How Weighted Blankets Can Help Your Restless Legs Syndrome.

Have you ever experienced an unpleasant or uncomfortable sensation in your legs and an irresistible urge to move them? A strange feeling of vibration in your limbs that stops as soon as you move, but comes back quickly after you lie down again in bed?

What is Restless Leg Syndrome? 

Unlike the suggestion from your partner that you’re just ‘paranoid’, what you may actually be experiencing is Restless Legs Syndrome. Also referred to as Willis-Ekbom Disease, Restless Legs Syndrome commonly occurs in the late afternoon or evening and is most severe at night when a person is resting, such as sitting or lying in bed.

What does Restless Legs Syndrome feel like?

Those affected often have difficulty describing symptoms, but liken the syndrome to the feeling of having bees buzzing inside the skin of your legs. A sensation that makes you want to scratch your legs and one that makes you get up if you are in bed and walk around, being almost impossible to lie down and sleep due to the feeling of your legs twitching in an uncontrollable way.

The sensations of Restless Legs Syndrome that people describe are incredibly varied but symptoms can include:

• A terrible urge to move, usually the legs, that is only relieved by moving.
• A sensation of pulling, jittering, worms or insects moving
• Unpleasant sensations of tingling, tightness, throbbing, buzzing, pain, electric feelings or cramping.
• Sleep interruptions due to increased twitching occurring when you lie down or during the night.

Sufferers with Restless Legs Syndrome often have two types of leg movements: some are semi-voluntary, an effort to obtain relief from the torture of their sensations, and can be suppressed; but one of the trademarks of Restless Legs Syndrome, are involuntary leg movements, kicking of the legs or twitches of the ankle, that occur deep in sleep.

These leg jerks, otherwise known as periodic limb movements of sleep, affect 80-90 per cent of Restless Legs Syndrome individuals, and recur every five to ninety seconds for short periods or persistently throughout the night.

Research monitoring brainwave activity during the night has confirmed that sufferers are asleep during these kicks, but these periodic limb movements add insult to injury. Not only do victims experience the Restless Legs Syndrome symptoms that prevent them drifting off to sleep, but once they do manage to doze off, the leg movements disrupt the quality of their sleep, often waking them up. This vicious cycle of torment then continues, as once awake individuals become conscious of their Restless Legs Syndrome symptoms.

How can I tell if I have Restless Leg Syndrome? 

Surprisingly, many patients with Restless Legs Syndrome take years to get a diagnosis, despite how common the condition is.

Recent studies have suggested that Restless Legs Syndrome affects roughly one in ten adults and a significant number of children. In fact, it seems that ‘growing pains’ in children often result in Restless Legs Syndrome in later life, with these growing pains actually being the manifestation of Restless Legs Syndrome.

There are some crucial clues to determine whether you may be suffering with Restless Legs Syndrome, with the first being an association with the evening or night-time. Individuals will rarely experience symptoms in the morning, and there is often a particular time in the evening or night that symptoms will tend to start. Try recording the onset of any sensations in a diary, taking note when they start, perhaps it’s when you sit down to eat dinner, or when you begin to watch TV in the evening.

The second important sign is the association with movement. Keeping still will often make symptoms build until they become intolerable, with movement providing temporary relief.

When suffering, you may have got up and rubbed your legs vigorously with both hands in an attempt to try to massage them and temporarily ease your discomfort or maybe you got out of bed and walked around the house instead.

How do I treat Restless Legs Syndrome? 

The typical drug treatment for Restless Legs Syndrome is a group of medications that increase levels of a neurotransmitter called dopamine in the brain. The same chemical that our weighted blankets have been shown to increase when used.

While the beneficial effect of dopamine-boosting on Restless Legs Syndrome has been known and well-researched for decades, there is a darker side to these drugs.

Dopamine, as well as being a neurotransmitter influencing movement, is also essential to how the brain is rewarded. The pleasure associated with shopping or gambling, for example, is mediated by dopamine. Medications, however, can mess up this reward system and cause it go haywire.

Are there any natural ways to treat Restless Legs Syndrome? 

The decision to start drug treatment is not straightforward, a choice between the devil that is Restless Legs Syndrome and the vast potential side effects of treatment.

Unfortunately, while Restless Legs Syndrome has something of a genetic basis and what happens on a chemical level in the brain, the underlying cause remains a mystery. Instead, minor lifestyle changes can often suffice and there are a number of natural ways to treat the condition:

Check your iron and magnesium levels

Looking for and treating underlying conditions like iron deficiency can resolve symptoms of Restless Legs Syndrome. Try to incorporate foods rich in sources of iron such as apples, honey, dates and lean meats int your diet. Magnesium also acts as a natural muscle relaxant and can help to cope with Restless Legs Syndrome as well. Bananas, avocados, legumes, tofu and fatty fish are packed with magnesium and should be consumed before going to sleep. You could also consider taking an iron or magnesium supplement but be sure to check with a qualified healthcare professional!

Change your habits

Similar to many other health issues, modifying your daily lifestyle habits can help ease chronic conditions. Daily exercise, maintaining a regular and plentiful sleep pattern (our weighted blankets can definitely help with that!) and reducing the amount of caffeine, alcohol and tobacco consumed can also be very helpful and reduce Restless Legs Syndrome symptoms.

Weighted blankets have been shown to relieve the unpleasant symptoms and discomfort of Restless Legs Syndrome. Based upon the science of Deep Touch Pressure therapy, occurring when you place evenly distributed weighted over your body, the triggering of pressure points help the facilitation of essential relaxation and sleep hormones.

Our breathable and cool-to-touch weighted blankets completely cocoon your body, producing a ‘hugging effect’ that promotes the release of serotonin, a stress-reducing chemical produced by our nerve cells. Increased serotonin not only promotes feelings of calmness, but also leads to the release of more melatonin, the bodies natural sleep hormone.

With weighted blankets also being shown to reduce cortisol levels throughout the night and high cortisol levels being linked to Restless Legs Syndrome, there’s no better time to relieve any pain and discomfort and drift into dreamland by pulling on a Drift weighted blanket.