Relatyv

One of the most difficult aspects of peripheral neuropathy is understanding and explaining the condition to a patient who is experiencing its debilitating effects for the first time. As patients learn of the condition and as they experience its numbing, tingling, and burning effects in their feet and hands, they are more likely to seek effective treatment. Unfortunately, many patients are told that their peripheral neuropathy is a result of their diabetes or severe injury, and they can either choose between various medications, painkillers, invasive procedures and implants, or surgery. Some of those “solutions” treat the pain momentarily while the others can have drastic effects that last for a lifetime. 

In the end, patients want one thing: a treatment that is safe, effective, lasting, affordable, and accessible. They want to find a treatment center that tackles the issue at its source. But without a firm understanding of the condition, patients may turn to alternative methods of treatment that have little to no effect on pain. Worse, some patients will turn to methods that worsen the pain of peripheral neuropathy. The first step to treating peripheral neuropathy should be to understand the condition and how it works.

Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy In Terms Of Pain

Peripheral neuropathy is most commonly identified as pain, burning, and tingling sensations, or loss of feeling in the extremities. Since our nervous system stems from our brains and out to the tips of our fingers and toes, the most common signs of peripheral neuropathy occur at the ends or periphery of our bodies. Patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy often have trouble with other qualities of life like movement, balance, and sleeping and experience frustration and confusion with the loss of sensation or pain that they experience. 

Since most patients experience peripheral neuropathy in their toes and feet, loss of balance is a common symptom that can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Many patients also experience difficulty standing from a low-seated position or getting out of bed in the morning or rising from the toilet and any number of situations that create a diminished quality of life. 

While some patients experience less severe, but equally frustrating symptoms such as a lack in coordination or weakness, others will experience debilitating cramps and spasms.

Nerves Affected By Peripheral Neuropathy

Simply looking at the symptoms caused by peripheral neuropathy isn’t enough to understand this condition. This is because each patient’s life will be affected in a unique way depending on which nerves are damaged and what part of the body is experiencing the symptoms. 

To understand this, let’s take a step back. 

Stemming from the Greek terms for “nerve” (neuro) and “condition” (pathos), neuropathy is simply a word used to describe “nerve damage” – a disorder that is estimated to affect 2.4-8% of the population. This condition commonly affects the nerves located outside of the spine and the brain, or the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). 

In particular, there are three different types of nerves in the PNS – sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves – each with essential signaling roles. Let’s look at them below and clarify what happens when neuropathy affects the different nerve types. 

Sensory Nerves

Sensory nerves are the conduits between the spine and the limbs, muscles, and organs like the skin. They carry signals related to sensations such as pain, temperature, and touch. These signals are then processed by the brain, which uses them to get a sense of the surrounding world. 

When sensory nerves are damaged, their ability to transmit signals to the brain is inhibited. In turn, you might begin to experience unfamiliar or abnormal sensations, such as tingling, burning, stabbing, and numbness. 

Sensory nerves in the hands and feet are among the first ones to be affected by neuropathy. This is because neuropathy follows a principle called axonal degeneration (or the dying-back phenomenon). This process begins by affecting the longer nerves and the extremities that are the furthest from the spine (i.e.: the ones in the hands and feet), in order to protect more important nerves, such as the ones close to vital organs.

Motor Nerves

The second nerve type in the PNS is motor nerves. Motor nerves have the role of carrying motor signals to the brain. They are in charge of enabling voluntary muscle movements and they allow you to coordinate the motion of arms, legs, feet, hands, etc. 

When these nerves are affected by neuropathy, you are likely to experience spasms, muscle cramps, and other involuntary muscle movements such as fasciculations. Damaged motor nerves can also lead to impaired coordination and loss of balance. 

Autonomic Nerves

The autonomic nerves in the peripheral nervous systems are responsible for carrying information to the spine and brain that relate to the functioning of autonomic processes. Autonomic functions are the ones we don’t have direct control over, such as breathing, digesting, and sweating. 

When autonomic nerves are damaged, you might experience abnormal bodily activities such as digestion issues, erratic heartbeat, and excessive sweating. In severe cases, patients whose autonomic nerves are affected by neuropathy might require medical interventions and devices such as pacemakers to re-establish the normal functioning of organs such as the heart.

Nerve Pain Symptoms Related To Peripheral Neuropathy

A lot of the symptoms a patient with neuropathy will experience depend on the type of nerves affected and the area of the body where the peripheral nervous system has been damaged. However, most cases of neuropathy share similar symptoms, which include the ones below:

Unexpected Pain

Unexpected pain and burning or stabbing sensations are common indicators that sensory nerves have been damaged. Neuralgia – or nerve pain – derives from the fact that damaged nerves become more active and begin to transmit improper signals to the brain.

This results in pain that starts suddenly and in response to stimuli that should normally be painless, such as holding a cup. Neuralgia tends to become more evident at night, when there are fewer distractions, thus leading to sleep disturbances and deprivation. This complication is estimated to affect nearly 70% of people with neuropathy. In turn, a lack of sleep can lead to fatigue, inhibited productivity, and impaired daytime functions. 

Numbness And Tingling

Numbness and tingling stem from a similar cause to unexpected pain: when sensory nerves are damaged, they are unable to transmit signals relating to pain, touch, and temperature to the brain. 

Although numbness and tingling might be mild sensations at first, they can lead to a cascade of complications. For example, in diabetic patients with neuropathy, numbness in their feet can prevent them from feeling pain, such as the one from a wound that is becoming infected. 

The degeneration of tissue can, in turn, lead to ulcers and, in severe cases, limb amputation. Currently, ulcers caused by diabetic neuropathy account for 50-75% of nontraumatic limb amputations. 

Sensitivity To Touch

Excessive sensitivity to touch, known as allodynia, is a common type of neuropathic pain. This symptom causes people with nerve damage to experience severe pain from stimuli that shouldn’t provoke pain normally, such as brushing their hair or wearing a soft t-shirt. 

Allodynia affects between 15-50% of people with neuropathy, and this excessive sensitivity to touch can impact all aspects of an individual’s personal and professional life. In severe cases, allodynia can trigger anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions. 

Muscle Weakness

When motor nerves are affected by neuropathy, you might be unable to properly move your limbs or extremities. For example, your hands and feet might be affected by involuntary muscle movements, but won’t respond to voluntary ones. 

If left unaddressed, this condition can cause the muscles to become underused which, in turn, can lead to atrophy (the shrinking of muscle mass) and paralysis. These complications can impact other aspects of a patient’s life and cause reduced mobility, impaired coordination, and a greater risk of falls and injuries. 

Fuzzy Sensations

Paresthesia, which is often described as a skin-crawling, itching, or fuzzy sensation, is a symptom of neuropathy that arises when the sensory nerves in the skin and extremities are impaired. 

Although these sensations aren’t usually painful, they can interfere with a person’s normal functioning and manifest themselves suddenly and without warning. 

Heat Intolerance

Depending on whether the autonomic or sensory nerves are affected, you might become unable to experience temperature changes or regulate your body’s response to heat and cold. This can translate into excessive sweating or poor body temperature control. 

Additionally, if sensory nerves are unable to carry temperature signals to the brain, you might inadvertently expose your skin and extremities to extreme heat or cold and report severe injuries.

Why Proper Diagnosis Is Important

Neuropathy isn’t always permanent. For example, when triggered by medications or chemotherapy, nerve pain might disappear at the end of treatment, and nerves are given the chance to regenerate. 

However, in most cases, neuropathy is a permanent and degenerative condition that can lead to irreversible malfunctioning of the PNS if left unaddressed. Because of this, it is crucial to accurately diagnose nerve disorders as the first symptoms begin to appear, and administer effective treatment. 

This is particularly important in high-risk people, such as individuals with diabetes. Indeed, the prevalence of diabetic neuropathy can be as high as 51% in diabetic patients. And, for these patients, the risk of developing severe complications (i.e.: foot ulcers and amputation) increases alongside how long their blood sugar levels are inadequately managed. 

Ultimately, tackling neuropathic pain in a timely manner is key to limiting nerve damage, preventing life-threatening or disabling complications, and easing the symptoms of nerve pain.

The Relationship Between Nerve Pain And Diabetes

The uncomfortable and elusive symptoms of peripheral neuropathy often cause hopelessness in patients who may not understand how or why it relates to their diabetes and insulin resistance. Knowing what is happening to your body and its primary causes is the first step in seeking and understanding effective treatment. 

So, why does it happen to patients who are also experiencing the insulin resistance associated with diabetes?

How Peripheral Neuropathy Affects Diabetics

To use a simple analogy, think of your body’s blood vessels as a river and picture the body’s insulin levels as a dam that has been built to keep out waves of sugar from damaging the body. If the body experiences a higher intake of sugar, insulin must be used to build the dam higher. Over time, the level of blood sugar may decrease, and the insulin may be lowered to match it. However, if the body is unable to handle a high level of sugar in the blood, the sugar will spill over the dam of insulin and flood the body’s normally functioning systems with damaging complications. Although this analogy doesn’t effectively explain the complex interaction of sugar to insulin, it helps to understand the basic idea of how we need insulin to keep our blood sugars under control and prevent excess sugar crystals in the blood from causing destructive damage in the small spaces and vessels in the peripheral areas of the body.

What The Research Says

Physicians Liumeng Jian and Guangda Yang confirmed in a recent study in 2020 that “Diabetes-related metabolic factors such as increased glucose, decreased insulin, and increased lipids produce changes underlying the development of diabetic neuropathy. Injury to neurons, microvascular endothelium, and Schwann cells in DM contributes to the pathogenesis of neuropathy” (2020). These changes associated with diabetes and insulin resistance are damaging to patients’ neurons (the cells responsible for communicating sensory experiences to the brain). The damage inflicted on neurons can account for patients losing feeling in their toes, feet, and sometimes fingers or hands. 

Some of the other changes mentioned by Jian and Yang include damage to microvascular endothelium (our small blood vessels that run along our bodies next to our peripheral nerve system) and damage to Schwann cells. Schwann cells function much like the body’s neurons, but they have the specific function of maintaining and regenerating peripheral nerves. Without our neurons that communicate sensations to our nervous system, microvascular endothelium that supply blood to our peripheral nerve system, and Schwann cells that maintain peripheral nerves, we will experience the contributing pain, numbness, and burning sensations associated with peripheral neuropathy.

Does Diabetes Cause Peripheral Neuropathy?

The pathogenesis (or development) of peripheral neuropathy is directly tied to our body’s ability to process and maintain blood sugar and its level of resistance to insulin. Although the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is diabetes, patients without diabetes may experience symptoms of peripheral neuropathy primarily due to metabolic related nerve damage, nerve injuries, medication induced neuropathy, and other various causes.

Other Causes Of Nerve Pain

Currently, a diagnosis of diabetes represents the greatest risk factor for neuropathy. However, the peripheral nervous system is incredibly complex and co-dependent on other processes, such as circulatory functions. Because of this, there might be other, sometimes less obvious causes behind nerve pain. 

Let’s look at these in detail below. 

Injuries

Nerves in the PNS can become damaged or severed as a consequence of a traumatic injury. For example, if you have reported a bone fracture, torn ligament, or ruptured tendon, or have been involved in a collision, the nerves in the affected area might have become compressed, stretched, crushed, or detached from the spinal cord. 

Infections

Some infections caused by bacteria and viruses can damage nerves, often due to the high levels of inflammation that arise in the body as an immune system response. 

Some of the most common infections that can lead to nerve damage include:

• HIV/AIDS
• Lyme disease
• Shingles
• Hepatitis B and C
• Leprosy
• Diphtheria 
• Epstein-Barr virus
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease (hereditary)

Statistics show that up to 60% of people diagnosed with HIV also suffer from neuropathy. 

Medications

Taking certain medications can have a toxic effect on the peripheral nervous system, which can lead to nerve damage. Some of the most common medications that include neuropathy as a side effect include:

• Medications to control blood pressure (i.e.: Amiodarone and Hydralazine)
• Medications used to fight infections (i.e.: Chloroquine, Dapsone, or Didanosine for HIV)
• Drugs used to fight autoimmune diseases (i.e.: Etanercept and Infliximab)
• Chemotherapy medications (i.e.: Cisplatin and Docetaxel)

Currently, 19-85% of chemotherapy patients experience nerve pain. 

Alcoholism

Taking excessive quantities of alcohol over a long period or suffering from an Alcohol Use Disorder can cause neuropathy. This is because the toxins contained in alcohol (and in nicotine) can lead to the degeneration of the protective sheath that coats the nerves (myelin). 

According to estimations, this kind of damage appears in 25-66% of people with an alcohol use disorder. 

Idiopathic Peripheral Neuropathy

Although, over the past years, research has been able to identify the major causes and risk factors of neuropathy, around 20% to 30% of cases of nerve pain remain idiopathic.

Idiopathic neuropathy has no obvious underlying condition and can develop spontaneously.

