Restless Legs Specialist

Soffer Health Institute

Cardiologists, Telemedicine, & Primary Care located in Hollywood, Weston & North Miami, FL

About 10% of the adult population in the United States suffers from disrupted sleep due to restless legs. At Soffer Health Institute, with offices in Hollywood and Weston, Florida, board-certified cardiologist, Ariel Soffer, MD, FACC, and the medical team offer on-site evaluations and custom treatments to help you find relief from restless legs syndrome. Telemedicine consultations are also available if you can’t make it into the office. To schedule a consultation, call the Soffer Health Institute office nearest you or request an appointment online today.

Restless Legs Q & A

What are restless legs?

Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease, causes uncomfortable sensations in your legs. You may find relief from these sensations by constantly moving your legs. Leg movement often relieves the discomfort you feel, but once you stop, the bothersome sensations return.

RLS is actually a type of sleep disorder because the symptoms are most common during the night when you’re trying to rest. However, the condition is also a neurological disorder and may relate to dysfunction in the area of your brain that controls movement.

There’s a genetic link to restless legs, and the condition often runs in families. Other possible factors that contribute to RLS includes:

Pregnancy
Nerve damage
Kidney disease
Iron deficiency
Use of certain medications
Overuse of alcohol, caffeine, and nicotine

If you have existing sleep apnea, it can trigger symptoms of restless legs syndrome.

What are the symptoms of restless legs?

RLS causes an irresistible urge to move your legs to relieve discomfort as well as sensations that feel like:

Itching
Aching
Pulling
Crawling
Throbbing

Sensations can develop in one or both legs and are typically worse at night when you’re lying down. You may experience a remission of symptoms for weeks or months before they come back.

These sensations and the constant leg movement often disrupts your sleep patterns, leading to daytime drowsiness and chronic exhaustion.

How is restless legs syndrome treated?

There is no standard test to confirm RLS, but the team at Soffer Health Institute can confirm the syndrome during a physical exam, a neurological exam, and an assessment of your symptoms. Patients can also describe their symptoms at a telemedicine visit online with the team.

Your provider focuses treatment on the severity of your symptoms and your triggers. For instance, you may need iron supplements to treat a deficiency. The medical team may also recommend over-the-counter or prescription medications to ease pain and reduce the frequency of your symptoms.

Lifestyle changes also play a role in treatment. Your Soffer Health Institute provider can suggest dietary changes, exercises, and massage to prevent the recurrence of symptoms. Your physician also works with you to improve your sleep habits and may recommend using a heating pad or taking a warm bath to relax you before bedtime.

While there’s currently no cure for RLS, under the guidance of the team, you can live a healthy, active life and keep your condition under control.

To schedule a diagnostic evaluation for restless legs syndrome, call the Soffer Health Institute office nearest you or request an appointment online today. Please note that during the coronavirus crisis, most televisits are 100% insurance covered with no copays.