Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a neurological condition that causes a strong urge to move your legs, especially when resting or asleep. This urge is often triggered by uncomfortable sensations like tingling, pulling, crawling, or an ache in your legs.
About 15% of adults in the United States experience symptoms of RLS.
Left untreated, RLS can chip away at your quality of life, causing chronic fatigue, brain fog, irritability, and a range of health problems connected to poor sleep. That’s why at SEPA Pain & Spine in southeastern Pennsylvania, our team specializes in getting to the bottom of hard-to-diagnose sleep disturbances like RLS.
Here, we cover what you should know about the condition and how to deal with it.
Restless legs syndrome creates an uncontrollable urge to move your legs, often because of unpleasant sensations that show up, especially at night.
These sensations vary from person to person. Some describe them as a tingling or burning feeling under the skin. Others say it feels like bugs crawling inside their legs or a mild electric charge.
Symptoms to look out for include:
Some people also experience periodic limb movement disorder, when their legs jerk or twitch every 20-40 seconds as they sleep. It’s not unusual for the two conditions to overlap.
Unlike other sleep issues, RLS kicks in when you're winding down. You might be watching TV, reading in bed, or just lying down to sleep when your legs seem to develop a mind of their own.
These symptoms can appear sporadically or every single night, depending on the severity. Some people notice them a few times a week; for others, it’s nightly.
There’s no known cause for RLS, but several factors can trigger or worsen it. One of the most common is low iron levels, particularly in the brain. When iron is low, dopamine can’t function properly, which may contribute to RLS symptoms.
RLS may also be genetic. If a parent or sibling has it, your chances increase.
Other contributors include:
Caffeine, alcohol, and tobacco can also make symptoms worse, especially in the evening.
There’s no single test to confirm RLS, which is why it’s often missed. Diagnosis is typically based on how you describe your symptoms, their timing, and how they affect your sleep.
In some cases, we may recommend blood tests to check for iron deficiency or run a sleep study to rule out other conditions.
For mild cases, we may recommend simple lifestyle adjustments. Reducing caffeine and alcohol, increasing physical activity, and following a regular sleep schedule can make a difference. If your iron levels are low, we may prescribe iron supplements.
For more moderate to severe cases, medication like dopamine agonists, anticonvulsants, and certain sleep aids can help reduce symptoms.
Restless legs syndrome is common and treatable. At SEPA Pain & Spine, we help you find the causes of your sleep disturbances and develop an effective plan to deal with them.
Contact us today to schedule a consultation at any of our offices in Horsham, Langhorne, Meadowbrook, Chalfont, East Norriton, or Limerick in southeastern Pennsylvania. You can also request one online here.
