Restless Leg Syndrome

La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center

Cardiovascular Surgeons & Phlebologists located in New Orleans, Covington, LA & Metairie, LA

Restless leg syndrome causes painful, itchy, pins-and-needles sensations in your arms and legs and may keep you up at night. Fortunately, you can get expert diagnosis and treatment from Dr. Randall Juleff at La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center in Covington and Metairie, Louisiana. If restless leg syndrome is preventing you from getting a good night’s rest, call or schedule an appointment online today.

Restless Leg Syndrome Q & A

What is restless leg syndrome?

Restless leg syndrome is a nervous system disorder that causes an intense urge to move your legs. The sensation is described as an itching, uncomfortable, creeping sensation similar to a tingling “pins and needles” feeling. The sensations are only relieved by shifting or moving your legs.

The urge to move your legs is more common at night and is disruptive to your sleep, so restless leg syndrome is often also classified as a sleep disorder.

What causes restless leg syndrome?

The exact cause of restless leg syndrome has not been identified, but many researchers agree that it’s linked to vascular conditions like venous insufficiency and varicose veins.

Like venous insufficiency and varicose veins, restless leg syndrome primarily affects your legs. The symptoms of all these conditions include numbness, fatigue, cramping, and swelling, so the connection seems clear.

Other factors that may contribute to restless leg syndrome include:

Family history
Age
Iron deficiency
Autoimmune disorders

How is restless leg syndrome diagnosed?

Dr. Juleff diagnoses restless leg syndrome during a comprehensive consultation. He reviews your medical history and discusses your symptoms with you. He also checks for signs of vascular disease and venous insufficiency, examining your legs and ankles for swelling and skin discoloration. Finally, he checks your pulse in your ankles and evaluates whether there’s a temperature difference between your feet and legs and the rest of your body.

How is restless leg syndrome treated?

Dr. Juleff treats restless legs syndrome by addressing the venous insufficiency causing the condition. Endovenous ablation is a common technique, and Dr. Juleff offers both endovenous laser treatment and radiofrequency ablation options for this outpatient procedure. He also offers sclerotherapy to close varicose and other poorly functioning or blocked veins. Improved circulation should relieve your symptoms and reduce your urges to move or shift your legs.

If you think you have restless leg syndrome, make an appointment with Dr. Juleff to get to the root cause of your symptoms. He offers personalized attention to both diagnose and treat your condition so you can enjoy better sleep and better health. Call or make an appointment online today.

*Individual results may vary.

Treatments For All Vein Related Problems

There is more and more being written lately about something called Restless Leg Syndrome. Well, many people misuse this term to describe someone who can’t keep their leg still, like the guy next to you in church who keeps bouncing his knee up and down. That’s Nervous Leg Syndrome! Then there’s the condition that my 6-year-old nephew has – Restless Kid Syndrome. But Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) is an actual medical condition that has a variety of different causes.

The symptoms of RLS can be some of the following: pain, aching, numbness and tingling, throbbing, pulling or having a “creeping” sensation of the extremity. The symptoms can vary from one person to the next, but one thing that does not vary is the uncontrollable urge to move the leg to relieve the symptoms. For reasons that we don’t completely understand, movement of the extremity will bring about relief. Symptoms begin to worsen in the evening when people rest for the day and they can become particularly prominent at night. This of course can cause a substantial decline in one’s quality of sleep and can actually interfere with an individual’s ability to function on a daily basis.

RLS affects both men and women, but women are affected twice as frequently. Up to 10 percent of the adult population of the U.S. may have some degree of the problem. A more advanced cousin of RLS is something called PLMS, Periodic Limb Movement of Sleep. In this condition, the limb movements occur repeatedly throughout the night on an involuntary basis and of course disrupt sleep tremendously.

There are a variety of causes of Restless Leg Syndrome, many of which are very difficult to sort out. One of the most common causes however is Chronic Venous Insufficiency. Roughly 35 percent of RLS can be caused by leg vein problems. The symptoms of the two can be similar, however they are two distinctly different entities. The good news is that diagnosing venous insufficiency is easy and something that we do every day of the week with a painless ultrasound test. Better news: treating the underlying venous disease can eliminate symptoms of RLS completely.

I’m sorry to report that as of yet there is nothing we can do for Restless Kid Syndrome but Restless Leg Syndrome can be an easy fix and a good night’s sleep may be just around the corner.

Restless Leg Syndrome

La Bella Vita Laser and Vein Center

Cardiovascular Surgeons & Phlebologists located in New Orleans, Covington, LA & Metairie, LA