Sleep-Related Movement Disorders (SRMD) – What are they?

Sleep-related movement disorders are conditions that disrupt your sleep by causing you to move while you sleep or as you are trying to fall asleep. They make falling asleep, staying asleep, and getting a quality sleep very difficult. These disorders range in severity of movement and detriment to your sleep, but all will leave you sleepy, fatigued, irritable, and to function at your best the next day. The common causes of these disorders are discomfort and movement in the limbs, gnashing and grinding of the teeth, whole-body movements, and cramping. These sleep disorders include periodic limb movements, restless legs syndrome, Bruxism, leg cramps, and related rhythmic movement disorder.

Periodic Limb Movements (PLM)

Periodic limb movements are repetitive limb movements that occur during sleep and cause sleep disruption. These episodes of uncontrollable movement usually occur in the lower limbs every 20-40 seconds. The movements are similar to muscle twitches and jerking movements but last longer, and these episodes can last anywhere from a few minutes to several hours while you sleep. Usually, a person with PLM does not notice the movements, whereas, their sleeping partner can be greatly affected by the movement and have difficulty falling and staying asleep. PLM does not keep you from falling asleep but severely disrupts sleep, causing you to wake up periodically through the night and inhibiting your sleep cycle. This causes you to wake up feeling tired and experience prolonged fatigue throughout the day.

The most common symptoms noted by people with PLM are not leg movements but poor sleep and daytime sleepiness. Many people with PLM are unaware of their leg movements unless their bed partner tells them.

What causes PLM is unknown. Many studies have been conducted on the underlying cause of PLM. However, these studies have not shown any consistent abnormalities. Many scientists believe the cause is related to the nervous system and possible nervous system mishaps. Physicians agree that PLM is not medically serious. That being said, these movements can contribute to chronic insomnia and/or daytime fatigue because of how often they wake both you and your sleeping partner.

PLM is not curable, but it is manageable and a great night’s sleep every night is obtainable. In certain cases, a doctor will prescribe medication to combat the uncontrollable movements and lessen them in severity and duration. If severe enough that the PLM has developed into a disorder and is causing serious disruptions to your sleep then it could become a factor contributing to, depression, bad memory, short attention span, or fatigue.

Restless Legs Syndrome

Restless legs syndrome (RLS) causes you to frequently shift and move your legs due to an uncontrollable urge, usually because of constant tension and uncomfortable, irritating feeling in the legs. Normally this feeling worsens and intensifies in the evening and nighttime hours and is most noticeable when you are sitting trying to relax or lying down for bed. The only immediate relief is to move one’s legs, but this only temporarily eases the uncomfortable sensation.

Restless legs syndrome can be an extremely annoying disruption to your sleep, making it very difficult to fall asleep, and continually waking you through the night. This leaves you bogged down, sleepy, and fatigued the next day and can hinder your performance at work and greatly affect your ability to complete normal everyday activities. RLS can result in insomnia and chronic daytime sleepiness.

Certain cases of RLS have been linked to an underlying condition like an iron deficiency. If you have both RLS and a known iron deficiency than treatment of your underlying deficiency has been shown to reduce RLS signs and symptoms.

However, if you have RLS and do not have an underlying condition then we recommend you try making some specific lifestyle changes to treat your RLS symptoms, such as: taking a bath, heat and cold therapy, practicing good sleep hygiene, daily exercise, and avoiding large amounts of caffeine, especially in the evening.

With treatment, you can finally experience real relief without constantly moving your legs. Your legs can be at peace, and you can finally get some sleep. Those with severe RLS can greatly improve their quality of life as they reduce and even remove the terrible, unrelenting urge to move and get quality sleep. Don’t just learn to live with RLS, take steps to improve your life by getting treatment and the relief you have been searching for.

Bruxism

Bruxism is the involuntary or habitual gnashing, grinding, or clenching of teeth while you are asleep. If you are experiencing Bruxism, then you are more likely to have other sleep disorders as well, like snoring and sleep apnea. If the Bruxism is mild, there may be no treatment required, but if frequent and severe then bruxism can cause jaw disorders, headaches, and severely damaged teeth.

Bruxism occurs when you sleep, making it extremely difficult to know when it has become a problem or even when you are grinding your teeth at all.

Currently, doctors do not fully understand what causes bruxism but believe it could be a combination of physical, psychological, and genetic factors.

