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Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2017 7:37 pm
by GaryS
I have been browsing the NIH's reports on RLS/WED to see what research has been done and came across this one:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25506161

"What patients do to counteract the symptoms of Willis-Ekbom disease (RLS/WED): Effect of gender and severity of illness."

One of the lines in the article reads:
...and tying a cloth/rope tightly on the legs (39.3%).

What's that about? I searched the forum and don't see anything about doing that. Is this supposed to be similar to a massage? I've never heard of this.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 12:03 am
by ViewsAskew
No clue! The only thing that seems close to me is using an elastic bandage - such as an ACE brand - around. Otherwise? No idea...

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 1:05 pm
by Polar Bear
I recall some time ago seeing a picture of a guy sleeping on the floor using a rigged up system of ropes and pulleys that would provide a type of stretch/tension on his limbs while he slept.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 8:27 pm
by legsbestill
Yes but 39.3% !!! That is an intriguingly specific figure. I am particularly curious about the .3% - did they just use ropes and not pullies? Or maybe their cloth/rope was .7% looser than the others favouring this method of treatment ... or their elastic was just not quite so tight ...

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Fri Feb 10, 2017 8:31 pm
by ViewsAskew
I agree, legs - that was a LARGE number! Unless the n was 5 people...

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Sat Feb 11, 2017 9:50 am
by badnights
39.3% of 173 people - 68 people tied stuff on their legs. I had to download to find out what stuff. Like Ann, I figured it had to be a form of compression. It was.

I thought it odd that only these few strategies were being employed by 173 people - moving in bed, getting up and walking, tying cloth to the legs, and massage. Actually a fifth method was used by 2 people, cold water or ice. The subjects were all in India, where access to compression stockings might be more limited for certain groups. They all came from the outpatient department at a teaching hospital's sleep clinic.

Most of the women tied a cloth/rope on their legs and it provided a deep continuous compression. Female preponderance in this group could be related to social structure.... Tying the rope/cloth on the legs was tight enough to prevent the blood flow in the veins and could lead to venous stasis. Relief in RLS/WED symptoms with this measure suggests that lymphatic or venous stasis may not cause RLS/WED as suggested by some of the earlier papers. However, this measure will exert a continuous pressure and can help in gating of the sensations at spinal level. A number of studies have shown that RLS/WED patients have increased excitability of spinal neurons and/or diminished supraspinal inhibition, although data is inconclusive. Pressure has been found to reduce the excitability of spinal neurons in a dose-dependent manner, and this could be one reason why a number of subjects found “tying a cloth” provided more relief as compared to the other strategies like massage.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Wed Feb 15, 2017 4:21 pm
by legsbestill
Should have realised it might be India - it kurclunks into place. Have such a western-centric mentality, it never occurred to me that the study might have originated in a different culture. I wonder what percentage of population is considered to suffer there.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Fri Mar 03, 2017 5:38 am
by badnights
I get the impression it's of a similar prevalence as in North America and Europe, but I don't have any studies. There are a lot of papers by Indian researchers on RLS in the Dove Press Journal of Parkinsonism and Restless Legs Syndrome.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 1:17 am
by VeganGal
I don't use rope or a towel. I do use wrap-around leg weights. They weigh about 1.5-2 lb, are about 8-inches wide and have velcro straps. They do help me get back to sleep when the RLS with leg kicks start in middle of night. Helps me not take another dose of meds.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Mon Mar 13, 2017 2:32 am
by ViewsAskew
Intersting! Thanks, VeganGal, for that suggestion.

Re: Anyone tie a towel or rope onto their legs?

Posted: Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:43 am
by SLEEPY ANGEL
VeganGal---
WOW--- Are those the kind of weights that are sold to walkers who "power-walk" and
strap the weights on their ankles? What a novel idea to wear them in bed!