensors attached to his body are fixed to fix the work of his nervous system and involuntary physical activity.

Based on how many foot movements a patient makes in a dream, it is possible to determine the severity of the disease:

• is mild - when 5 to 20 movements are performed per hour;
• average - characterized by 20 - 60 movements per hour;
• is heavy - when more than 60 movements are performed per hour.

Forecast for treatment of

If you are engaged in therapy of the syndrome of Ekboma, then the prognosis for recovery is favorable, and the symptoms of the disease eventually disappear.

But it is worth considering that the medications a patient uses to fight the disease must be periodically changed to others so that there is no dependence or less effect.

So, we looked at a little-known disorder, like restless leg syndrome.

It is almost impossible to prevent the symptoms of this disease , but its treatment, prescribed by an experienced doctor, usually has a positive effect.

Therefore, having noticed the manifestations of an unpleasant syndrome described above, it is necessary to go to the hospital in order to avoid their progression. Remember, that the measures taken in time contribute to a faster recovery.

Video: Restless legs syndrome - what to do?

Practical advice of a neurologist, which should be resorted to in a strange painful illness - a restless legs syndrome. What to do if your legs hurt in this way.