Why Most Treatments For Nerve Pain Don’t Always Work

As we have seen above, there are a myriad of symptoms and causes associated with neuropathy. Because of this nerve pain remains a clinically challenging condition to address and treat. 

Generally, healthcare professionals will recommend one of three treatment options: medications, physical therapy, or surgery. 

NSAIDs and opioids can certainly ease nerve pain in the short term, but they can have severe side effects in the long term, including dependency and addiction. On the other hand, physical therapy can help those whose nerve pain is stemming from traumatic injury and conditions such as arthritis. 

Lastly, surgery is sometimes recommended if nerve damage is caused by improper body mechanics, deformities, or pressure (such as in the case of carpal and cubital tunnel syndromes). 

These treatment options can have an analgesic effect in the short term, free affected nerves from excessive pressure and compression, and improve the body’s mechanics. However, no treatment will be truly efficient without addressing the underlying cause of neuropathy. 

Tackling conditions such as diabetes and alcoholism and reducing risk factors such as obesity and a sedentary lifestyle can help people prevent or keep at bay nerve damage. Additionally, new nonsurgical treatments can support the regeneration of damaged tissue and restore overall health – let’s look at these treatment options below.

A Viable Solution For Nerve Pain

Regardless of the causes of peripheral neuropathy, patients want a safe and effective treatment and Relatyv offers a next generation proprietary chronic pain management solution called Neuralgesia that can effectively treat a wide range of chronic pain conditions, notably peripheral neuropathy pain. Hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy through Neuralgesia treatment program. Patients suffering from chronic pain can relieve pain, restore health, and magnify quality of life without medications, surgery, or invasive procedures.

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few sessions. Neuralgesia is a combination of specialized hydration therapy and high pulse electrical stimulation that effectively relieves pain and magnifies quality of life. Neuralgesia is not only used to treat peripheral neuropathy pain but a wide range of other chronic pain conditions such as joint pain, back pain, plantar fasciitis, fibromyalgia and pain stemming from accidents or surgery. Neuralgesia is the next generation of chronic pain management as it addresses not only pain relief but health restoration and creates a magnified quality of life for patients in chronic pain.

If you have been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance, you are probably familiar with the term “peripheral neuropathy”. It may have been mentioned by your doctor, a friend or family member suffering from the condition, or heard from a pharma ad. However, until you experience life with peripheral neuropathy, you may not anticipate the ups and downs the condition presents. For those experiencing the condition of peripheral neuropathy for the first time, what can you expect? When and how will things become manageable? And where can you find lasting relief from the pain?

Most Common Negative Impact: Lack Of Sleep

When questioning patients with peripheral neuropathy, one of the most common complaints is the lack of sleep from the constant tingling pain in the fingers and toes. While this is one of the most common side effects of neuropathy, it is also one of the highest recurring, and unfortunately, you can expect even worse albeit intermittent side effects. 

Patients who struggle with falling asleep because of the tingling may turn to sleep pills or aids and painkillers like ibuprofen which can be habit-forming, addictive, and potentially dangerous. Over time, the lack of sleep has caused many patients to feel “hopeless” about their condition. Many patients claim that the constant irritating pain made them depend on pain medication and sleep aids that they would rather leave alone.

Other Negative Effect: Loss Of Balance

The second non-pain side effect of peripheral neuropathy is a loss of balance. Because of the nerve damage that sets in from the condition of peripheral neuropathy, a loss of feeling is common, and patients report that the ensuing numbness can cause them to lose balance. 

One patient from Glendale, Arizona told us about a time when the numbness was so bad that he lost his balance. Because of his age, his fall resulted in hospitalization. Hospitalizations related to falls due to peripheral neuropathy are actually a common cause of hospitalized falls. 

This patient also told us that he uses a cane around the house, “just in case the numbness creeps up” on him. It’s not just the pain or tingling but the numbness that can result in something even more dangerous like a fall, broken bones, and hospitalization. So, while younger patients experiencing the painful conditions of peripheral neuropathy may not find a loss of balance too serious, an increase in age increases the risk associated which is why it is a more serious side effect of peripheral neuropathy.

Coping With Peripheral Neuropathy

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are often not immediately outwardly noticeable, which makes this condition an “invisible illness”. Undeniably, this makes diagnosing and treating peripheral neuropathy a challenge – but it does not make the symptoms you are experiencing any less real. 

Nerve damage is a degenerative disease that may begin with mild discomfort and numbness. But, over time, the symptoms of this condition can progress into disabling pain, abnormal sensations, and extreme fatigue, which can impact all aspects of your life.

That’s why, if you have neuropathy, it is invaluable to learn about the coping strategies available and use them to manage the emotional, physical, and psychological challenges that arise when living with neuropathy. 

Below, we’ll look at the complications of peripheral neuropathy and at how you can effectively address them.

Physical Challenges

One of the first symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is mild pain and numbness in the hands and fingers. But for how minor, these symptoms should not be left unaddressed. 

Indeed, peripheral neuropathy is a condition that progresses with time and is length-dependent. According to the dying-back principle, the nerves that are the longest and farthest from the spinal cord – the ones in the fingers and toes – are the first ones to be affected. This is due to the body’s attempt to protect more important nerves closer to vital organs. 

If untreated, neuropathy can degenerate into a severe condition that prevents important nerve signals from reaching the brain. Over time, the symptoms may grow in intensity, which can lead to complications such as the following:

• Severe numbness (often localized in the hands, feet, fingers, and toes): The inability to feel touch or pain can cause minor wounds to become infected, which can lead to gangrene and ulcers. If you are unable to feel temperature, you may also damage parts of the body by inadvertently exposing them to extreme heat or cold. 
• Extreme sensitivity to touch: Damaged sensory nerves can misfire and cause you to experience extreme pain in response to stimuli that should only be mildly uncomfortable (hyperesthesia). Peripheral neuropathy can also cause allodynia, a condition that causes you to feel pain when performing actions that should be painless, such as brushing your teeth. 
• Loss of coordination and balance: Damage to motor and sensory nerves can impact the brain’s ability to process signals relating to your body’s position in the surrounding space. This, coupled with numbness and involuntary muscle movements, can put you at greater risk of falls and accidents. 
• Muscle shrinking: If motor nerves are affected, you may experience numbness and involuntary muscle movements like cramps and spasms. The inability to control your muscles as you normally do may lead to underuse which, in time, translates into muscle weakness and shrinking. 
• Impaired bodily functions: When autonomic nerves are damaged, nerve signals relating to bodily functions are unable to reach the brain, which puts you at risk of heartbeat irregularities, loss of bladder and bowel control, and digestive issues.

These symptoms alone are certainly debilitating, but the complications they lead to can be even more impactful. For example, extreme sensitivity to touch may cause you to feel pain at the lightest touch and prevent you from falling and staying asleep.

This can impact your interpersonal and professional relationships, and lead to extreme fatigue, loss of productivity, and inability to concentrate. Studies have shown that nearly 70% of those with neuropathy also deal with sleep deprivation and disturbances.

Emotional Difficulties

Living with neuropathy can have a profound impact on your psychological and emotional health. The pain, discomfort, and numbness can cause you to miss days at work, withdraw from social activities, and impact intimate relationships. 

Dealing with neuropathy can also have significant financial consequences, which can lead to money-related stress and anxiety. As highlighted by a 2019 study, up to 43% of patients with neuropathy report that their employment status is affected by their condition. Additionally, nerve damage can cause employees to miss an average of 5.5 days of work a month due to pain. 

What’s more, progressive isolation, coupled with feelings of helplessness, can lead to mental health disorders. According to a 2020 study, 65% of people with neuropathy also suffer from depression, while 73% have an anxiety disorder diagnosis. 

However, having neuropathy does not have to be a condemnation of living with mental health conditions. Modifying your lifestyle, surrounding yourself with friends and family members, and educating yourself about treatments for neuropathy can help. Let’s look at the coping strategies you should know about below.

Support Systems

While receiving a diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy can be life-changing, it is important to remember that you are not alone in this. 

Firstly, sharing your concerns and decisions about the best line of treatment with your loved ones can help you accept your condition and make the necessary lifestyle adjustments. Sharing your responsibilities – such as paying the bills or keeping the home tidy – can also help you focus on your health and slow down the progression of the disease. 

The loved ones of someone with neuropathy play an important role in preventing complications such as mental health disorders and falls. For example, keeping company with a person with nerve damage, supporting their treatment, helping them stay active, and massaging their hands and feet can ease the symptoms of neuropathy and improve their quality of life. 

Beyond friends and family members, you should also consider expanding your support circle to caregivers and specialists. Caregivers can help you take care of daily activities, improve home safety, prepare nutritious and balanced meals, and care for wounds that are not healing. 

On the other hand, physical and occupational therapists, as well as mental health professionals, can help you adjust your lifestyle to ease your symptoms, deliver balance and strength training to prevent falls and cope with the psychological challenges that come from living with neuropathy.

Coping Strategies

Although not all symptoms of neuropathy are curable, there are some coping strategies that can help you ease pain and regain your body’s functions. The following complementary strategies can be useful to ease anxiety and stress, reduce muscle tension, and relieve complications such as sleep disturbances. 

• Massage therapy: Massages can trigger the release of the body’s natural painkillers, endorphins. They can also relax the muscles in the hands and feet and ease pain. 
• Relaxation techniques: some relaxation techniques may be useful to lower stress and cortisol levels, which contribute to inflammation and pain. These include meditation, body scans, breathing exercises, and mind-body activities such as yoga. 
• Acupuncture: Acupuncture may support the blood flow in the areas affected by neuropathy and stimulate the nerve pathways in the area affected by nerve damage. This translates into better nerve conductivity and signaling, which improves sensory, motor, and autonomic functions. 
• Support groups: Finding support from others struggling with nerve pain can help you learn more about coping strategies and existing treatment options. Additional support groups offer a safe space to establish new social connections and voice your concerns and grievances. 

If you are unsure about what coping strategies to rely on, consulting your healthcare provider can help you better understand your options.

Maintaining A Healthy Lifestyle

Your lifestyle profoundly impacts how you cope with neuropathy. 

Firstly, nerve damage may be caused by imbalances in your diet, vitamin deficiencies, and conditions that prevent you from absorbing essential nutrients (i.e.: celiac disease). Addressing these risk factors with a change in your diet can prevent neuropathy from developing further. 

Additionally, maintaining an active and healthy lifestyle can help you prevent the most severe complications of nerve damage and boost your body’s functions. 

Below, we’ll look at how to adjust your lifestyle to improve the symptoms of neuropathy:

• Focus on your diet: A nutritious and balanced diet can help you prevent conditions such as diabetes, obesity, and nutritional deficiencies, all of which are significant risk factors for neuropathy. What’s more, eating for energy can help you counteract the feelings of fatigue often associated with nerve pain. 
• Make exercise part of your routine: An active lifestyle and regular physical activity can strengthen your muscles and counteract the effect of motor nerve damage. What’s more, moving your body can boost blood circulation and trigger the release of endorphins, which are the body’s natural painkillers. 
• Improve your bedtime routine: If your nerve pain or extreme sensitivity to touch is preventing you from getting enough quality sleep, consider improving your bedtime routine. Start by sleeping in a dark room, avoiding caffeine in the afternoon, and staying away from light-emitting devices. You may also consider the benefits of supplementing your diet with melatonin supplements and practicing relaxation techniques before going to bed. 
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco: Alcohol and nicotine are neurotoxic compounds. Exposure to these chemicals can aggravate the damage to nerves and cause the degeneration of the myelin, the nerves’ protective sheath. 
• Focus on personal care: A structured personal care routine can help you avoid some of the most severe complications of neuropathy. For example, massaging your hands daily may improve nerve conductivity, improve circulation, and reduce pain. Additionally, inspecting your hands and feet for wounds daily may help you avoid infections and ulcers. 

Working with a specialized lifestyle counselor can help you better understand how to adjust your lifestyle to cope with the symptoms, challenges, and complications of neuropathy.

A Long-Term Pain Solution For Peripheral Neuropathy

Regardless of the physical and emotional difficulties, and the severity of side effects of living with peripheral neuropathy from lack of sleep to an imperceptible danger of falling, patients are looking for an answer to treat their pain and give them the hope they need to live with the highs and lows of this condition. 

From dependency on prescriptions to expensive and dangerous surgery, patients are met with a litany of solutions that only seem to produce temporary relief and nearly always more side effects. This is why, when it comes to managing peripheral neuropathy pain, patients should look for a lasting solution.

Neurofunctional Pain Management – The Next Level Of Chronic Pain Management

Neurofunctional Pain Management uses high-pulse electrical stimulation that reaches into the true medical analgesic range, a high-pulse level therapy range that must be supervised by an actual medical provider, and not by another type of non-medical provider. 

It attempts to heal damaged tissue and nerve damage that causes peripheral neuropathy. Neurofunctional Pain Management is not only used to treat the effects of peripheral neuropathy but other chronic pain conditions such as back pain, joint pain, knee pain, fibromyalgia pain, and pain resulting from injuries caused by accidents or post-op surgical pain.

