Restless Leg Syndrome Specialist

What is restless legs syndrome?

Restless legs syndrome or RLS is well named because the condition causes an irresistible urge to move your legs. Along with the need to move, you also experience unpleasant sensations in your legs. Patients describe these sensations as itching, pulling, crawling, aching, and tingling.

All your symptoms improve when you move your legs. But since the problem gets worse when you lay down to sleep and continues through the night, people with restless legs syndrome who give in to the need to move, end up with sleep deprivation.

In addition to the discomfort of restless legs, lack of sleep leads to memory problems, difficulty concentrating, weight gain, and daytime sleepiness.

What causes restless legs syndrome?

The cause of restless legs syndrome isn’t determinable in many patients. However, medical experts know that the condition has a genetic component. If someone else in your family has the condition, your risk is higher.

Other possible causes or risk factors for restless legs syndrome include:

• Dopamine imbalance
• Iron deficiency
• Low vitamin D
• Diabetes
• Kidney failure
• Fibromyalgia
• Neuropathy
• Venous insufficiency

Restless legs are a common symptom of varicose veins and their underlying cause, venous insufficiency. On the other side of the equation, many patients who are initially diagnosed with restless legs syndrome later learn they have venous insufficiency.

Additionally, people with venous insufficiency have a higher chance of developing restless legs syndrome. One study revealed that 78% of patients with venous insufficiency had symptoms of restless legs.

How is restless legs syndrome treated?

When you have restless legs syndrome associated with venous insufficiency, treating the venous disorder improves your leg symptoms. Your provider begins with a vascular ultrasound to verify venous insufficiency and to check for the presence of any other problems. 

Northwest Houston Heart Center offers a range of treatments for venous insufficiency. Your provider may recommend one of the two most common options: sclerotherapy or endovenous ablation. 

For sclerotherapy, your provider injects medication that makes the vein walls collapse. They perform endovenous ablation using a catheter that they insert into the diseased vein. Releasing laser or radiofrequency energy from the catheter closes the vein.

The treated veins get absorbed by your body. Then the blood flow naturally reroutes into an adjacent healthy vein. As a result, venous insufficiency is gone, and there’s a restoration of normal circulation; plus, your restless legs symptoms improve.

If you struggle with restless legs syndrome, don’t wait to seek treatment. Call Northwest Houston Heart Center, or book an appointment online today.