Understanding Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS): Causes, Symptoms, and Management

Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is a neurological disorder where you might experience an uncontrollable urge to move the legs. This condition can significantly disrupt sleep patterns and negatively impact your overall quality of life. Despite the fact that an estimated 10% of people have RLS, the condition itself remains widely misunderstood.

Let’s explore restless leg syndrome: its symptoms, potential causes, and how you can work to protect the quality of your sleep.

What Causes Restless Leg Syndrome?

RLS doesn’t have a single, known cause. Instead, several different factors might contribute to your developing restless leg syndrome.

Those factors can include:

• Genetics: Some evidence suggests that genetics plays a significant role in RLS. Specific gene variants associated with RLS have been identified, particularly those related to the regulation of iron transport and dopamine pathways in the brain.
• Dopamine imbalance: Dopamine is a neurotransmitter involved in regulating muscle movement and controlling the brain's reward and pleasure centers. Some researchers believe that abnormalities in the dopamine system may contribute to the development of RLS.
• Iron deficiency: Iron is essential for the production of dopamine, and low levels of iron in the brain have been associated with RLS. Iron deficiency anemia, a condition characterized by low levels of iron in the blood, is a known risk factor for RLS.
• Medication: Certain medications have been implicated in triggering or worsening RLS symptoms. These include antidepressants, antipsychotics, antihistamines, and anti-nausea drugs. Withdrawal from certain substances such as alcohol, nicotine, or opioids can also lead to RLS symptoms.
• Lifestyle factors: Certain lifestyle factors may aggravate RLS symptoms or increase the risk of developing the condition. These include smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, caffeine intake, and sedentary behavior. Adopting a healthy lifestyle, including regular exercise, balanced nutrition, and stress management, may help reduce the severity of RLS symptoms.

While restless leg syndrome doesn’t have a single, exact cause, it’s likely influenced by a variety of genetic, neurological, and environmental factors. When you understand these factors, you can take proactive steps to prevent them from flaring up in your own life.

What are the Symptoms of Restless Leg Syndrome?

RLS manifests in a variety of different symptoms, which can vary in intensity and frequency. Understanding your symptoms is often the first step in minimizing them.

Symptoms of restless leg syndrome can include:

• Urge to move legs: Perhaps the primary symptom of RLS is an overwhelming urge to move the legs. This sensation is typically described as tingling, crawling, itching, burning, or aching deep within the legs.
• Disrupted sleep: RLS commonly disrupts sleep patterns, leading to difficulty falling asleep and frequent wake episodes throughout the night. As a result, people with RLS often experience chronic sleep deprivation, daytime fatigue, and impaired functionality during waking hours.
• Periodic limb movements: Some individuals with RLS may also experience periodic limb movements during sleep (PLMS), characterized by repetitive, involuntary jerking or twitching movements of the legs, feet, or arms. These movements can occur every 20 to 40 seconds and may disrupt sleep for both yourself and any sleep partners.
• Sensory symptoms: In addition to the urge to move, people with RLS may experience various sensory symptoms in the legs, such as aching, throbbing, or cramping sensations. These sensations can range from mild to severe and may fluctuate in intensity over time.

One hallmark feature of RLS is that symptoms are temporarily relieved by movement, such as walking, stretching, or massaging the legs. However, the relief is often short-lived, and symptoms may return once the movement ceases.

How Can I Cope with RLS?

While there is currently no cure for RLS, several treatment options help manage symptoms and improve quality of life. Establishing a regular sleep schedule, engaging in regular exercise, and avoiding caffeine and alcohol can help some people with RLs manage symptoms. You can further address symptoms by treating underlying conditions like an iron deficiency.

Your healthcare professional might recommend medication therapy for more serious cases of RLS. Dopaminergic agents, which increase dopamine levels in the brain, are often prescribed as first-line treatment for RLS. Other medications such as opioids, anticonvulsants, and benzodiazepines may also be used to manage symptoms, although they carry a higher risk of side effects and dependency.

In addition to medical treatment, here are a few coping strategies that can help you better manage RLS symptoms:

• Warm baths or massages: Taking a warm bath or receiving a gentle massage before bedtime can help relax the muscles and alleviate discomfort.
• Leg stretching exercises: Performing stretching exercises for the legs throughout the day can help reduce the frequency and severity of RLS symptoms.
• Mindfulness and relaxation techniques: Practicing mindfulness meditation, deep breathing exercises, or progressive muscle relaxation can help calm your mind and promote relaxation, making it easier to fall asleep.
• Maintaining a sleep-friendly environment: Creating a comfortable sleep environment free from distractions can help improve sleep quality for anyone with RLS.

Upgrading the quality of your sleep materials is another great way to soothe restless leg syndrome. Just like a sleep-friendly environment can alleviate distractions, a high-quality mattress can help you get to sleep — and stay asleep — each night. This can help reduce RLS episodes and restore your energy levels.

At Mattress Warehouse, we know a thing or two about sleep quality. That’s why we created bedMATCH, a diagnostic program that analyzes your sleep profile and recommends the right mattresses for you. BedMATCH reviews your height, weight, body type, sleep position, and other metrics that determine how you sleep each night. It then recommends a variety of mattresses at different sizes, price points, and firmness levels, allowing you to browse mattress options made for sleepers like you.