When I first started dating my husband, I noticed that he was constantly moving his legs or tapping his feet, much like an overactive child would do. He told me that he had restless leg syndrome and couldn’t help it. He was diagnosed with restless leg syndrome as a teenager and never actively treated or medicated it.
According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, restless leg syndrome is a neurological disorder that causes unpleasant sensations in the legs, causing the sufferer to twitch or jerk to relieve the pain. For unknown reasons, sitting or laying down and trying to relax stimulates the symptoms. Often sufferers keep their legs continuously moving to avoid the sensations and pain, and the condition can severely impact sleep because of the pain and leg movements.
My husband has difficulty with long car rides, sitting through movies, or just about any activity where he is inactive for a long period of time. I can tell when his legs start to bother him because he starts moving them constantly, which is in turn annoying to me. If he gets up and walks around a little bit it will alleviate the symptoms for a short period of time. At night he tosses and turns in an effort to move his legs into a comfortable position. This not only disturbs his sleep, but also wakes me up. I often am elbowing him at night because he is disturbing me.
A couple of months ago I started researching natural methods to treat my recurring migraines, and I stumbled across some articles detailing the healing properties if essential oils. I was intrigued and after further reading decided to invest in a basic kit of oils. Through using them and doing further research I discovered that they have been used to treat a litany if medical conditions, including restless leg syndrome. I approached my husband about trying some of the oils to see if it helped, and he agreed to give them a try.
There were several different oils that people had successfully treated their symptoms with, but I only had so many oils in my initial kit. We started by applying a blend called Peace and a Calming on the bottoms of his feet, especially at the base of his big toe, and applying lavender on his legs where he would normally feel the sensations. Almost immediately I noticed That he was not as restless at night, and we both got a much better night of sleep.
The essential oils have not completely eliminated the restless leg syndrome for my husband, but they have dramatically decreased it. Not only have they provided a better quality of life for him, it has improved the quality of mine since I am sleeping better and he isn’t constantly twitching, I don’t think that natural remedies are a complete replacement for advice from your doctor, but sometimes they help to lessen symptoms without the side affects of traditional medicine.
Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