The next level of chronic pain management is Neurofunctional Pain Management therapy because it is a non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical, non-invasive, and non-chiropractic treatment protocol that works and relieves pain, restores health and magnifies the quality of life.

Get A Breakthrough Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy

Relatyv offers a non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical, non-invasive, and non-chiropractic solution to peripheral neuropathy and chronic pain through the Neurofunctional Pain Management treatment program. Hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy through Neurofunctional Pain Management therapy protocols. 

Patients who may have been concerned about taking medication or undergoing expensive surgery to alleviate neuropathy symptoms can instead find lasting relief from chronic peripheral neuropathy pain using the combination of specialized hydration therapy and high-pulse electrical stimulation. 

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few treatment sessions. So if you are also suffering from peripheral neuropathy, you too can take the important step towards living a healthy and fulfilling life free from the difficulties of peripheral neuropathy.

Every day, physicians around the world are learning more about the condition of peripheral neuropathy. Although the condition is elusive and, at times, difficult to understand, by both patients and physicians alike, the history of increased knowledge on the condition is promising and proves to illustrate treatment has and continues to improve. Many who encounter the condition for the first time, either seeing the effects in a loved one or experiencing it for themselves, are often at a loss for what to do. 

Many patients are understandably frustrated with the lack of options for treatment while others ask: Can peripheral neuropathy even be treated effectively? Rather than finding a lasting solution that targets the problem at the source, patients will place a metaphorical band-aid on the problem and reapply when the pain resurfaces. The short answer is peripheral neuropathy is treatable. Before we talk about what you should do, it would be best to examine the most common treatments, metaphorical band-aids, to contrast against a treatment that is widely available, effective, and lasting.

What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition that affects the peripheral nervous system, or the nerves that are located outside of the brain and the spinal cord. These nerves play the essential role of transmitting signals to the brain and enabling touch sensations, movements, and bodily functions. 

There are three different types of nerves in the peripheral nervous system:

• Sensory nerves – These nerves transmit signals related to touch, vibration, and temperature to the brain. 
• Motor nerves – Motor nerve fibers are located within the muscle mass and help the brain control movements. 
• Autonomic nerves – Autonomic nerves enable those functions we don’t have direct control over, such as blood pressure, heartbeat, sweating, and digestion. 

When these nerves are damaged, they are unable to carry signals to the brain as they should, which results in pain, numbness, burning sensations, and extreme sensitivity to touch. 

Currently, over 100 neuropathies have been defined, each of which has its own set of symptoms, causes, and risk factors. Nonetheless, nerve damage is most commonly caused by poorly managed blood sugar, infections such as HIV, direct trauma, exposure to toxins such as lead, nutritional deficiencies, and medications such as the drugs used in chemotherapy. In up to 30% of cases, neuropathy has no known cause. 

Neuropathy is a degenerative disease that causes progressive and irreversible nerve damage. Because of this, obtaining an accurate diagnosis early on is crucial to find an adequate treatment program that allows you to limit nerve damage and avoid the most severe complications of neuropathy.

Causes and Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy

While insulin levels will balance out with the level of blood sugar if patients are careful, patients may also wonder what steps they can take in managing the complications associated with peripheral neuropathy.  Khdour continues to list some of these treatments which include “the use of specific anticonvulsants and antidepressants for pain management in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy” (2020). Some patients may also choose to undergo expensive surgery to address the pain.  Other, more simple solutions include the use of NSAID pain-relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen or soaking the affected areas in cold water for a short period of time. When patients are given the options between high-risk surgery and metaphorical band-aid pain-relievers, the choice seems almost impossible. 

On the one hand, patients know that with surgery there is a high level of life-changing risk. On the other hand, patients have likely already turned to NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) like ibuprofen and acetaminophen because they are easily accessible. Patients want solutions that will last and treatments that aren’t high-risk. However, recent solutions for peripheral neuropathy may be both simple and lasting. Treatment doesn’t have to be “high risk – low reward” it could be “low risk – high reward”. 

The burning, tingling, numbing, and loss of balance from the condition are stiflingly confusing; especially considering that the condition is most often related to type-two diabetes. Patients of the condition and those closest to them press through the condition with little knowledge or understanding of the frustrating pain or how it relates to their diabetes and insulin resistance. Regardless of a patient’s level of understanding, their most common concerns are type of treatment, availability of treatment, and efficacy of treatment. However, with a condition where little seems to be understood, many patients don’t seek effective treatment.

Diagnosing Peripheral Neuropathy

It is, of course, recommended that patients seek diagnosis or peripheral neuropathy before finding treatment. As mentioned before, the condition is most commonly associated with type-two diabetes. If a patient suffers from type-two diabetes or insulin resistance, it is likely that they will suffer from the conditions of peripheral neuropathy, especially if their insulin levels are not kept in check. When blood sugar rises above the levels that your insulin load can handle, sugar crystal molecules damage the micro-vascular tissues and nerves in the peripheral regions of the body. Leaving us with the term peripheral neuropathy, a condition that targets the peripheral nerves in the feet and hands because they are at the far edges of our nervous system. Understanding these causes and concepts can help a patient cope with and seek effective treatment for their peripheral neuropathy after diagnosis. We advocate for a patient’s education on their condition so that they can effectively communicate their concerns and find effective treatment with their doctors.

How to Treat Peripheral Neuropathy

Because of the myriad causes and symptoms of neuropathy, treating this condition remains a clinical challenge. In turn, most patients receive a treatment program that aims to ease their symptoms, but it does not address its underlying causes. 

Some of the common treatments prescribed for neuropathy include:

• Medications – People with neuropathy often use medications to manage their pain. These drugs include over-the-counter pain relievers, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, topical creams such as capsaicin, and steroid injections. 
• Natural remedies – Acupuncture, compresses, and massages help patients manage their pain in the short term by stimulating blood flow and relaxing the muscles surrounding the damaged nerves. 
• Lifestyle changes – Lifestyle changes such as managing your blood sugar, improving your diet, and practicing regular physical activity can limit nerve damage caused by diabetes and nutritional deficiencies. 

Given the degenerative nature of neuropathy, it is crucial for patients to look beyond short-term solutions and find a treatment program that efficiently addresses the underlying causes of nerve damage and provides long-lasting relief. That’s where Neuraganex’s proprietary treatment program – Neurofunctional Pain Management – can help. 

Neurofunctional Pain Management leverages multiple approaches, including high-pulse electrical stimulation and nutrient hydration therapies. Combined, these treatments support the regeneration of damaged tissue and provide long-term relief from pain. Let’s look at the treatment options for neuropathy and how Neurofunctional Pain Management can help in more detail below.

Non-Medical Treatments for Peripheral Neuropathy

Experiencing chronic pain can have a defining effect on your life. So, it is only natural to seek accessible medications to ease the symptoms of neuropathy. However, relying on pharmaceutical options can expose you to significant side effects, including dependency. 

That’s why it is of vital importance to look for alternative, non-medical treatment options for neuropathy, including the ones below.

Lifestyle Changes

Some lifestyle modifications that can help you ease your chronic pain and avoid further complications include:

• Regular exercise –  Regularly exercising can improve muscle strength and prevent muscle loss, which are common complications of neuropathy-related motor dysfunction. Additionally, physical activity can help you manage your blood sugar levels and maintain a healthy weight. In turn, this can help you prevent obesity and diabetes, which are two of the greatest risk factors for neuropathy. 

• Avoid alcohol and tobacco – Alcohol and tobacco have a neurotoxic effect on nerve endings. These substances deteriorate the myelin, or the nerves’ protective sheath, and lead to demyelinating neuropathy. Additionally, it is estimated that between 26% and 55% of those battling an alcohol use disorder have neuropathic symptoms. Keep these substances to a minimum to avoid further nerve damage. 

• Manage your blood sugar levels – If you have diabetes, you are at high risk of developing neuropathy. This is because poorly managed blood sugar can cause damage to the blood vessels responsible for carrying oxygen and nutrients to nerve endings throughout the body. Controlling blood sugar levels can prevent further nerve damage and ease the symptoms of neuropathy.
• Daily massages and self-care – Massaging your hands and feet can relax the muscles and promote blood circulation in the areas most commonly affected by nerve pain and damage. Additionally, examining your feet can help you notice wounds and sores before they turn into ulcers.

Diet Modifications

Your diet plays an important role in helping you manage your nerve pain. Firstly, a balanced diet can help lower the risk of obesity, excessive weight gain, and diabetes, all of which are risk factors for neuropathy. 

Additionally, improving your diet may prevent nutritional deficiencies that have been seen to be correlated with an increased risk of developing neuropathy, such as vitamin B12, vitamin E, and copper. Adjusting your diet is particularly important if you suffer from conditions such as celiac disease, which may prevent you from absorbing essential vitamins and minerals. 

Lastly, a balanced eating regime will help you ease the symptoms associated with the damage of autonomic nerves responsible for regulating functions such as digestion, which include constipation, bloating, and diarrhea.

Physical Therapy

Physical therapy is important to maintaining a healthy musculoskeletal system, especially if motor nerves have been affected by neuropathy. A physical therapist will help you practice movements to keep your muscles strong and your joints flexible, thus reducing the pain and disability often linked to neuropathy. 

Physical therapy can also help you adapt to the changes that are taking place in your nervous system. For example, neuropathy may prevent signals relating to your body’s position in the surrounding space from reaching the brain, thus exposing you to an increased risk of falls. A physical therapist can guide you in the process of regaining your sense of balance and coordination. 

At Relatyv, our proprietary treatment program – Neurofunctional Pain Management – allows us to combine the non-medical treatments above with high-pulse electrical stimulation, hydration therapies, and lifestyle counseling to help you better manage nerve pain in the long term. Learn more about the benefits of this approach below.

Is Peripheral Neuropathy Treatable? – Neurofunctional Pain Management As The Solution

Relatyv offers a new proprietary treatment program called Neurofunctional Pain Management that is the newest and most effective solution to peripheral neuropathy pain. Hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy through Neurofunctional Pain Management treatment protocols. Patients who may have been skeptical of taking medication or undergoing expensive surgery or invasive procedures to alleviate their neuropathy symptoms can instead engage in safe, effective, and life changing Neurofunctional Pain Management therapy. 

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few sessions. Neurofunctional Pain Management is a combination of specialized hydration therapy combined with high pulse electrical stimulation to activate and heal the nerves damaged from peripheral neuropathy. This technology is not only used to treat the effects of peripheral neuropathy but other chronic pain conditions such as knee pain, back pain, joint pain, fibromyalgia and pain stemming from injuries as a result of accidents or surgery.

The Benefits of Neurofunctional Pain Management for Those Suffering From Peripheral Neuropathy

Neurofunctional Pain Management can help you manage your nerve pain without medications or surgery, while also supporting the healing of tissues that have been damaged by neuropathy. Learn more about the benefits of this next-generation pain management approach below. 

• Non-Pharmaceutical – Neurofunctional Pain Management does not involve pharmaceutical treatments, and it allows you to live a life free of steroids, over-the-counter pain relievers, and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. 
• Opioid-Free – With prescription opioids causing the death of over 16,000 a year, opioid addiction has become a severe problem in the US. At Relatyv, we believe in helping patients live a pain-free life without putting themselves in danger of addiction, dependency, or overdose. 
• Non-Surgical and Non-Invasive – Undergoing surgery can have a profound impact on a person’s personal, professional, and financial life. What’s more, surgical procedures often correlate to long and painful periods of rehabilitation and immobilization. With Neurofunctional Pain Management, patients can enjoy a pain-free life with minimal downtime and no invasive procedures.
• Long-Lasting – Given the degenerative nature of neuropathy and chronic pain, patients should look for a pain management approach that is sustainable in the long term. With Neurofunctional Pain Management, patients can enjoy prolonged relief from pain and long-lasting improvements in their body’s functions.

Consider The Alternative Treatment For The Peripheral Neuropathy

If you are battling neuropathy, you may be facing two, equally daunting prospects: living a life reliant on medications or undergoing surgery. Fortunately, thanks to Relatyv’s proprietary approach to pain management, there’s a third, non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical option to explore: Neurofunctional Pain Management.

“Neuropathy” is a term you may already be familiar with if you or a loved one is living with diabetes. The development of insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy, commonly known as diabetic neuropathy, is a common complication that damages nerves throughout the body.

As the name suggests, peripheral neuropathy affects the peripheral limbs, including hands, feet, and legs, and can develop in people who are diabetic and insulin resistant. Insulin resistance, commonly seen in diabetes, is the main contributing factor to the development and progression of peripheral neuropathy.

A range of symptoms can result from insulin resistance neuropathy, including numbness, tingling, sharp pains, or muscle weakness.

In this article, we delve into the complexities of peripheral neuropathy and its intricate relationship with insulin resistance. We will shed light on how these two conditions affect nerve function and discuss the frustrating symptoms that occur as a result.

We also explore the role inflammation plays in the development of insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy.

Lastly, we will provide you with valuable insights into why early detection and appropriate treatment is pivotal to avoiding complications associated with neuropathy.

