What is the difference between Restless Leg Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Limb Movements of Sleep (PLMS)?
RLS occurs in waking patients, and PLMS occurs in sleeping patients. Up to 10% of people experience a restless feeling, particularly in the legs, which usually becomes bothersome during the late evening hours. Patients describe numbness, cramping, or other symptoms, which improve when they move their legs. These symptoms often interfere with sleep onset and often lead to long awakenings after sleep onset. About 10% of people may have regular, repeated, uncontrollable leg jerks as they sleep, and the resulting arousals disturb sleep. Most people with RLS or PLMS have both disorders, and medical treatment usually is effective.
