Enhancing Management of Restless Legs Syndrome through Complementary Physical Therapy: Toward Better Outcomes in a Distressing Sensorimotor Disorder

¹Independent Scholar, Lahore 54792, Pakistan

²Department of Family Practice, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

³Department of Medicine, Avicenna Medical College, Lahore, Pakistan

⁴Physical Therapist, Hameed Latif Teaching Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan

*Corresponding author: Prof. Iqbal Akhtar Khan, MBBS, DTM, FACTM, PhD, Independent Scholar, Lahore 54792, Pakistan, ORCID: 0000-0002-2363-9486, E-mail: [email protected]

Received Date: August 21, 2025

Published Date: October 31, 2025

Citation: Khan IA, et al. (2025). Enhancing Management of Restless Legs Syndrome through Complementary Physical Therapy: Toward Better Outcomes in a Distressing Sensorimotor Disorder. Mathews J Neurol. 9(1):33.

Copyrights: Khan IA, et al. © (2025).

ABSTRACT

Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) is a multifactorial neurological disorder with a substantial global burden. While pharmacotherapy is still the primary treatment, long-term medication use can lead to complications such as augmentation, tolerance, and other adverse events. This narrative review explores the role of complementary physical therapy in managing RLS, evaluating its integration with drug-based strategies to improve symptom control, enhance function, and improve quality of life. Growing evidence suggests that adding physical therapy to the treatment plan for RLS can offer several benefits, including improved dopaminergic activity, enhanced endorphin release, reduced muscle tension, and better sleep quality. When used alongside pharmacotherapy, physical therapy may decrease symptom severity, reduce the necessary medication dose, and prevent pharmacological complications. It also addresses psychosocial factors like anxiety, depression, and impaired daily functioning, which are often overlooked in RLS management. An integrative approach that combines targeted pharmacotherapy with individualized physical therapy provides a promising, patient-centered strategy for managing RLS. Future clinical research should focus on large-scale, controlled trials to define optimal physical therapy protocols, standardize interdisciplinary care, and set up patient selection criteria. In the meantime, clinicians should be encouraged to adopt a multidisciplinary, individualized management strategy to refine outcomes for patients with this distressing sensorimotor disorder.

Keywords: Restless Legs Syndrome, Willis-Ekbom Disease, Sensorimotor Disorders, Complementary Physical Therapy, Massage Therapy.