Living with peripheral neuropathy as a result of diabetes can be challenging, but the good news is that there are effective pain management solutions available. Relatyv provides breakthrough therapies that address the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy as a result of insulin resistance at the root cause.

We hope to provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to take proactive steps in managing these conditions, minimize their impact on your quality of life, and enhance your overall well-being.

Now, let’s delve into the intricate relationship between insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy and discover the impact they have on nerve function.

Insulin Resistance And Diabetic Neuropathy

Diabetes and Insulin Resistance is seen as one of the most prevalent health concerns in the United States and the world. While some would traditionally view the American diet as the main contributor to the increase in diabetic patients, several countries worldwide are experiencing an uptick in patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

A recent study from 2020 found that diabetes had a “. . . global prevalence in adults in 2017 being 8.8% of the world population, with the anticipation of a further increase to 9.9% by 2045” (Standl 2020).

Type 2 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed and monitored by using a combination of diagnostic tools, which include the measurement of blood sugar levels, hemoglobin A1c, and insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone that is produced by the pancreas, and it plays a crucial role in regulating the body’s sugar levels by lowering blood glucose.

Insulin resistance can have a significant impact on nerve function throughout the body. This is because insulin is responsible for helping the body’s cells convert glucose into energy. So how does insulin resistance develop?

The Development Of Peripheral Neuropathy

When blood sugar rises after a meal, insulin stimulates cells to uptake glucose and decrease or keep blood sugar in check and balance. As the body takes in more sugar, more insulin is required. Over time the cells are overstimulated with insulin and become insulin resistant, creating insulin resistance.

If the body takes in its maximum sugar intake, there will not be enough insulin to decrease or balance the blood sugar in your body. Eventually, the body becomes unaffected by the level of insulin that has been injected or naturally produced.

If blood sugar levels are not controlled or lowered, the body continues to experience these complications associated with diabetes. These complications are often linked to the underlying insulin resistance, causing the patient to now have both diabetes and insulin resistance.

The pathogenesis (or development) of peripheral neuropathy is directly tied to our body’s ability to process and maintain blood sugar and its insulin resistance level. Although the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is diabetes, patients without diabetes may experience symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.

These symptoms are primarily due to medications being taken for other conditions, nerve injury from an injury or accident, or infections of various sorts. Regardless of the cause of a patient’s peripheral neuropathy, there are several treatments to address its frustrating symptoms and complications.

Symptoms Of Peripheral Diabetic Neuropathy

Patients with type 2 diabetes can suffer from significant complications that include high rates of sickness, infections, poor healing, and even a decreased life expectancy. With the increase in people suffering from this disease, both doctors and patients are searching for more effective treatment solutions.

Peripheral neuropathy is commonly identified as pain, burning sensations, or loss of feeling in the extremities. Since our nervous system stems from our brains and out to the edges of our fingers and toes, the most common signs of peripheral neuropathy occur at the ends or periphery of our bodies.

Patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy often have trouble sleeping and experience frustration and confusion with the loss of sensation or pain that they experience. Since most patients experience peripheral neuropathy in their toes and feet, losing balance is a common symptom that can be especially dangerous for the elderly.

Many patients also experience difficulty standing from a low-seated position or getting out of bed in the morning. While some patients experience minor symptoms such as a lack of coordination or weakness, others experience debilitating cramps and spasms.

The uncomfortable and elusive symptoms of peripheral neuropathy often cause hopelessness in patients who may not understand how or why it relates to their diabetes and insulin resistance. Knowing what is happening to your body and its primary causes is the first step in seeking and understanding effective treatment. 

This leads us to explore how inflammation can impact peripheral neuropathy and how understanding their intricate relationship can help us gain more insight into how neuropathy occurs.

Role Of Inflammation In Neuropathy And Insulin Resistance

Inflammation plays a significant role in the development and progression of insulin resistance and neuropathy. In a healthy person, inflammation is a beneficial response the body activates when an injury or infection is detected and heals damaged tissues. However, chronic inflammation in a person with diabetes can cause detrimental effects.

So how does this relate to neuropathy? To put things simply, when insulin resistance occurs, our body can no longer effectively process glucose, leading to elevated levels in the bloodstream.

Having chronically high blood glucose puts stress on the whole body but will put significant strain on the pancreas. This is because high blood glucose triggers the pancreas to activate and release inflammatory proteins (cytokines) in the body.

Experiencing elevated levels of both inflammation and glucose in the bloodstream can cause certain immune cells (TNF-a) from our bone marrow to become overly active, where they mistakenly attack the protective layers of our nerves.

As a result, the nerves become damaged, which triggers even more inflammation, leading to further nerve damage. Over time, this ongoing nerve damage causes the symptoms of numbness, tingling, sharp pains, or muscle weakness in our peripheral limbs.

For people with diabetes and insulin resistance, managing how much inflammation the body is exposed to will be crucial for preventing and controlling neuropathy. Some strategies that can help reduce inflammation throughout the body include

• Managing Blood Glucose Levels

Firstly, keeping your blood glucose levels within the safe and recommended range, as advised by your healthcare provider, is a fundamental element in managing inflammation to prevent or slow the progression of neuropathy.

By keeping your blood glucose levels under control and avoiding large swings too high or too low, you can minimize the stress on your body and reduce the overall level of inflammation.

This involves precisely following and adhering to your stipulated diabetic management plan, including regular blood sugar monitoring, diet control, and taking prescribed medications.

• A Nutritious Diet

Maintaining a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and healthy fats can help to reduce the inflammation in the body. You may also like to add foods such as turmeric, ginger, fatty fish, and dark leafy greens, which have been shown to contain anti-inflammatory properties.

• Regular Exercise

Regular physical activity not only helps to reduce inflammation, but it can also lead to sustaining a healthy weight. Both exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are great strategies to help reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity.

A range of aerobic and resistance exercises such as cycling, walking, lifting weights, or pilates is optimal for overall health. Remember to always consult your healthcare provider before adopting a new exercise program.

• Stress Management

Chronic stress has been linked to increased levels of inflammation in the body. Finding and adopting healthy ways to manage stress can help. It is important you find a technique that best serves you, this could be meditation or deep breathing, yoga, or simply regularly engaging in activities that bring your mind calm and joy.

• Medications and Supplements

In some cases, your healthcare provider may prescribe specific medications or supplements that manage inflammation associated with insulin resistance and neuropathy. It is important that all the healthcare professionals you consult are aware of what medications you are taking and if there are any changes.

Now that we have an understanding of the complicated relationship between inflammation and insulin resistance and how it leads to peripheral neuropathy, we can start to explore the pathophysiological processes of why insulin resistance causes neuropathy.

Why Does Insulin Resistance Cause Diabetic Neuropathy?

Diabetics are likely to experience frustration when faced with the effects of peripheral neuropathy and be confused as to how it occurs. So let us explain how and why exactly peripheral neuropathy occurs in patients who suffer from insulin resistance as well as diabetes.

Think of your body’s blood vessels as a river and picture the body’s insulin levels as a dam built to prevent waves of sugar from damaging the body. If the body experiences a higher sugar intake, insulin must be used to build the dam higher.

Over time, the blood sugar level may decrease, and the insulin may be lowered to match it. However, if the body cannot handle a high sugar level in the blood, the sugar will spill over the dam of insulin and flood the body’s normally functioning systems with damaging complications.

Physicians Liumeng Jian and Guangda Yang confirmed in a recent study in 2020 that “Diabetes-related metabolic factors such as increased glucose, decreased insulin, and increased lipids produce changes underlying the development of diabetic neuropathy. Injury to neurons, microvascular endothelium, and Schwann cells in DM contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropathy” (2020).

These changes associated with diabetes and insulin resistance damage patients’ peripheral nerves, the cells responsible for communicating sensory experiences from the extremities to the brain. The damage inflicted on neurons can account for patients losing feeling in their toes, feet, and sometimes fingers or hands. 

Doctors will often check for signs of peripheral neuropathy by running a soft tool over the surface of the patient’s toes and feet. The doctor may then test for the neuron responses to sharp pain from a needle prick and the differences between heat and cold.

If patients experience little to no sensation from these methods, the doctor may diagnose the patient with peripheral neuropathy.

Some of the other changes mentioned by Jian and Yang include damage to microvascular endothelium (our small blood vessels that run along our bodies next to our peripheral nerve system) and damage to Schwann cells.

Schwann cells function much like the body’s neurons but have the specific function of maintaining and regenerating peripheral nerves.

Without neurons that communicate sensations to our nervous system, microvascular endothelium that supplies blood to our peripheral nerve system, and Schwann cells that maintain peripheral nerves, we will experience the contributing pain, numbness, and burning sensations associated with peripheral neuropathy.

What Can I Do About It?

Once the leading causes of peripheral neuropathy and its relation to insulin resistance have been explored by and explained to patients, many will seek treatments that suit their needs and comfort level.

Why It Helps To See A Physician

Consultation with an actual medical physician and a confirmed peripheral neuropathy diagnosis should be sought before patients seek treatment. Patients should not rely on diagnosing peripheral neuropathy from non-physicians or any other type of healthcare worker who may claim to be able to diagnose peripheral neuropathy.

Physicians tasked with diagnosing a patient’s peripheral neuropathy will conduct motor, reflex, and sensation examinations, blood chemistries, and several other possible diagnostic tests to determine a positive confirmation diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy.

Importance Of Early Detection And Treatment

Recognizing the early signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is vital in preventing its progression, optimizing treatment outcomes, and reducing the risk of devastating complications.

Attending regular checkups will facilitate early detection and prompt intervention, which allows for the implementation of an effective treatment plan. This way, targeted strategies can be tailored to your individual needs in a timely manner, giving you more control to tailor lifestyle modifications and access specialized care.

This way, a treatment plan that manages blood sugar levels, reduces inflammation, and protects nerve health can be implemented that best suits you and your lifestyle.

Possible Treatment Options

Once a confirmed diagnosis has been reached, patients are often presented with various treatment options. However, according to Maher R Khdour in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, published in February 2020, “ . . . peripheral neuropathy is often inadequately treated”.

Khdour also raises the concern that “. . . neuropathy is a highly prevalent, disabling condition, the management of which is associated with significant costs”.

While physicians like Khdour push these issues of peripheral neuropathy treatment to the forefront, patients may wonder if there is a simple and affordable solution to their chronic pain. Patients may also wonder what steps they can take to manage the complications associated with peripheral neuropathy. 

Khdour continues to list some of these treatments, including “the use of specific anticonvulsants and antidepressants for pain management in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy” (2020).

Some patients may also choose to undergo expensive surgery to address the pain.  Other, simpler solutions include using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain-relievers, NSAIDs such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, or soaking the affected areas in cold water for a short time.

However, real and effective peripheral neuropathy solutions may be simple and lasting.

Potential Complications Of Neuropathy

If peripheral neuropathy is left untreated and unmanaged, it can lead to various complications that have the ability to significantly impact your quality of life. 

By being aware of these potential complications, we are better equipped to take preventative measures and seek timely treatment. 

Here are some of the more common complications associated with peripheral neuropathy:

Foot Ulcers

The nerve damage that peripheral neuropathy inflicts can cause an impaired sensation in the feet, making it difficult to detect pressure or wounds. This can lead to cuts, blisters, and pressure sores being unnoticed and developing into nasty foot ulcers.

Foot ulcers are often slow to heal and likely to become infected, which can pose a number of serious complications, including severe cases where amputation may be the only adequate treatment.

Inspecting your feet regularly, maintaining proper foot care, wearing appropriate footwear, and seeking timely medical attention for any wounds or abnormalities are essential to prevent and managing foot ulcers.

Infections

Experiencing increased inflammation due to peripheral neuropathy can impair the immune system and its response to infection. This, paired with a decreased level of sensation, can cause minor cuts, wounds, or infections to go unnoticed and lead to rapidly progressing skin infections, cellulitis, or even bone infections (osteomyelitis).

It is pivotal to seek medical attention for any signs of infection, such as localized warmth, redness, swelling, or increased pain. Accessing treatment, adequate wound care, and practicing good hygiene are all important to help prevent and manage infections associated with peripheral neuropathy.

Muscle Weakness

Neuropathy can also have an impact on the nerves responsible for muscle movement. People with advanced peripheral neuropathy can experience weaknesses and problems with balance making it difficult to perform daily activities.

This can lead to an increased risk of falls and injuries. By having a regular exercise and physical therapy routine, you can help improve and maintain muscle strength to mitigate the impact of muscle weakness caused by neuropathy.

Psychological Impact Of Peripheral Neuropathy And Insulin Resistance

We have explored in depth how diabetic neuropathy and insulin resistance has an effect on our physical health, but it can also have a huge impact on our psychological and emotional well-being. Living with chronic pain, physical limitations, and maintaining daily treatments can lead to stress, anxiety, frustration, and even depression.

Having a range of effective coping strategies you can turn to is valuable in managing the psychological impact of these conditions. By sharing your thoughts with your healthcare provider, they can lead you toward local resources that may benefit you, such as support groups and counseling services.

