Leg-Rest - Supporting Circulation Restless Leg Syndrome

Restless leg syndrome is a very very common problem. This problem is also called, restless legs, fidgety legs and by several other names. There is no official cause recognized by modern medical science but Traditional Herbal Medicine does have a simple and understandable explanation. (see article on restless leg syndrome)

“Individuals affected with restless leg syndrome describe the sensations as pulling, drawing, crawling, wormy, boring, tingly, pins and needles, tingly, prickly, and sometimes painful sensations that are usually accompanied by an overwhelming urge to move the legs.” Many also describe it as "having insects crawling inside their legs." This usually occurs during periods of inactivity which often coincides with going to sleep. Many are deprived of a restful sleep because of it.

Note: Sometimes the term "fidgety legs" or "tingly legs" is used to describe restless leg syndrome or restless legs. But restless legs is not to be confused with having unconscious or habitual leg movements brought about from shear nervous tension. Someone with restless legs is very much aware of having the need to have to move their legs in order to get relief from the uncomfortable feeling they have in their legs. Leg cramps are an entirely different problem and Leg-Rest is not formulated for leg cramps.

Typically, the elderly and long distance truck drivers often have this problem, but many who are much younger are also afflicted by restless legs when trying to sleep, when driving or just sitting in a theatre.

Restless leg syndrome with sleep disorders is not very complicated at all. It can be compared to gout or arthritis only less intense, occurring within the vessels instead of in joints, sinews or muscles. The substance causing the irritation is not concentrated enough to provoke an actual inflammation but because it is diluted within the fluids of the vessels it is more diluted and diffused over a larger area which produces a milder irritation rather than an actual inflammatory pain.

More details

Herbalists throughout the millennia have used terms that seem out of place in today's world. "Stagnation of energy" is such a term. Should this stagnation occur in the blood many things can happen depending on where in the body the blood happens to be stagnating. If it occurs in the legs one possibility is restless leg syndrome. This is not a stoppage of circulation, it is an energy depletion in that part of the body because the energy is being grounded/shunted and can therefore not continue in normal circulation with sufficient force to move that which is blocking it. The wastes that are in circulation are "grounding" the energy. In this stagnancy they can at times ferment producing a local irritation. This can range from an itchy discomfort to pain. If this circulatory energy is increased, the stagnancy is removed, the bodily fluids move more freely and the discomfort lessens or stops altogether. According to Traditional Herbal theory the stagnation is seen as the cause of restless leg syndrome.