For over two years my daughter had suffered from pain in her legs and back as she went to bed. She would spend up to an hour turning over and over trying to find a comfortable position to sleep in.
Whenever she travelled by car, after less than five minutes she would have to re-position herself to try and find a more comfortable position. On journeys of more than an hour would be really painful and we'd try and stop so that she could have a short walk and stretch of her legs during the journey.
Bed Frame Leg
Once she started University at the age of 18, she wanted to find out more so went online and discovered a number of articles on restless legs which she read and wondered if this might apply to her.
She was beginning to think that she might have restless leg syndrome but couldn't find any mention of a cure or treatment for her problem.
Eventually it got to the point where she was concerned about long car journeys and the persistent pain was starting to bother her.
As part of my own fitness regime, she joined me on some regular walks. We walked fast and hard for around 45 minutes over undulating ground. The idea was to get fitter, but it had an unexpected outcome that was to be the key to discovering what was causing the nightly pain that Alissa was going through.
One weekend shortly afterwards, she had the most excruciating pain and found it almost impossible to go to sleep.
We decided that it was time to seek medical advice, but not via the doctor. We chose to visit an osteopath, one who I visited regularly to prevent a recurrence of my own back pain and sciatica problems.
Whilst he said that there was nothing that he could do, he did notice a marked difference in the length of her legs, something which we had failed to notice in all her 19 years! Although he said he couldn't be certain, he felt that this was very likely to be the cause of Alissa's nightly pain and discomfort.
As recommended a podiatrist (or foot doctor) and we were able to make an appointment with her to see what she could do.
One week later, we met with the podiatrist who recommended and measured her for an orthotic foot support, which would ensure that her frame put the weight on the foot and that the parts of her body which had been stretched and were causing pain each night would be back in balance.
Apparently she was particularly flat footed and so her weight was not being balanced evenly on her foot, causing stretching of her calf muscles, which complained when they were finally "put to bed" each night.
It's now a few months since my daguther has been using her orthotics insert in her shoes and she's completely free of nightly pain and discomfort.
So, no more "restless legs syndrome" or RLS, no more pain at night, thanks to podiatry and the wonders of orthotics!