You may also wish to explore your own management strategies, such as talking with friends and family, regular journaling or meditation practices, or regularly engaging in activities that boost your mood.

However, likely the most effective way to remove both the physical and psychological stressors diabetic neuropathy causes is to find therapies that have instant and long-lasting results. Let’s now explore some of the breakthrough solutions available for chronic pain management.

Lasting Solutions With Relatyv

Relatyv is the nation’s most advanced treatment program for pain associated with peripheral neuropathy.

Through the unique Neurofunctional Pain Management protocol, we provide alternative solutions for peripheral neuropathy pain and various chronic pain conditions. These solutions are non-invasive, non-surgical, non-pharmaceutical, and non-chiropractic, offering a holistic approach to pain management.

Hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy through this  Neurofunctional Pain Management treatment protocol. Patients who may have been wary of taking medication or undergoing expensive surgery to alleviate their symptoms can relieve pain, restore health, and magnify their quality of life with the Relatyv treatment program.

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few sessions. Neurofunctional Pain Management is a proprietary treatment protocol that uses a combination of enriched hydration therapy and high-pulse electrical stimulation to deliver analgesic effects to the pain neurons that report pain back to the brain.

The combination of enriched hydration therapy and electrical stimulation creates a lasting effect of pain relief that may last for months and months after the treatment program has concluded.

This proprietary  Neurofunctional Pain Management protocol is not only used to treat the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy but other chronic pain conditions such as chronic joint pain, back pain, knee pain, fibromyalgia, migraines and chronic headaches, plantar fasciitis pain, pain stemming from injuries or accidents or chronic post-surgery pain.

Neurofunctional Pain Management treatment protocols often result in immediate and long-lasting solutions to the conditions of peripheral neuropathy pain and other chronic pains.

Patients express relief from the pain but also the peace of mind that they do not need to rely on pharmaceuticals, surgery, invasive procedures, or endless visits to a chiropractor to find relief from their chronic pain condition.

Choose Root-Focused Treatment Options

When it comes to managing the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and insulin resistance, prioritizing treatment therapies that are root-focused is essential for long-term relief. Relatyv offers expert advice, protocols, and resources to address the underlying causes and provide long-term relief from chronic pain.

When you choose Relatyv for your pain management needs, you can access a comprehensive plan that aims to deliver the best possible results. By addressing chronic pain associated with insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy, Relatyv helps you minimize the profound impact these conditions can have on your daily life.

Exploring the non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical, non-surgical treatments we offer could be the treatment you have been looking for to gain control over your chronic pain and improve your quality of life and overall health, and well-being.

Peripheral neuropathy is an invisible illness. This means that your loved ones might begin to live through abnormal sensations, extreme fatigue, and disabling pain without you noticing. After all, these symptoms are not outwardly evident at first.

But nerve pain is a degenerative disease that can impact all aspects of a person’s life, from their social interactions to their professional performance and ability to enjoy their favorite hobbies. 

If left untreated, this nerve damage can lead to severe complications, such as ulcers and gangrene, infections, muscle weakness, and loss of balance and coordination. Because of this, understanding how peripheral neuropathy affects your loved ones and what you can do to support them is critical. So, how can you help a loved one with peripheral neuropathy? Although a lot is yet to be understood about this illness, you are not alone in this. More than 20 million people have neuropathy in the US alone, a number that has encouraged the international scientific community to advance their research on viable treatments. And, today, there is a lot that you can do to emotionally and medically help your loved ones. Here is what you need to know.

Can You Live A Normal Life With Peripheral Neuropathy?

No two people with peripheral neuropathy will experience the same symptoms or be equally affected. Because of this, to visualize the full extent of the impact that peripheral neuropathy can have on a person’s life, it is necessary to offer an overview of what this condition is and how it develops. Let’s start.

Peripheral Neuropathy: An Overview

Peripheral neuropathy refers to the damage of nerves that reside outside of the brain and spinal cord. These nerves are responsible for carrying motor and sensory signals to the brain, as well as regulating autonomic processes such as blood circulation, heartbeat, and digestion. 

The nerves in the peripheral nervous system might become damaged for many reasons, including inadequate glycemic control in people with diabetes, taking certain medication, experiencing an infection such as HIV, or having an alcohol use disorder. 

Nerve damage often manifests itself with the “dying-back phenomenon”, which means that the nerves that are further away from the spine are the first ones to be damaged. In turn, neuropathy begins by affecting the extremities. 

The Debilitating Impact of Nerve Pain

At first, nerve damage will manifest itself with nothing more than mild numbness and tingling in the hands and feet. This is by far the most common symptom of this condition and derives from the fact that, when a nerve is damaged, sensory and motor signals are unable to reach the brain. 

When left unaddressed, these symptoms will begin to grow in intensity and impact, alongside the underlying nerve damage. Over time, this can lead to a cascade of consequences, which often include:

• Numbness in the extremities and inability to feel pain from an injury. This can lead to infections, ulcers, or damage caused by unintentional exposure to extreme heat or cold. 
• Extreme sensitivity to touch (hyperesthesia)
• Experiencing pain from a stimulus that should normally be painless, such as when brushing teeth (allodynia)
• Loss of coordination and balance
• Extreme pain 
• Sudden and uncontrolled muscle movements

A type of neuropathy can also extend to the autonomic nerves (the ones regulating body functions that we can’t consciously control). In this case, your partner or family member might begin to experience severe complications such as an erratic heartbeat, impaired digestion, and loss of bowel or bladder control. 

Are Your Loved Ones At Risk of Complications?

Some risk factors can increase the risk of severe complications. In particular, it is estimated that around 50% of people with diabetes will develop neuropathy during their lifetime, and the risk increases alongside the length of time during which their blood sugar isn’t properly managed. 

Additionally, peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes increases the risk of foot ulcers, which currently account for up to 75% of non-traumatic limb amputations. 

It is particularly important to watch out for the symptoms of neuropathy in people with an alcohol use disorder, infection such as HIV, and nutritional deficiencies (i.e.: B12). Aging, undergoing therapies such as chemotherapy, and being exposed to toxins are also risk factors for neuropathy.

The Burden Of Peripheral Neuropathy To Family Members

Along with the various symptoms and limitations that proliferate in patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy, an undeniable financial and emotional burden is placed on the loved ones of patients of peripheral neuropathy. 

This is not to say that patients of peripheral neuropathy and their suffering should take a back seat to the struggle of loved ones who care for them. 

Rather, loved ones who do not know the toll it will take on their lives would do best to prepare. Preparation in helping a loved one manage and seek effective treatment for their peripheral neuropathy is essential in mitigating financial, emotional, and even physical burdens.

How Diabetes Relates To Peripheral Neuropathy

Around the world, and especially in the United States, diagnosis of type-2 diabetes has been increasing continuously year over year. With the increase in type-2 diabetes and insulin resistance being a key element in the diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy. 

A recent study from 2020 found that diabetes had a “. . . global prevalence in adults in 2017 being 8.8% of the world population, with the anticipation of a further increase to 9.9% by 2045” (Standl 2020). 

Unfortunately, with the current trajectory of diabetic diagnosis, adults around the world will be more likely to experience the effects of diabetes and peripheral neuropathy. 

While these numbers increase, it is also likely and should be addressed that patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy will have loved ones in the same household who will also suffer from the condition. 

It is common, because of shared diets and lifestyles, that patients with type 2 diabetes and peripheral neuropathy will have loved ones who will not be able to treat each other because of their conditions and their attributed debilitating conditions. 

But if the number of patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy with the associated condition increases in one household, what can loved ones do to help their afflicted family members? What does effective treatment look like? Where can they turn to for help?

The Tragic Effect Of Peripheral Neuropathy With Diabetes

If the condition is left untreated and the patient’s diet does not change, one of the most tragic and heart-wrenching effects of type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, and peripheral neuropathy is the possibility of eventual amputation of lower limbs. 

Family members and afflicted patients often agonize over this very real possibility. It is not only the fear of lower limb amputation that drives patients and their loved ones to seek treatment but also what lower limb amputation would mean to the patient’s quality of life and his life expectancy. 

A recent 2019 study evaluating the inevitable effects of peripheral neuropathy concluded that it “ . . . is a leading cause of lower-limb amputation and disabling neuropathic pain. Amputations in patients with diabetes have a devastating effect on the quality of life and are associated with an alarmingly low life expectancy (on average only 2 years from the amputation). Amputation also places a substantial financial burden on healthcare systems and society in general” (Selvarajah 2019). 

Many may wonder how the amputation of a lower limb could lead to a lower life expectancy with an average of two years but this is because they likely fail to consider that quality of life is directly tied to life expectancy. 

When a patient with peripheral neuropathy goes through the process of lower limb amputation, complications such as infections, increased weight due to lowered exercise, and even increased depression skyrocket after the amputation of the lower limb. 

While the amputation is necessary to save a patient’s life, the amputation generally works as a band-aid rather than a cure for the severe pathogenesis of peripheral neuropathy. Anxiety over the condition of peripheral neuropathy also affects the quality of life for loved ones.

How Loved Ones Can Support Patients With Peripheral Neuropathy

Although the life of your loved ones might not be significantly affected by mild numbness in the feet and hands, it is important not to underestimate the risk of advanced nerve damage. For example, involuntary muscle movements and spasms can affect how a person moves and walk, thus leading to an increased risk of falls and injuries, especially among older adults. 

Additionally, symptoms such as hyperesthesia (excessive sensitivity to touch) can cause your loved ones to feel pain at the lightest touch. This can cause discomfort and disrupt essential functions such as sleeping. A study conducted in 2017 shows that over 68% of people with neuropathy suffer from significant sleep disturbances and sleep deprivation. 

What’s more, the pain and discomfort they experience may prevent them from taking part in social activities, enjoying their personal lives, or being productive at work. In some cases, neuropathy can even cause disability. 

So, how can you support your loved ones after a diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy? While this neurodegenerative disease isn’t always reversible, there is a lot that you can do to help them slow down nerve damage and reduce the risk of complications. 

And, educating yourself on the causes, symptoms, and impact of nerve pain is the first step. Here is what you need to know.

If there is definitive pathogenesis of peripheral neuropathy and loved ones continue to witness its debilitating effects, an increase in physical and emotional exhaustion can take its toll.

Educate Yourself On Their Condition

Many loved ones, as they work to provide for and meet the needs of patients with peripheral neuropathy, should take the time to educate themselves on the condition of peripheral neuropathy. 

Helping their loved ones cope with the pain of their condition and educating them on how to take care of their type 2 diabetes through diet and exercise is essential for maintaining and preparing for effective treatment. 

Loved ones have no need to despair if they educate themselves and their affected family members on the maintenance and treatment of their peripheral neuropathy. Best of all, patients and their loved ones can have hope when they seek treatment with effective medical physician-based treatments for peripheral neuropathy pain.

Listen To Their Grievances

As we have seen above, the symptoms of neuropathy aren’t always visible – but neither are the causes. Around 30% of people with nerve damage have idiopathic neuropathy, which means that the reasons and triggers behind their condition are unknown. 

For your loved ones, dealing with this “invisible” disease can be extremely frustrating, especially as they might not be able to receive adequate treatment. Because of this, it is important to lend an ear and provide support. This can help them accept and acknowledge their condition, which is the first step to having a fulfilling life when living with a degenerative disease. 

Support Their Decisions On Their Treatment

Choosing the right treatment for neuropathy is an important decision that your loved ones will take with the assistance of their healthcare providers. Although you might wish to share your opinion, it is important to offer your full support and remain confident that they have made the best choice for their health and well-being. 

If in doubt, you might consider accompanying them to their visits with their doctors or educate yourself about the treatment option they have chosen. This is especially important if your loved ones have taken the courageous decision to look beyond simple painkillers and wish to find a solution to the underlying cause of neuropathy. 

Provide Help To Their Caregiver

Taking care of someone with a neurodegenerative disease isn’t easy, even if you have provided your loved ones with at-home help. To ensure that they have all the support needed, help their caregivers with tasks such as massaging their hands and feet, keeping an eye on wounds that are not healing, and preparing nutritious meals. 

These might seem simple gestures, but they can have a profound impact on the mental and physical health of a loved one with neuropathy. When carried out regularly, these tasks can also be efficient strategies to keep complications such as ulcers at bay. 

Keep The Atmosphere Normal

Nerve pain is a type of chronic pain. As such, it can cause your loved ones to miss days at work, disengage from their social life and hobbies, become unable to move freely, and struggle with personal relationships. Unsurprisingly, a study conducted in 2020 estimated that the prevalence of depression and anxiety among those with neuropathy is as high as 65% and 73%, respectively. 

However, as family members and friends, we can help reduce mental health risks by creating supportive and normal routines. Although your loved one with neuropathy might require modifications to their lifestyle and living arrangements, keeping a positive attitude and helping them accept their condition are critical steps to take. 

If you need help, consider suggesting a visit to a specialized counselor or therapist who can help them with the mental health effects that chronic pain can cause. 

