Restless leg syndrome (RLS) also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, is a neurological disorder where the patient experiences restlessness and an uncomfortable feeling in the legs while resting and they get an irresistible urge to move around for it to subside. Some describe the sensation as insects crawling under the skin. It is more severe at night and can affect proper sleep as they need to move around to get relief. They are even unable to sit or lie down during the day. The symptoms can affect the activities of daily living and also the quality of life. Drugs used to treat Parkinsons disease such as dopamine agonists, are used to treat RLS. However, these drugs appear only to relieve symptoms and does not really cure the condition. Acupuncture has also been mentioned as a non-drug option to treat RLS.
This middle aged lady had been suffering from RLS for 14 years which manifested as pain and restlessness in her legs. Although it was more severe at night, of late she had also been experiencing restlessness in her legs during the day also and she was unable to sit down and read a book also. She was on Tab Pramipexole which had alleviated her symptoms to a large extent. But she was worried about continuing this medicine lifelong. What if she developed resistance to this medicine over the years? She was looking for non-drug options to relieve her symptoms and she had read on the internet that acupuncture has been used to treat this condition.
I told her that instead of acupuncture, I would do dry needling of her leg muscles. Since she was not a resident of Delhi and had to leave for her hometown in two weeks, she could only undergo 4 sessions of dry needling in her legs. After the third session, she said that her daytime restlessness had decreased by 75%. She left a slightly happier person and promised to return in a few months for further sessions. This treatment modality has never been tried before to treat RLS and more such cases need to be treated with dry needling to know whether this is also an option.
Listen in to her…