Key Points
- There are over 200 causes of peripheral neuropathy
- Peripheral neuropathy primarily affects the arms, hands, legs, and feet
- Typical symptoms of neuropathy include numbness, tingling, burning sensations, pins and needles, decreased sensitivity, increased sensitivity, decreased balance, and many more
- Most treatment options aim to just mask and manage symptoms
- The best way to address neuropathy is by getting to the cause of the problem to help heal and reverse neuropathy
- Find out why we have a 70-100% success rate depending on the severity of your neuropathy
What is peripheral neuropathy?
The nerves outside of your brain and spinal cord are your peripheral nerves and these are the nerves that are affected by peripheral neuropathy. These nerves feed out to the arms, hands, legs, and feet. Peripheral neuropathy occurs when there is damage to these nerves. The peripheral nervous system is responsible for sending information from your body to the brain and spinal cord and vice versa. Peripheral neuropathy can be caused by over 200 different factors. Some culprits include trauma, autoimmune diseases, vitamin deficiencies, diabetes, infections like Lyme disease, Epstein-Barr virus, and shingles, inherited disorders like Charcot-Marie-Tooth, tumors, chemotherapy, bone marrow disorders like myeloma and lymphoma, kidney disease, liver disease, alcoholism, medications, and many more.
What to look for if you think you or a loved one has peripheral neuropathy.
People who struggle with peripheral neuropathy typically describe the pain as stabbing, burning, tingling, pain. There may also be feelings of tightness or pressure present as well. The symptoms can start gradually with numbness and tingling in your feet or hands and can slowly spread into your arms and legs if it is not addressed. Each nerve in your body has a specific function and your peripheral nerves are no different. Therefore, the types of symptoms depend on the type of nerves affected. Our nerves are typically classified into 3 main categories. We have sensory nerves that are responsible for sensation which includes things like pain, temperature, touch, and vibration. We also have motor nerves that are responsible for controlling movement and muscles. Finally, we have autonomic nerves which are responsible for blood pressure, digestion, and heart rate. Signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may include:
- Jabbing, throbbing, burning, sharp pain
- Extreme sensitivity
- Numbness and tingling
- Decreased coordination
- Falling more frequently
- Weakness
- Pain during activities that shouldn’t normally cause pain
- Decreased sensation
- Lack of normal feeling
Typical treatments, outcomes, and expectations.
Peripheral neuropathy leads to many complications. Due to the decreased balance and proprioception, the risk of falls and serious injuries is increased when peripheral neuropathy is experienced in the feet. It is also easy to injure an area that is affected by peripheral neuropathy and not know that it is injured due to the decreased sensation of those nerves. This can lead to injuries becoming worsened, it increases the risk of infections, and can cause more balance issues. The typical course of action to treat peripheral neuropathy is to use anti-seizure medications, anti-depressants, topical creams, and pain relievers. Not only do none of those options get to the cause of peripheral neuropathy to treat the issue but most, if not all, come with their own set of side effects that wreak havoc on the body and can cause more harm than good. If peripheral neuropathy cannot be managed using drugs and medications, then a common next step is to consider the amputation of the limb. This not only cannot be reversed but you can be left with phantom limb pain which happens after a body part is removed and the brain and body believe the limb is still attached. This leads to the symptoms sometimes staying or even potentially getting worse than they were before the amputation. The best option is to avoid all of this, get to the cause of the issue, address it, and begin the healing process naturally without the use of drugs and surgery.
Our treatments, outcomes, and expectations.
Treating, healing, and reversing peripheral neuropathy takes a multi-factorial approach to health. We do this by addressing your body in 3 different avenues. First, we need to take a look neurologically to see how much sensory loss is present and to see which nerve fibers are affected. Next, we need to assess you structurally to see how alignment may be playing a role in your decreased nerve function. Finally, we will assess you metabolically. This is to ensure that there aren’t any internal fires that are causing unnecessary inflammation within the body that will contribute to your peripheral neuropathy and delay your healing. Because of our processes and procedures we have a 70%-100% success rate depending on the severity of sensory loss and progression of the neuropathy. To find out if we can help you, contact us here https://www.abundantlifechiropractor.com/neuropathy/. We look forward to meeting you!