Give Them Your Presence

Simply being there for a loved one with nerve pain is already a great starting point. But you can also have a great impact on their mental and physical health by helping them stay active, encouraging walks, massaging painful hands and feet, and supporting them through their treatment journey. 

Be sure to put their minds at rest by reassuring them that tasks such as paying for utilities and maintaining the home are being addressed. This is an important time for them to just focus on their health and well-being!

Neuralgesia: An Effective Treatment Method

Regardless of the causes of peripheral neuropathy, patients want an effective treatment and Relatyv offers a solution for peripheral neuropathy through its Neuralgesia program offered at Relatyv treatment centers around the nation. 

Through their FDA-cleared devices and proprietary Neuralgesia treatment protocols, hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy. 

Patients who may have been wary of taking medication or undergoing expensive surgery to alleviate neuropathy symptoms can instead choose a non-surgical, non-invasive, non-pharmaceutical, and non-chiropractic treatment program that works.

How Neuralgesia Brings Relief To Patients And Family Members

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few treatment sessions. 

Relatyv uses a proprietary treatment protocol consisting of specialized hydration therapies combined with high pulse high energy electrical stimulation to send high levels of electrical energy that activate and heal the nerves damaged from peripheral neuropathy. 

This proprietary protocol is not only used to treat the effects of peripheral neuropathy but other chronic pain conditions such as fibromyalgia and pain stemming accidents or surgery. Sessions with Relatyv may result in immediate and long-lasting solutions to the conditions of peripheral neuropathy. 

Patients express relief from the pain but also the peace of mind that they do not need to rely on potentially addictive medications with destructive side effects or invasive procedures and surgeries that may make everything worse.

Help Your Loved Ones Today

Call Relatyv and get your loved one into an office for an evaluation and proposed treatment plan. You’ll be glad you did and it may be the best thing you do to help your loved ones suffering from peripheral neuropathy.

Does peripheral neuropathy get worse if left untreated?

Peripheral neuropathy is a tricky condition, and patients who are familiar with its mysterious ways of coming and going and changing can attest to the difficulty of finding meaningful treatment to mitigate its painful symptoms.

Most people who experience peripheral neuropathy for the first time are caught off guard when the tingling, burning, and numbness start moving into their fingers and toes. Unfortunately, many patients don’t know the causes of these symptoms and haven’t been fully educated. Many patients do not know how their progressive diabetes relates to the sensations that manifest in their extremities. 

They don’t often know that high blood sugar that, combined with other issues including insulin resistance, effectively damages the nerves and causes them to “short-circuit” and send a variety of signals such as pain, burning, tingling, and numbness when no external cause is present. 

Lack Of Education About The Symptoms of DPN

It is perhaps due to the lack of education on diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), that patients do now know where to turn for treatment or what they should do to mitigate the symptoms. 

Often, when patients are faced with the conditions of DPN, the first thing patients turn to is rubbing and massaging the affected area and if the pain increases, they turn to nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as ibuprofen and Tylenol to dampen the pain. 

While NSAIDs are an effective short-term way to lessen the pain, their effect is temporary and they are compounded with other unwanted side-effects, as well as the effective dose wearing off over time making it harder to obtain relief using NSAIDs.

However, massaging the areas affected by diabetic peripheral neuropathy will not help with the tingling and pain because the pain is not due to the stressing of muscles in the hands and feet but the damage to the peripheral nerves in those areas from internal issues like metabolic conditions and medications being taken to treat other conditions. 

Many patients are understandably frustrated with the symptoms and the seemingly unknown or unexpected onset. Many doctors do not have the time, or unfortunately the patience, to explain the condition in a cohesive way that will help patients understand their responsibility and ability to mitigate the condition while they seek effective treatment. 

However, what happens when patients– either due to a lacking education or stubbornness– let their DPN go untreated?

Consequences of Untreated Peripheral Neuropathy

Numbness, tingling, and pain are the telltale signs that one or more parts of the peripheral nervous system have been affected by nerve damage. But, if left untreated, the outlook for diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN) can vary – from causing debilitating pain to leading to ulcers and limb amputation – depending on which nerves have been affected.

Although addressing the underlying cause of DPN patients can limit nerve deterioration, it is important to be aware of the complications and consequences of untreated peripheral neuropathy, including the ones below:

• Worsening of symptoms: If left untreated, diabetic peripheral neuropathy can lead to persistent discomfort, which becomes more noticeable at night. If motor nerves (the ones controlling the movements of limbs) are affected, patients might also start noticing problems with balance and coordination, as well as slower reflexes. 
• Unfamiliar or unusual sensations: When the nerves responsible for transmitting signals to the brain are damaged, patients might be over-sensitive to external stimuli (i.e.: experiencing pain when performing actions that are normally painless), feel unusually hot or cold or become desensitized to pain. 
• Weaker connected muscles and paralysis: If synaptic connections (or the region where muscles and nerves communicate) are affected by neuropathy, motor signals from the brain are inhibited. This causes the connected muscles to weaken and become unresponsive. Over time, this can lead to muscle weakness and, in severe cases, muscle atrophy or paralysis, especially in the body’s lower extremities.
• Affected autonomic processes: Neuropathy can affect nerves in the autonomic nervous system, or the nerves in charge of controlling involuntary physiologic functions, such as heart rate, respiration, and digestion. If this happens, patients might require treatment and medical devices, such as pacemakers. 
• Foot ulcers and infections: Neuropathy can stop pain signals from reaching the brain, which translates into the inability to detect painful stimuli. In turn, even a small wound caused by using inadequate footwear can become infected and lead to gangrene, ulceration, and tissue breakdown. Foot ulceration due to diabetic peripheral neuropathy affects a quarter of people with diabetes and neuropathy and accounts for 50-75% of non-traumatic amputations.

In short, the consequences of untreated peripheral neuropathy are increased severity symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and eventual amputation– especially of the feet. Patients should be made aware of their DPN’s ability to permanently damage the nerves in their extremities and render those extremities useless. 

In the case of medication induced neuropathy the symptoms may remain or get worse as well. Perhaps the most unfortunate risk factor of increased diabetic peripheral neuropathy is the presence and longevity of the condition itself.

The Importance Of Early Detection And Screening For DPN

A recent study conducted by doctors Xiuxiu Liu and Yuyan Xu in 2019 found that, “DPN’s prevalence increases with the duration of the disease. 

The results of this study showed that the duration of disease had a statistically significant effect on the complications of peripheral neuropathy in patients with type 2 diabetes. This is consistent with previous research results suggesting that early screening for primary disease is important to prevent and delay the occurrence of DPN”. 

But how do patients or doctors prevent these things from happening? How does early screening delay the occurrence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy and how can early detection help patients mitigate the condition and its symptoms?

The Early Stage Is The Most Critical

Doctors Liu and Xu conclude in their study that, “ . . . DPN is extremely difficult to treat, determining its risk factors and controlling it at an early stage is critical to preventing its serious consequences and the burden of social disease”. 

The issue for most physicians and their patients who suffer from DPN is that the lack of treatment for peripheral neuropathy makes “controlling” it, when it manifests in patients with diabetes, extremely difficult. What are doctors Liu and Xu referring to when they say we must determine the risk factors and control it before the serious consequences occur?

Risk Factors Associated To DPN

With neuropathy being a co-morbidity in 51% of diabetic patients, diabetes remains the first cause of peripheral neuropathy. Nonetheless, the severity and duration of neuropathy, as well as the likelihood of complications, depend on certain risk factors – most of which can be adequately managed from the early stages of the disease. 

Some of the variables that impact a patient’s level of risk of reporting severe nerve damage include:

• Duration of diabetes: A diabetic patient’s risk of developing neuropathy increases alongside the duration of their diabetes, especially if blood sugar isn’t properly managed. A 2014 study shows that the risk of diabetic peripheral neuropathy increased from a baseline of 6% to 30% in 13 years among patients with type 1 diabetes. 
• Poor glycemic control: Poorly managed blood sugar is a major risk factor for most complications in diabetic patients, including retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Indicators of inadequate glycemic control include high levels of fasting plasma glucose and the percentage of red blood cells with sugar-coated hemoglobin, tested with the HbA1c test.
• Being overweight: Patients with a Body Mass Index of 25 or above are at greater risk of developing diabetic complications. This is because excessive fat releases fatty acid and glucose into the bloodstream, which reduces insulin sensitivity and makes it more difficult to manage blood sugar. 
• Age: Older patients have greater chances of having lived with diabetes for longer. Additionally, aging contributes to the deterioration of nerve fibers and leads to complications such as loss of balance and coordination.
• Smoking: Smoking and nicotine exposure alone can damage nerves. But, in diabetic patients, it can also worsen neuropathy and lead to ulcers by deteriorating arteries, reducing blood flow, and delaying wound healing. 
• Kidney disease: Inhibited kidney function, which can be assessed via blood urea nitrogen tests, is a common complication of diabetes that causes accumulated nerve-damaging toxins and waste materials to be released into the bloodstream. Additionally, imbalances in the levels of electrolytes in the body can affect how nerve cells work, thus leading to uremic neuropathy.
• Diabetic retinopathy (DR): In diabetic patients, neuropathy and retinopathy are often connected. A study showed that patients with DPN were 1.3 times more likely to develop Diabetic Retinopathy. Additionally, those with Diabetic Retinopathy, which causes microvascular damage to the retina, are at higher risk of reporting nerve damage in the same area, known as retinal diabetic neuropathy.

Risk factors for diabetic peripheral neuropathy are perhaps key indicators to the severity of the condition. According to doctors Liu and Xu, risk factors for severe DPN include, “the duration of diabetes, age, HbA1c, DR, smoking, and BMI, fasting plasma glucose (FPG), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), [and] diastolic blood pressure . . .”. 

These risk factors for increased severity in DPN are what doctors Liu and Xu seek to educate their patients about. What doctors seek to maintain between themselves, and their patients is the ability to control these risk factors in order to mitigate the likelihood of increased, severe peripheral neuropathy.

How Can A Patient Help Mitigate Risks

There is no denying that diabetes is a complex condition that, over time, affects several processes and bodily functions which, in turn, can lead to a cascade of consequences – not excluding neuropathy. 

Nonetheless, when looking at the risk factors that are likely to cause severe nerve damage in people with diabetes, a pattern emerges: most of the variables above can be adequately managed through lifestyle changes, preventive therapies, and ad hoc treatments. 

Ultimately, when it comes down to managing the burden of diabetes and diabetic peripheral neuropathy, a major role is played by healthcare professionals and their ability to educate patients to gain more control over their health.

For these doctors, treatment of DPN includes the patient’s ability to maintain their diabetes, avoid smoking, and control their BMI (body mass index). However, while other risk factors such as age are of course uncontrollable, this does not make the unchangeable factor of increased age any less of a risk factor for increased DPN. 

Doctors like Liu and Xu would do well to educate their patients on their ability and responsibility to mitigate these risk factors through their own actions and explain that the choices they make for their health are indeed a major part of the treatment for DPN. 

Some of the most impactful guidelines healthcare professionals should provide their patients with include the following ones:

Control Their BMI (Body Mass Index)

A patient’s Body Mass Index (BMI) is a critical indicator of their likelihood of developing a range of conditions, including hypertension, heart disease, and high mortality. 

In particular, a BMI above 25 or 30, which indicates being overweight and obese respectively, is a significant risk factor for diabetes. For those with a BMI of 35 and above, the risk of diabetes is 93 times higher than in those within a normal weight range. 

Beyond simply increasing the chances of developing diabetes, a high BMI makes complications such as severe diabetic peripheral neuropathy more likely. In 2019, a study found a direct correlation between fat mass, fat percent, visceral fat area, and the prevalence of neuropathy in adults with diabetes. 

Because of this, it is of paramount importance that healthcare professionals educate diabetic patients about the importance of maintaining a healthy weight. For those who are overweight or obese, a nutritious and balanced diet aimed at controlling calorie intake, coupled with regular exercise, should be the first port of call to reduce the likelihood of severe nerve damage.

Manage And Maintain Diabetes

As seen above, the duration of diabetes and how well blood sugar levels are managed are directly correlated to how likely a diabetic patient is to report nerve damage. This is because, over time, uncontrolled blood sugar can damage the blood vessels responsible for delivering essential nutrients to peripheral nerves. 

To delay the onset of diabetic peripheral neuropathy or manage possible complications, it is crucial for patients to adequately manage blood sugar levels through proper nutrition, exercise, and healthy lifestyle choices.

Avoid Smoking And Alcohol

Exposure to nicotine can have a profound impact on all aspects of a diabetic patient’s health. Firstly, smoking can inhibit the circulatory system and reduce blood flow, which prevents nerve cells from accessing essential nutrients and oxygen. 

Additionally, smoking can affect how the body processes blood sugar, thus contributing to poor glycemic control, which can lead to the side effects seen above. 

Lastly, in diabetic patients with neuropathy, smoking can increase the risk of developing ulcers by interfering with the body’s ability to heal wounds and suppress infections. 

