WED (Willis-Ekbom’s disease) – Restless legs syndrome
Willis-Ekbom’s disease, more commonly known as Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS), mainly affects the legs in the form of tingling, feeling like it is crawling under the skin, feeling static, etc. The disease can also affect larger parts of the body but is according to studies less common.
Restless legs syndrome or Willis-Ekbom’s disease will be referred to as RLS or WED in the following text.
RLS usually appears in the 30s to 40s and is primarily a problem in women but also affects men. RLS is usually congenital and in these cases appears around the age of 30. In cases where the disease is not hereditary but secondary, it usually appears later in life.
Around 30% of pregnant women have problems with RLS at some point during pregnancy. The reason why pregnant women get affected is often due to a lack of, for example, iron or impaired blood circulation.
People with RLS mainly experience discomfort during the night or longer periods of stagnation. The disease affects the fibers in the muscles, these worsen when the blood circulation deteriorates or decreases, something that happens naturally during, for example, sleep. Longer journeys are often difficult for people with RLS because they stay sedentary for longer periods.
Symptoms of RLS
Common problems in people with RLS are:
Difficulty sleeping (due to pain)
Waking up during sleep
Pain
Fatigue
Deteriorated recovery
Preventative measure for RLS
To alleviate the problems, you can try different methods and hopefully find one that is right for you.
Below are ways to alleviate the problems based on studies of people living with RLS.
Regular exercise and stretching.
Cold / Heat on the affected area
Exercises that increase blood circulation
Cupping
Acupuncture
Temperature treatment
According to studies, most people say that cold showers of the affected areas before sleep, help to inhibit the onset of RLS. A few people in comparison say that a hot shower helps instead. Here, too, you have to choose which works best for you. The primary thing is to treat the affected area with a high or low temperature before sleep.
Regular exercise
Regular exercise and stretching of the whole body and especially the affected areas helps to keep the body and blood circulation going. RLS occurs mainly in connection with a lack of motion which results in stagnation, therefore it is important for affected people to include as much movement as possible in everyday life to promote the blood’s circulation.
Cupping
Cupping activates the connective tissue in-depth and promotes blood circulation. Many people find that cupping on the affected areas helps with the pain and is preventive against RLS.
Read more here about how our cups work and the different cupping methods we recommend. For RLS in particular, we would recommend starting with dynamic cupping together with a beneficial oil and then letting the static cups remain for a while on the exposed area.
Acupuncture
Acupuncture is mainly used in Asia to relieve the symptoms of RLS. Studies have been conducted in the west on whether acupuncture is an effective way to relieve RLS.
According to a study from 2015 in which 38 people participated, all individuals received treatment for 6 weeks. The problems caused by RLS decreased sharply as a result. Like all methods we suggest, acupuncture is also one that requires continuous practice.
Sources and additional reading (in Swedish):
1177
Internetmedicin
Healthline
