Some good news at last :-)

[Pluto46]

Am in England - Honiton - at the moment, and had a session with a holistic therapist who massaged my back, and really put pressure on what I think are called "trigger points" for minutes at a time. She said my muscles were were stiff as a suit of armour, and recommended treatment by an osteopath. Anyway, yesterday was the first day in years without a single nerve twinge - although I can still feel they're wanting to send impulses. The trip from Norway last Tuesday was absolute hell, with twinges every 18 seconds or so. Anyway, I'll give a fuller report when I get back to Norway.

Chris

[LotteM]

Oh Chris, that is so good to read. I do hope for you this is the source of your twitches and rls and that it will get resolved completely this way. I assume you will jave to have follow up consults with repeats of the same or similar treatment?

[Pluto46 in reply to LotteM]

absolutely. I'll be getting in touch with a local osteopath when I get back, and may explore acupuncture and other alternative approaches. The Honiton therapist really bored down into knots along my backbone, buttocks, neck and head. Jolly painful, but a good sort of pain, if you see what I mean. Can't wait to get back and get some more body work done. She also recommended yoga, which I might try if I can find somebody who's any good.

best,

Chris

[Madlegs1 in reply to Pluto46]

Have a look at Theracane on YouTube.

I got one and it is incredible at diy massage--- especially those hard to reach places on the back. Has totally changed my life -- and much less strain on the pocket in physio fees.

[Pluto46 in reply to Madlegs1]

Hi Madlegs, I've done a search for the Theracane - there are quite a lot of different ones - and viewed a few YT videos, and am going to buy one today. Sounds very promising. Thanks for the tip!

best,

Chris

[involuntarydancer in reply to Pluto46]

I LOVE my theracane. I use it to alleviate knots in my upper back. Never thought of it for rls relief. I’d be very interested to hear what you do with it for that (haven’t been able to phrase this without it sounding quite naughty). The one I have is shaped a bit like an umbrella. It’s by miles the most effective self massage tool I found (non-naughty), including a very expensive electrical one.

[Pluto46 in reply to involuntarydancer]

I've just ordered one on Ebay, free shipping from Malaysia. God knows when it'll arrive. Anyway, the osteopath recommended pressing my back and behind on a bandy ball for five minutes at a time against a wall. When the cane gets here, I'll use it for that, unless some other ideas occur to me in the meantime.

best,

Chris

[Madlegs1 in reply to Pluto46]

I put the ball in a sock- which gives better control when your back is against the wall.😊

A tennis ball or any such ball will do. Squash ball is good for small tight knots.

[Hidden]

Great to hear!

[Hooc]

Great news glad it's working for you. I had similar treatment some months ago and got relief at the time didn't follow it up should have done similar to the positional release therapy provided by Dr Monk Colchester

[Pluto46 in reply to Hooc]

I went to my first osteotherapy session yesterday, and although I got the sense that the practitioner was not as intuitive or practised as the therapist in Honiton, she did apply enormous pressure to parts of my lower back and groin areas. She also told me to go for an hour's walk in the forest everyday - which I dutifully did when I got home, and almost did myself in slipping on a steep incline full of pointy rocks split asunder by time and tide. I managed to get hold of a branch of a bush, and was hanging on for dear life when I realized the branch was dead and could snap at any moment. Managed eventually to drag myself up and hobble home.

She also instructed me to buy a bandy ball, and use it to exert pressure on points in my backside where the restlessness sensation started out. Went to a local sports shop, which only stocks them in the bandy season, which isn't now. I find a nice roly-poly stone on my forest adventure, but lost it in the fall.

The therapist also said she didn't want to waste time undoing muscle knots - which was something I could do myself with the bandy ball she seemed to be implying. She wanted to get moving on my circulation. I'll ask her why next time, although I suppose the answer is pretty obvious.

Was there any immediate result of her ministrations? Not much. The effect of the Honiton session had worn off by the time I took the plane home, and my right leg was playing up something awful for the three hours or so we sat in the cabin - not all of it in the air either. For a third of the time we were in a queue at Gatwick waiting to take off.

When I sat down in my trusty, but broken-by-old-age recliner yesterday evening, the sensations returned nearly with a vengeance. I did in fact have an hour or so without symptoms which I used to start reading the book I've mentioned previously, edited by Chowdhuri, Odin and Olanow, Restless Legs Syndrome, 2004, and sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline, which I know will make some people suspicious. If that's what it took to get the book published - let's face it, circulation has probably never been great - than I'm fine with that. If i find any misinformation, I'll let you know.

By coincidence, the International RLS Study Group Annual Meeting 2018 is today, June 2. If anyone's going, a report would be nice. They're presenting the Wayne Hening Young Investigator Awards today as well. Be interesting to see a) whether anyone has won one, and b) what for.

regards from a blisteringly hot Norway,

Chris