Alcohol, especially if consumed excessively over long periods of time, can have a just as detrimental effect. Diabetic patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder are at greater risk of developing what’s called alcoholic neuropathy, or damage of the myelin coating (the insulating and protective sheath that coats the nerves). 

Alcohol also makes it harder to control blood sugar levels and even leads to nutritional deficiencies. For patients battling a smoking habit or an active alcohol abuse disorder, the first step to avoiding the complications of neuropathy is to make healthier choices and seek adequate lifestyle counseling.

Eat A Healthy And Balanced Diet

Nutrition is at the core of regenerative and lifestyle medicine – and for more than one reason. Through proper nutrition, diabetic patients can better manage blood sugar, reduce the volume of toxins nerves are exposed to, and support the immune system. 

Additionally, a well-rounded diet can prevent nutritional deficiencies that have been seen to contribute to nerve damage – like in the case of vitamin B12, the lack of which can lead to temporary or permanent sensory and motor nerve damage.

Helping diabetic patients follow a healthier and more balanced eating regime can also contribute to reducing the prevalence of obesity and the complications of this chronic condition.

How Relatyv Treats The Symptoms Of Peripheral Neuropathy

Regardless of the prevalence of diabetic peripheral neuropathy in patients or their journey in treating their condition with the advice of their doctors, Relatyv offers a unique treatment for the symptoms associated with peripheral neuropathy such as pain, tingling, burning, and numbness from the condition, as well as an effort to restore health and magnify quality of life through relieved pain and restores health. 

The treatment program is called Neuralgesia and is a combination of electroanalgesia and specialized hydration therapy to reduce ion concentrations in the affected inflamed tissues. 

Hundreds of patients have experienced relief from the pains and irritations of peripheral neuropathy through the Neuralgesia treatment protocols. Patients who may have been wary of taking medication or undergoing expensive surgery to alleviate their symptoms, can instead relieve pain, restore health, and magnify quality of life through the proprietary Relatyv Neuralgesia therapy protocol.

The Neuralgesia Treatment Program

Many patients experience immediate relief and regain function in their extremities after only a few treatment sessions. 

Relatyv uses FDA cleared electroanalgesia technology to deliver high pulse-per-second electrical current deep into the tissues that stimulate tissue responses and activate dormant or underactive tissues and restore the peripheral nerves tissue that has been damaged from ongoing metabolic conditions causing peripheral neuropathy. 

This proprietary Neuralgesia treatment program is not only used to treat the effects of peripheral neuropathy but many other chronic pain conditions such as, back pain, knee pain, joint pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, post-op pain stemming accidents or surgery, and a wide range of chronic pain conditions. 

A study done by Clarence Cone, MD, PhD at the University of Virginia found that the electroanalgesia technology, applied in the proprietary Neuralgesia treatment protocol used by Relatyv has been proven to increase the presence of small neural fibers. 

A patient who experiences the growth of these fibers will likely experience less pain from peripheral neuropathy and many other painful conditions. Neuralgesia treatment sessions with Relatyv often result in immediate and long-lasting solutions to the conditions of peripheral neuropathy. 

Patients express effective relief from the pain but also the peace of mind that they do not need to rely surgery, invasive procedures or implants, or on potentially addictive medications that have mind-numbing and detrimental side-effects.

Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a nerve pain condition that results from nerve damage due to underlying conditions, injuries, or medications often taken for other chronic medical conditions. 

It is one of the most complicated conditions because there are dozens of causes and symptoms that also range from mild to severe. Because of the range of symptoms and their severity, understanding the causes of peripheral neuropathy is essential in order to avoid a false and premature self-diagnosis.

What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy? Let’s Begin With The Most Likely

Understanding what causes neuropathy isn’t a straightforward process. Today, it is estimated that 20-30% of all cases of neuropathy are idiopathic, meaning that they have no known cause. 

Nonetheless, learning what the most likely causes of neuropathy are can help you address the risk factors that might be contributing to your nerve pain. Below, we’ll look at the most common causes of peripheral neuropathy.

Genetics

Certain neuropathies, such as Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, are hereditary, and it is estimated that 1 in every 2500 cases of peripheral neuropathy has a genetic component. 

What’s more, your genetic composition can put you at greater risk of developing autoimmune diseases such as lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. These diseases cause high levels of inflammation which, in turn, can damage nerve fibers and cause neuropathy.

Diabetes

Peripheral neuropathy and type 2 diabetes are interconnected diseases. Nerve pain can be one of the earliest signs of diabetes, while poorly controlled blood sugar can lead to nerve damage. 

The reason for this is that the sudden spikes and drops in blood sugar levels in people with diabetes can damage the blood vessels responsible for supplying nerves with oxygen and nutrients. Peripheral neuropathy is a comorbidity in 51% of cases of diabetes, and the risk of developing nerve damage increases alongside the period in which blood glucose isn’t adequately managed.

Hormonal Or Other Biological Imbalances

Several hormonal changes and imbalances can have a detrimental effect on nerve health. In particular, neuropathy can arise due to the overproduction or underproduction of certain hormones:

• Sex hormones – Estrogen and testosterone play a role in managing the body’s levels of inflammation. As these hormone levels drop with age or after biological changes such as menopause, inflammation-induced nerve damage becomes more likely. 
• Progesterone – This hormone influences the formation and maintenance of the nerve’s protective sheath, called myelin. Low levels of progesterone lead to nerve damage caused by a loss of myelin (demyelinating polyneuropathy). 
• Hypothyroidism – An underactive thyroid leads to increased fluid retention, swollen tissue, and impaired metabolic processes. This can add pressure to nearby nerves, causing damage. 
• Growth hormones – The overproduction of growth hormones can cause the enlargement of several components of the musculoskeletal system, including bones and joints. Overgrown parts can begin to press on nearby nerves and cause damage. 

Metabolic disorders such as Celiac disease can also cause neuropathy by inhibiting the absorption of essential nutrients and leading to nerve-damaging deficiencies (i.e.: lack of Vitamin B12, vitamin E, and copper).

Exposure to Toxins

Some chemicals and compounds have a neurotoxic effect, which means that they cause the deterioration of the myelin (the nerves’ protective coating) or lead to the death of nerve fibers. Some of these toxins, such as mercury and lead, can be found in food, while others are contained in alcohol and nicotine.

Medications

Some prescription medications can have a toxic or damaging effect on the nerves in the peripheral nervous system. Some of these medications include drugs to control blood pressure (such as Amiodarone), medicines to treat infections (such as Didanosine for HIV) and medications to ease the symptoms of autoimmune diseases (such as Infliximab). 

The drugs used in chemotherapy can also have a neurotoxic effect and, today, 85% of cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have neuropathy.

Injury

Injury or direct trauma can sever a nerve’s connection to the brain, thus leading to nerve damage, pain, and numbness. If only one nerve is affected by a collision, fracture, or rupture, this condition is called mononeuropathy.

Common Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms

Several of the symptoms of neuropathy depend on what nerves have been damaged. However, generally, damaged nerve endings prevent signals relating to touch sensations, temperature, and muscle movements from reaching the brain. 

The most common sensations associated with peripheral neuropathy include the following:

• pain, 
• burning, 
• numbness, 
• tingling, 
• imbalance, and 
• general discomfort in the affected limb.

If you experience any of these conditions (especially in the case of diabetes) you may be experiencing peripheral neuropathy and its related symptoms.

Why Early Diagnosis Is Crucial

Neuropathy is a degenerative disease. This means that, over time, the nerve damage, pain, and numbness you experience will progress and intensify. However, there is a lot that you can do to address the symptoms of this condition and prevent serious complications – starting with obtaining an accurate diagnosis as soon as you notice the early signs of neuropathy. 

As you begin to experience pain or numbness, you should consult a specialist who will run several tests to determine the causes and extent of neuropathy. These examinations include physical and neurological exams, imaging tests (i.e.: CT scans), and electrodiagnostic tests.

An early diagnosis is also crucial to determine which course of treatment is best for your specific case. For example, resorting to pain-relievers and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to treat nerve pain when your neuropathy is actually caused by poorly managed blood sugar can expose you to the complications of uncontrolled diabetes. Alternatively, if nerve damage is caused by a tumor pressing on the nerve fiber, an accurate diagnosis will help you access treatment as soon as possible. 

But what happens if the pain you are experiencing is left untreated? Although this varies from one patient to another, there are some disabling complications you need to be aware of. Let’s look at those below.

Possible Complications If Left Untreated

Because of how affordable and accessible NSAIDs and pain-relievers are, you might be tempted to use these medications to ease the pain you are experiencing. 

But, beyond simply exposing yourself to the side effects of these pharmaceutical therapies, not addressing the underlying causes of neuropathy can have serious and even life-threatening consequences. 

Here’s how bad neuropathy can get.

Muscle Weakness And Numbness

Peripheral neuropathy can affect motor nerves, which are the nerves responsible for transmitting motor signals to the brain. These nerves stem from the brain and the spinal cord and extend into the muscle fibers of each muscle. 

When these nerves are damaged, their connection to the brain is inhibited, which translates into the inability to move muscles or involuntary muscle movements (i.e.: spasms, cramps, and fasciculations).

These symptoms can lead to a cascade of consequences. Firstly, sudden and unprovoked muscle movements can wake you up at night, thus causing sleep disturbances. 

Additionally, damaged motor nerves can prevent you from moving your muscles properly. Over time, underused muscles can experience a loss of mass and become weaker or smaller. In severe cases, you might also experience muscle atrophy and paralysis.

Foot Ulcers Or Sores

Although ulcers are not a direct consequence of nerve damage, they are among the most common severe consequences of some neuropathies, such as diabetic peripheral neuropathy. 

In most cases, ulcers, sores, and the death of tissue (gangrene) happen when your neuropathy affects the sensory nerves in the feet and toes. When these nerves are damaged, they are unable to transmit signals relating to pain, discomfort, vibration, or temperature to the brain. In turn, this can cause you to inadvertently expose your extremities to extreme heat or cold, or cause you to not notice when a wound is becoming infected. 

Over time, infected tissue can degenerate into an ulcer. Currently, these wounds are the cause of 75% of limb amputations not deriving from direct trauma.

Nerve Damage

Neuropathic pain commonly begins in the hands and feet. This is because neuropathy tends to start in the nerves that are furthest from the spinal cord and the brain, following a principle called “dying back” or axonal degeneration. This process aims to protect the more important nerves located closer to vital organs. 

However, when left unaddressed, nerve damage can continue to spread and affect the autonomic nerves, which are responsible for regulating bodily functions we don’t have direct control over, such as heartbeat, sweating, and breathing.

Reduced Ability To Regulate Blood Sugar Levels

When neuropathy affects the autonomic nerves, several bodily functions become impaired. For example, you might struggle with a loss of bladder and bowel control, excessive sweating, or digestive issues. 

In particular, autonomic nerve damage can impact the cardiovascular system. When this happens, you may experience sharp drops in blood pressure or heartbeat abnormalities such as tachycardia. The symptoms of neuropathy can also conceal low blood sugar levels (hypoglycemia), which can worsen your diabetes and lead to further nerve damage.

Peripheral Neuropathy Treatment

Regardless of the cause of a patient’s peripheral neuropathy, there are several treatments that can address its frustrating symptoms and complications. 

In the case of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the answer is lifestyle management and a constant effort to balance insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. 

Hormone imbalances may be tested and addressed, injuries may be evaluated and addressed, and medication-induced neuropathy may not be avoidable if the medication is essential for treatment in another condition. 

Neuropathy is complex and there may be multiple contributing causes combined to create the symptoms reported above.

Because of this, it is crucial to look beyond simply taking pain relievers or NSAIDs to manage neuropathic pain. Below, we’ll look at the non-surgical and non-pharmaceutical treatment options available to patients today.

Drug-Free And Surgery-Free Treatment Is Possible

Some patients may also choose to undergo expensive surgeries and risky implants to address the pain. Other, more simple solutions include the use of pain relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, or even opioids in severe cases of chronic neuropathy. 

However, there are drug-free and surgery-free solutions that can treat peripheral neuropathy and address underlying health that may be both simple and lasting.

Relatyv: A Rapid And Long-Lasting Pain Relief Solution

Relatyv offers the nation’s most innovative solution for treating a wide range of chronic pain, including peripheral neuropathy, chronic knee pain, joint pain, back pain, and pain associated with fibromyalgia, osteoporosis, and endometriosis. 

Electroanalgesia therapy often results in rapid pain relief and, with regular treatments following a Relatyv treatment plan, long-lasting pain relief solutions that can last several months without any additional need for medications and other therapies to relieve pain. 

Patients routinely express relief from the pain in 1-3 visits but also express the peace of mind that they do not need to rely on potentially addictive medications that have less desirable side effects of surgeries and implants.

Our approach – a combination of Neuralgesia and Neurofunctional Pain Management – uses a range of techniques, including electroanalgesia, IV therapies, massages, and hydration therapies to help patients address their neuropathic pain without surgery or drugs. 