However, studies have found that these factors increase your risk of bruxism:

  • Stress. Lots of stress throughout the day can lead to teeth grinding as can anger and frustration.
  • Age. Bruxism is most common in young children and typically dissipates in adults.
  • Personality type. Having an ultra-aggressive, competitive, or hyperactive personality may increase your risk of bruxism.
  • Family members with bruxism. It is common for bruxism to occur in families. If one member has bruxism, then other members of the family may have it too, or they may have a history of bruxism.
  • Other disorders. Bruxism has been found to be associated with some mental health and medical disorders, such as dementia, gastroesophageal reflux disorder, epilepsy, night terrors, sleep apnea, ADHD, and Parkinson’s disease.

The majority of adults do not grind or clench their teeth enough to require medication.  However, if bruxism persists in adults and the problem is severe, treatment options include dental approaches, therapies, and medications to prevent further damage to the teeth and to relieve pain in the jaw along with other discomforts.

Reducing stressors in your life, if you are an adult with bruxism, is the best way to combat this disorder and preserve your teeth. Practicing relaxation strategies like meditation may help. Another simpler fix could be to adjust your mouth and jaw to the proper position to discourage teeth grinding. You can discuss with your dentist what the proper positioning is and ways to practice it.

Leg Cramps

Leg cramps occurring while you are sleeping come on suddenly with intense pain in the leg or foot. Muscles tighten and contract causing great discomfort and sharp pain. You won’t be able to control these cramps, and they can come on at any time while you are sleeping or trying to fall asleep. Not to be confused with RLS, leg cramps are very painful, whereas, RLS is uncomfortable but usually not painful.  In addition to the pain, leg cramps can cause insomnia, making it extremely difficult to fall asleep and may make it difficult to stay asleep. This can be from the pain of the leg while cramping or also from the soreness of your leg or foot post cramp.

To find relief, you can stretch your cramping muscle. However, the affected area may still be sore for a while after. In this case, we recommend that you massage the painful muscle, apply heat treatment, or move your leg or foot where the cramp occurred.

Cramps tend to start suddenly more often than slowly, and muscle cramps may last for just a few seconds, or they can last up to several minutes, ending as quickly as they began. These leg cramps don’t necessarily occur daily or routinely. In some people, they come and go a few times a year. They may be absent for many some years and then come back and begin again a few years later. Sleep-related leg cramps may occur at any age but are much more common in older people. Studies have shown that thirty-three percent of people of 60 years old have these cramps at minimum twice once every two months.

Although there are no specific treatments for sleep-related leg cramps, daily exercise, stretching, and a healthy diet are the best tools to combat sleeping cramps in order to both prevent and alleviate the pain of sleep-related leg cramps.

Sleep-Related Rhythmic Movement Disorder (RMD)

Sleep-related rhythmic movement disorder (RMD) consists of specific repeated body movements that occur while sleeping or as you begin to fall asleep and is commonly observed in children. Sometimes these movements are accompanied with a humming or groaning noise being made.

RMD can be broken up into three categories:

  • Body rocking – This is when the child is seen rocking his or her entire body, either while on their hands or knees or rocking the upper body while sitting up.
  • Headbanging – This tends to happen when the child is lying face down in bed, and they bang their head on their mattress or pillow by lifting their head or upper body and banging back down repeatedly. This can also happen when the child is sitting up, and they bang the back of their head on the wall or headboard.
  • Head rolling – This is when the child rolls their head back and forth repeatedly.

Although this can be very disturbing to observe the typical cases observed in infants and toddlers, there is little risk involved because they are so small they cannot create enough force to cause serious damage. However, this may make quite a bit of noise especially if they are banging into the headboard.

Parents shouldn’t be alarmed if their child is body rocking, headbanging, or head rolling frequently. These are normal actions for infants and toddlers and a usual part of their developing sleep process. Episodes tend to occur as a child is beginning to fall asleep or while asleep and can last up to fifteen minutes. These motions are not considered a disorder unless they cause sleeplessness, are disrupting your child’s sleep, and are making them sleepy or irritated during the day.

Why get treatment?

If you or your sleeping partner have noticed, you are experiencing any of these sleep-related movement disorders, and it is affecting your daily ability to function it’s time to take action and get back the restful sleep you deserve.

Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read on this website. This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice; the Content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.