Your doctor has attributed your sleepless nights to Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS). You’re glad to have a diagnosis, but you’re unsure of what to do next. Pegasus home health professionals have the training and experience to help you cope with RLS.
RLS symptoms include sensations of:
- Aching or throbbing
- Itching
- Something crawling or creeping on you
- Tingling or burning
These sensations can range from mild discomfort to very painful.
Restless leg syndrome can occur in other parts of your body. The common element is unpleasant sensations relieved by movement. Experts are in the process of renaming RLS as Willis-Ekbom Disease (WED or RLS/WED) because of its body-wide effects.
RLS symptoms usually affect both sides of your body. In some individuals, the unpleasant feelings alternate between sides. Regardless of where the symptoms occur, they tend to worsen over time.
Although movement relieves the discomfort of RLS, your relief doesn’t last. Stop moving and the sensations recur.
Some people pace and others try to move while sitting. Those who go to bed find themselves tossing and turning. Sleep is impossible for most individuals.
The lack of sleep can lead to:
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Exhaustion
- Inability to concentrate
- Memory loss
Home care specialists in the Santa Monica area understand your fatigue and assist you with your daytime activities.
What Causes RLS?
Some physicians consider RLS a sleep disorder. Others regard it as a movement disorder. Still others classify it as a neurological sensory disorder generated by the brain.
Classifying restless leg one way or another doesn’t change the symptoms. So far, medical science isn’t even sure what causes it. Although not curable, RLS can be treated.
Potential causes of restless leg include:
- Some medications
- Genetics
- Disruptions in dopamine pathways
- Nerve damage
- Consumption of alcohol or caffeine
- Smoking
- Lack of daytime activity or excessive exercise
- Impaired iron uptake in brain
- Other medical conditions or diseases
It takes detective work to determine what triggers your RLS.
Some individuals experience restless legs almost every night. Others only have sporadic episodes. The professionals offering home care in the Santa Monica area are familiar with RLS triggers.
They will help you keep track of your potential triggers. They can then correlate that information with your sleepless nights. Knowing what you were doing in the days before a RLS episode helps to prevent future episodes.
Your home health caregiver will then work with your physician to reduce your RLS episodes. They know that everyone is different and they may need to try different techniques. At all times, Santa Monica professionals strive to customize their assistance to meet your needs.
When necessary, you receive aid with:
- Smoking cessation
- Limiting consumption of alcohol and caffeine
- Appropriate levels of exercises and activities during the day
You’ll learn ways to implement other lifestyle changes that help alleviate restless legs.
Your RLS might be caused by an underlying condition that hasn’t yet been diagnosed. Observations by a home health caregiver helps to reveal those causes. They also have the expertise to evaluate if certain medications are triggering RLS episodes.
Other Ways Home Care in The Santa Monica Area Helps With Restless Leg Syndrome
A Santa Monica home health care professional understands the importance of your sleep environment. You should have a comfortable mattress and fresh bedding. Removing anything that glows, such as clocks or electronic gadgets, helps you sleep.
Home Treatments
Most experts recommend trying home treatments before harsher medical intervention. As with everything else, finding a successful remedy can require experimentation.
Home treatments to relieve RLS include:
- A warm bath before bedtime
- Hot pads or cold packs, separately or alternated
- Massages to relax muscles
Home health care helps you with these and other relaxing treatments.
RLS symptoms tend to decrease in the early morning hours. You might get more sleep by going to bed later and rising later than you did in the past. Just go to bed at the same time each night and rise at the same time each morning.
Medical Treatments
When home treatments don’t provide relief from your RLS, your doctor may prescribe treatments such as:
- Dietary supplements
- Over-the-counter pain medications
- Prescription pain medications
- Anti-seizure medications
- Medical devices, such as a foot wrap or vibration pad
- Sleep aids
- Dopamine medications
Many of these remedies work only in the short-term.
Your Santa Monica home health caregiver will coordinate with your physician to evaluate the:
- Effectiveness of the treatment
- Side effects
- Interactions with other medications
- Timing of dosages
The goal of all home and medical treatments is to provide long-term relief from RLS.
Having help coping with the symptoms of restless leg alleviates the stress and discomfort. You can rely on the professionals providing home care in the Santa Monica area for tips and assistance. They’ll help you get the good night’s sleep that you need.
