Neuropathy: What Is It and How Chiropractic Treatment Can Help

Neuropathy is a medical condition where the patient experiences a degeneration of nerve cells. You may have heard it called peripheral neuropathy, which currently affects about 20 million Americans. Some conditions leading to neuropathy are diabetes, alcoholism, spinal injuries, tumors, autoimmune, or hereditary conditions. Certain medications can also cause neuropathy as an unfortunate side-effect.

You may notice the development of this condition if you start feeling tingling, pain or numbness in your feet and/or hands. The pain and tingling sensations may occur throughout the day or the week. If you have noticed this, it is crucial to see a doctor as soon as possible. If untreated, it will significantly affect the quality of your life as it is a degenerative disorder that will continue to worsen over time. It could even lead to an amputation of one of your limbs.

What Are the Symptoms?

The symptoms will vary with your health and the extent of the condition. But the most common symptoms are pain, burning, and tingling sensations in your feet and/or hands. Another symptom that may be common in all cases is the feeling of pins and needles when you get in cold water or touch something hot. Other symptoms are:

Balance problems and feeling unsteady on your feet
Leg cramping
Pain when walking
Sharp, electrical-like pain
Difficulty sleeping because of foot and leg discomfort

How Is Neuropathy Treated:

Currently, the main medicines recommended for neuropathy include:

Pain relievers. Over-the-counter pain medications, such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, can relieve mild symptoms. For more-severe symptoms, your doctor might prescribe painkillers. Medications containing opioids, such as tramadol (Conzip, Ultram, others) or oxycodone (Oxycontin, Roxicodone, others), can lead to dependence and addiction, so these drugs generally are not prescribed unless all other treatments fail.
Anti-seizure medications. Medications such as gabapentin (Gralise, Neurontin, Horizant) and pregabalin (Lyrica), developed to treat epilepsy, may relieve nerve pain. Side effects can include drowsiness and dizziness.
Topical treatments. Capsaicin cream, which contains a substance found in hot peppers, can cause modest improvements in peripheral neuropathy symptoms. You might have skin burning and irritation where you apply the cream, but this usually lessens over time. Some people, however, can't tolerate it.Lidocaine patches are another treatment you apply to your skin that might offer pain relief. Side effects can include drowsiness, dizziness and numbness at the site of the patch.
Antidepressants. Certain tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline, doxepin (Silenor, Zonalon) and nortriptyline (Pamelor), have been found to help relieve pain by interfering with chemical processes in your brain and spinal cord that cause you to feel pain.The serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor duloxetine (Cymbalta, Drizalma Sprinkle) and the extended-release antidepressants venlafaxine (Effexor XR) and desvenlafaxine (Pristiq) also might ease the pain of peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes.Side effects of antidepressants may include dry mouth, nausea, drowsiness, dizziness, changes in appetite, weight gain and constipation.

How We Help Our Patients with Neuropathy:

We offer a scientific, 4-step, proven approach that heals your nerves and reverses your symptoms by:

Increasing blood supply to your nerves.
Repairing and re-educating your nerves.
Increasing the blood flow in your feet or hands.
Increasing your balance and mobility.

Our Protocol is Non-Invasvie and there are No Harsh Side Effects

Chiropractic care also improves alignment to help the body heal and communicate better. One of the main focuses of chiropractic care is the spine, which is vital to the central nervous system. The adjustments chiropractors make improve the function of the nerves, even in joint adjustments.

For more on neuropathy treatment, call Castelli Chiropractic Center at (904) 320-0409 to reach our office in Jacksonville, Florida.