According to statistics, more than 5 million people in the USA suffer from moderate to severe form of restless legs syndrome (RLS).
1 in 10 adults suffers from this condition and more than one million children of school age have RLS.
What are the symptoms of this phenomenon?
- — Desire for shaking the legs
- — Pain in foot
- — Itching
Unconfortable feeling in the legs
(the symptoms are more experienced during the night)
This is not very serious disease ut it can reduce the quality of life and ability to perform daily activities.
Causes
There are primary and secondary syndromes of restless leg.
At the primary restless leg syndrome, the disorder is hereditary and the reason lies in the part of the brain that is responsible for monitoring. The secondary form of this disease may be caused by factors such as anemia, pregnancy, damaged peripheral nerves, impaired kidney function and degenerative diseases of the spine.
Also, this disorder is sometimes consequence of using certain medications such as antidepressants, antipsychotics and consuming a lot of coffee, alcohol and nicotine. Usually the diagnosis is made according to clinical picture. From laboratory findings complete blood count, determination of hormonal status and kidney samples are required. Depends from the diagnosis, minerals, vitamins, certain exercises, analgesics, tranquilizers tablets are prescribed.
On which way you can alleviate the symptoms?
The symptoms can be facilitated by getting up and waking up around at the same time. Experts however, recommend stretching just before bedtime, thus you need to sit on the floor with your legs stretched out and then slowly bend the torso to the feet to be able to reach the hands in this position for few minutes. Also, warm bath before sleeping is an excellent solution for relief of the symptoms. During the day practice simple exercises and walks in the fresh air. You can also exercise and practice yoga that includes stretching, deep breathing and relaxation. Avoid drinks that contain caffeine such as black tea and coffee because they do bad influence on the blood circulation and sleep quality.
In many cases though, people who suffer from restless legs syndrome actually suffer from lack of iron in the blood so it is good to start consuming ingredients which are rich in iron. Red meat, prunes and beet for example.
Tea mixture
Ingredients:
- — 1 tablespoon of crushed fruit hip
- — 1 tablespoon of chamomile flowers
- — half a liter boiled water
- — little amount of lemon juice
- — 1 teaspoon of honey
Preparation:
Pour previously boiled water on the chamomile and rosehip flowers, cover it and let it stand for a few minutes. Then strain it and add the lemon juice and honey. The tea should be consumed several times during the day and just before bedtime.
Aromatherapy:
Make mixture from 5 drops of basil and marjoram and 3 drops of almond oil. Massage your feet with this mixture every night.
