“I can’t get my legs comfortable at night I want to keep moving them.”
Many of you tell me that you have ‘restless legs’ especially at night.
A new syndrome called ‘restless leg syndrome’ (RLS) has recently been described. You have seen ads on TV for this condition. Restless leg syndrome is described as involuntary movement of the legs. Often worse at night it can affect your sleep. It can keep your spouse awake, too. Restless Leg Syndrome is uncomfortable and the associated sleep deprivation leads to fatigue, lack of concentration and poor work performance. It can lower your resistance to other medical problems, too.
Many of my patients with varicose and spider veins complain of an uncomfortable feeling of uncontrollable movement in their legs when trying to sleep. Since you can have underlying vein disease with no visible varicose or spider veins the association with vein disease may never be made in these patients.
Dr. Clint Hayes, a Texas based phlebologist, presented a paper on varicose veins disease and Restless Leg Syndrome at a recent annual meeting of the American College of Phlebology. His research suggested an association between varicose and spider veins and RLS. Research continues in this area to determine the exact cause of RLS and the best treatment.
It is interesting that about 33% of Dr. Hayes’ patients with Restless Leg Syndrome and vein disease report an improvement in their RLS symptoms with treatment of their vein disease. So not only is vein disease embarrassing it can lead to major health concerns like RLS if ignored.
The good news is that there are new minimally invasive procedures for correction of varicose and spider veins. Visit www.veinspecialists.com or call (800) 764-3280 to begin you journey to ‘healthy legs for life’.
If you have Restless Leg Syndrome you should see your phlebologist for an evaluation to determine if you have vein disease and what can be done to treat it.
