Jumping leg syndrome

OUESTION: I also have a patient with restless leg, or rather jumping leg syndrome. Her doctor has her on Mirapexin a Parkinson’s treatment, this allows her to get to sleep. It is worst when she is lying on her back. When I massage the legs they don’t jump but react to marma treatment. I put her on anti VP diet and anti V lifestyle. with V spices and daily massage of legs and lower back. I have never seen such a serious case before. Is this Ama?

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The jumping leg syndrome is a problem of apana vayu.

Yes, in many cases the problem can be due to ama that is blocking the channels (srotamsi). Therefore, the problem can be caused by any of the 3 doshas:

– vataja - irregular symptoms, stabbing pain or no pain
– pittaja - burning pain or inflammation in lower back
– kaphaja - edema, bloating, swelling or heaviness in pelvic area

Ama can mix with any of the 3 doshas and cause apana to move in a wrong or erratic manner. This usually disrupts vyana vayu after some time and then it becomes more difficult to treat.

It can also be a nirama condition and only due to high dosha. In this case there would not be signs of ama on tongue or in the pulse.

It can also be a secondary effect from another pathology. It is best to find out if this is the case by normal examinations with a neurologist. If they cannot find anything then it is a problem only of apana moving downward in a wrong way.

It is best to avoid marma treatments at first unless you are very good at diagnosis and treatment through them. Marma therapy can be very effective to balance apana and vyana; it can also make it worse.

TREATMENT: use oil massage daily if possible to control vata dosha and apana. In order to get results in difficult cases you need to also use local heat (svedhana) on the lower back with oil (snehana) either during the massage or after the massage. This will control apana faster and stop the problem.

The local snehana and svedhana treatments can also be taught to the patient who can do them at home before sleeping for 20 mins. Use sesame oil or a medicated oil to reduce vata, or Ayurvedic oils with ashwagandha or bala in them.

An anti-vata lifestyle is very important to help this treatment work. This means the use of oil Nasya daily and doing 5 to 10 mins. of Nadishodhana breathing dialy. Bija mantra can be helpful in chronic cases - use Vata reducing Bija mantras like Sham or Ram for 5 to 10 mins. one time per day. Reducing Vata filestyle is explained in Vol. 3 of my textbooks.

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