Stumbling Onto Vibration Therapy

A few months ago, after feeling overwhelmed by the amount of laundry I had let pile up for 2 weeks in a row due to procrastination, I decided I wasn't doing myself any favors. I made my way to the basement reluctantly to sort through them and hopefully get them all done.

Five minutes in, my rug rats found me! They decided to stay in the basement with me and play. This didn't help as they kept running over my foot with their bikes and such, but I managed to finish sorting the laundry and eventually loaded the first batch into the washer.

I also decided to stay in the basement and watch the kids so they didn't go crashing into anything or, worse, each other. There aren't any seats in my basement, so I chose the next best thing in sight, my washer. I'm quite short, so I quite literally and ungracefully stumbled atop the spinning washer and just sat there watching my kids play.

Expecting a night of restless legs

I must have sat there for about 10 to 15 minutes until that load was done and loaded into the dryer, then we all went back upstairs. By the time I had gone back and forth to finish the entire laundry, it was bedtime.

We went through our nightly routine, and I settled in for another night of wriggling legs and zero sleep. However, something strange happened!

Retracing my steps

As soon as my back touched the sheets, I was out like a light and stayed that way till about 5 hours later, which is the most sleep I've gotten at a go in like, ever. Shocking!

I was so surprised and excited, so I retraced my steps and realized the only thing I did differently was sitting atop my washer the previous day. It was too good to be true, so I tried it again and got the same effect.

Trying proper vibration therapy

It was such an AHA moment I called my doctor. He said some studies show that vibration can significantly lower the symptoms of restless legs syndrome. He suggested trying proper vibration therapy, and I was up for it, of course.

We decided we would try vibration therapy once a week for a start and see what happens. For a while, it worked great, and I was sleeping better at night, especially if I kept my appointment in the evening.

Scaling back because of an old injury

After a month, I started noticing that I slept great each time I had vibration therapy, but when I woke up, my back would hurt so much that I could barely get up from the bed or walk properly. Turns out, because I had a slipped disc about 10 years ago that never properly healed, whenever my body experienced vibration, it aggravated my bad back.

I was deeply sad about this because I was excited to have finally found something that helped my RLS. I insisted I didn't want to stop vibration therapy. Now, I do it only once a month. I still feel the back pain, but the good sleep is quite worth the pain.

Sharing because it might be a great treatment plan for someone reading this. Talk to your doctor first, of course, to see if it is compatible with your health. Or maybe just sit on your washing machine.

Interested in reading more about alternative treatmetns for symptom relief? Explore our featured collection on lifestyle changes and alternative treatments for RLS.