Let’s look at the properties of our approach to treating peripheral neuropathy below.

Non-Drug

Relatyv leverages non-pharmaceutical techniques that allow patients to free themselves from pain relievers and NSAIDs. Electrical stimulation, massages, and IV therapies can provide long-lasting relief while supporting the body in its healing process.

Non-Surgical

At Relatyv, our mission is to help patients regain their body’s functions and improve their lives without having to face the consequences of undergoing surgery, which often includes significant costs and long, painful rehabilitation periods. 

Thanks to our proprietary Neurofunctional Pain Management approach, we provide patients with an option to delay or avoid surgery. We do so by simultaneously easing pain and addressing the underlying cause of nerve pain.

Non-Invasive

For many patients with advanced peripheral neuropathy, invasive procedures such as nerve decompression surgery might begin to seem like the inevitable choice. However, with Relatyv’s approach to treating neuropathy, patients can successfully manage inflammation, swelling, and mechanical problems that are damaging their nerve endings without invasive procedures.

Non-Chiropractic

Although chiropractic care can provide pain relief in the short term, this is not a cure for neuropathy – nor is it the right line of treatment for all patients. At Relatyv, our goal is to create treatment programs that reflect the needs, goals, and preferences of each patient, while helping individuals find a long-term solution to manage their pain.

Work With A Healthcare Team You Can Trust

To this day, neuropathy remains a clinically challenging condition to diagnose and treat, with symptoms of nerve pain that are often misunderstood. However, as we have seen above, nothing is as important as obtaining an accurate diagnosis as the first symptoms begin to appear. 

Because of this, your top priority should be to find a team of specialized healthcare providers who can help you understand what’s affecting your nerves and discover the range of non-drug and non-surgical treatments for neuropathy. 

That’s where Relatyv can help.

Thanks to our expertise and experience, we are able to deliver custom treatment programs that go beyond simply easing neuropathic pain. Our team can help you identify the underlying cause of nerve damage, prevent the complications of neuropathy, and guide you in the process of regaining control over your life and health.

Although references to “nerve-originated pain” were present in Persian medical writings dating back to the 9th-12th century, a lot about neuropathy remains uncovered to this day. Understanding the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is crucial, as there are 43 pairs of nerves responsible for transmitting signals between the body and the spinal cord or brain.

So, it is easy to see how damage to the peripheral nervous system can lead to a cascade of symptoms and impact daily activities such as moving, touching, or even digesting.

So, if you are overwhelmed by pain, unfamiliar sensations, and impaired body functions deriving from nerve damage, you are certainly not alone. Fortunately, there is a lot that you can do to better understand peripheral neuropathy and find the best treatment for your needs – starting with evaluating your symptoms. Here is what you need to know.

Peripheral neuropathy is peripheral nerve damage as a result of underlying conditions. However, peripheral neuropathy is one of the most enigmatic conditions because there are dozens of causes and symptoms that also range from mild to severe. 

It is crucial that patients experiencing peripheral neuropathy understand the signs and what they can do to alleviate their symptoms.

What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?

It is estimated that around 2.4% of the global population is affected by neuropathy – a prevalence that increases to 8% among older individuals.

But what is neuropathy? And why is treating it still considered clinically challenging? 

Let’s start by clarifying that peripheral neuropathy, a phrase that derives from the Greek terms for “nerve” (neuron) and “condition” (pathos), describes a wide range of conditions that arise when the nerves outside of the brain and spinal cord become damaged. 

The nervous system has two main components:

• The central nervous system (CNS)
• The peripheral nervous system (PNS)

The CNS is composed of the nerves in the brain and spinal cord, while the PNS accounts for all of those nerves outside of the CNS, which act as conduits between the different body parts and the brain. 

The main function of the PNS is to transfer messages from the limbs, organs, and muscles to the brain. This function is fulfilled via three types of nerves that radiate from the spinal cord:

• Motor nerves – Motor nerves are in charge of transmitting motor signals to the brain, and they control muscle movements. 
• Sensory nerves – Sensory nerves transmit sensations from the skin to the brain, including temperature, pain, and vibrations. 
• Autonomic nerves – These nerves control the functioning of automatic processes, such as breathing, digesting, or sweating. 

If one or more of the nerves in the peripheral nervous system become damaged or worn down, you’ll begin to experience symptoms such as pain, discomfort, tingling, numbness, and unfamiliar sensations (i.e.: excessive sweating). 

Which Parts Of The Body Are Affected?

What parts of the body are affected by neuropathy and the type of symptoms you’ll experience will entirely depend on the type and location of the damaged nerves. 

For example, if the nerves in charge of transmitting motor signals to the brain are damaged, you might experience spasms, muscle weakness, and a reduced ability to control movements. In severe cases, untreated neuropathy can also lead to muscle atrophy (the shrinking of muscles) and paralysis. 

If the injury or damage affects sensory nerves, you’ll begin to notice unfamiliar sensations, such as tingling, and numbness, which indicates that the sensory signals traveling to the brain have been inhibited. This type of neuropathy can also cause you to feel pain in response to stimuli that should normally feel painless, or be incapable of feeling pain when you should. 

Although rarer, damage to autonomic nerves can cause automatic processes to break down, which can translate to digestive issues, erratic heartbeat, excessive sweating, spikes in blood pressure, and the loss of control over bladder or bowel function. In people with diabetes, the prevalence of cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy (CAN) can range between 2.5% and 90%. 

The area or areas of the body where you’ll experience these symptoms depend on where the damaged nerve is located. 

Which Conditions Lead To Peripheral Neuropathy?

One of the main reasons why it remains challenging to treat neuropathy is that this condition can have several causes and risk factors. What’s more, up to 30% of patients live with idiopathic neuropathy, meaning that their nerve damage has no known cause. 

Nonetheless, some diseases and health events can increase the risk of neuropathy, including the ones below. 

Diabetes/Metabolic Problems

It is estimated that over 50% of diabetic patients will develop neuropathy, making type 1 and type 2 diabetes the leading risk factor for nerve damage. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy is mainly caused by inadequately controlled blood sugar levels. Spikes and drops in blood glucose can damage the blood vessels responsible for delivering essential nutrients and oxygen to the surrounding nerves, thus leading to the loss of nerve fibers. 

The likelihood of developing neuropathy, if you have diabetes, increases nearly five-fold if your blood sugar levels aren’t properly managed over long periods. 

Other metabolic disorders might also lead to a type of neuropathy called dysautonomia, or metabolic neuropathy. This condition affects the autonomic nerves in the PNS and can lead to complications such as irregular heartbeat and blood pressure, excessive sweating, and abnormal functioning of the eyes’ pupils. 

Injuries

Direct trauma can damage nerves and sever their connection to the spinal cord or the brain. This leads to numbness, paralysis, and the inability to feel sensations in the affected limb or another part of the body. 

Nerve damage can also be caused by injuries to areas of the body surrounding the nerve. For example, you might begin to experience tingling and numbness in your arms and hands if you suffer from cubital tunnel syndrome or have reported an injury to the elbow. This is because torn ligaments, ruptured tendons, fractures, and inflammation can put excessive pressure on nearby nerves. 

Infections

Neuropathy is a common complication in people battling infections caused by viruses and bacteria. For example, in patients with HIV/AIDS, the prevalence of nerve damage is as high as 60%. 

In this case, neuropathies arise because the high levels of inflammation in the body during the early stages of the disease have a detrimental effect on the myelin, or the protective coat around nerves (demyelinating neuropathy). 

Genetic Causes

Some autoimmune diseases such as lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and Sjogren’s syndrome can cause nerve damage. In the case of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, neuropathy can also be a hereditary disorder. This disease affects an estimated 126,000 people in the U.S. and 2.6 million worldwide, and it can lead to impaired motor and sensory nerves. 

Toxins

The toxins contained in certain foods, alongside some chemicals and heavy metals, can cause nerve damage in patients who are exposed to them for long periods. These chemicals include lead and mercury.

However, common toxins that can increase the risk of demyelinating neuropathy are the ones contained in alcohol and nicotine. 

These substances degrade the sheath that protects nerves from damage, contribute to nutritional deficiencies, and make it more difficult for patients with diabetes to control their blood sugar levels. 

However the opposite is also true, you might develop nerve damage if you consume too much of some vitamins, such as B6 and B12. 

What Are The Common Symptoms Of Peripheral Neuropathy? 

Approximately 20 million Americans are diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy. But, despite how widespread this condition is, no two people will experience the same symptoms.

That is because there are 43 pairs of nerves that make up the peripheral nervous system – 12 pairs radiating from the cranial opening and 31 pairs radiating from the spinal cord – which connect to over 7 trillion nerve endings. And, any of them can be affected by peripheral neuropathy. 

Additionally, the underlying cause of neuropathy can determine whether the nerve damage is permanent or temporary (such as in the case of neuropathy caused by chemotherapy), and how severe the degeneration will be. 

Understanding the symptoms you are experiencing is the first step to finding the best type of treatment for your needs, preventing further complications, and addressing the underlying cause of nerve damage. Let’s start by looking at the most common symptoms of neuropathy, in order of prevalence. 

1. Pain In Hands And Feet

One of the most common symptoms of neuropathy, and the earliest telltale sign of nerve damage, is a pain in the hand and feet. The discomfort can increase in intensity over time, and it is often accompanied by sensations such as tingling and pins and needles. If left untreated, the pain can begin to radiate through the forearms, ankles, and legs. 

The reason why hands and feet are the first parts of the body to be affected can be found by looking at a phenomenon called “dying-back” neuropathy – or the principle that shows how neuropathy is dependent on the length of nerves. 

This means that the longest nerves in the body are the first ones to be affected, and they tend to “dye back” towards the spinal cord or cranial opening. Since the nerves in your hand and feet are the furthest ones from the spinal cord, they are also the longest ones in the body and the first ones to be affected.  

Additionally, because of the complex infrastructure of nerves and receptors throughout the body, you might experience pain in the hand and feet even if your extremities are not directly affected. This can happen, for instance, if connected tissue in your shoulders, knees, or elbows is affected by injury, trauma, inflammation, or degenerative diseases. 

The hand and feet are packed with both motor and sensory nerves, which means that damage to these nerves can lead to experiencing unfamiliar sensations, changes in how you experience cold or heat, or even mobility issues. 

Although pain in your extremities is the first and most common indicator that you might have nerve damage, this symptom often appears in combination with other signs. Let’s look at them below. 

2. Cramps

Cramps are a common complaint among people with neuropathy, especially because uncontrolled muscle movements can disrupt sleep and lead to sudden discomfort. As a form of neuropathic pain, cramps are caused by improper signaling, which interferes with the messages that should travel from motor nerves around the body to the brain. 

In turn, the damaged nerves can excite the intramuscular nerves, which cause the surrounding muscles to fire up spontaneously or discharge suddenly, leading to cramps. 

A 2013 study has shown that 60% of patients with this symptom and no other neuropathic symptoms had small fiber sensory neuropathy (SFSN), which only affects the small cutaneous nerves. 

3. Spasms

Muscle spasms and uncontrollable twitching are telltale signs that motor nerves have been affected. When the connection between the brain and intramuscular nerves is interrupted, these nerves will become hyperactive on their own and without a known cause. 

This can lead to uncontrolled muscle movements which, over time, can affect a patient’s ability to carry out normal daily activities and professional tasks. In the long term, neuropathy can also lead to disability. 

Rarer complications of neuropathy that share similar mechanisms to the ones of muscle spasms include:

• Painful legs and moving toes (PLMT) – PLMT is a type of neuropathic pain syndrome that affects a person’s ability to control the movements of their lower limbs, especially their feet, and toes. 
• Fasciculations – Fasciculations are contractions of the muscle fibers that happen spontaneously and intermittently. These spontaneous twitches are caused by sporadic dischargers of motor nerves and are visible under the skin. 

4. Burning Sensation

Neuropathy is most commonly associated with a burning sensation, which is a sign that sensory nerves have been affected and no longer transmit signals to the brain as they should. 

In particular, a burning sensation can indicate that the neuropathy has extended to the free nerve endings and receptors in the epidermis. When this happens, the nerve fibers become overactive and begin to send signals of pain and burning to the brain, even though there is no wound or fire. 

Similarly, if these sensory nerves are damaged, you might feel pain in response to stimuli that should normally be painless or heightened sensations of hot or cold. These sensations often begin in the hands and feet, and it isn’t common for neuropathic patients to also suffer from hyperesthesia, or hypersensitivity to touch. 

Sensory neuropathy is also one of the main causes of burning feet. 

5. Loss of Feeling

Although numbness is a symptom shared among many conditions, it is most commonly associated with nerve damage. The loss of feeling can be either partial or complete, and it often begins in the hands and feet when the connection between sensory nerves and the brain is severed. Numbness is also a leading complication in diabetic peripheral neuropathy. 

Although a mild loss of feeling in the toes or fingers might not be immediately serious, it is important not to underestimate this condition. Indeed, if left untreated, it can begin to spread to the hands, feet, and limbs, and cause a myriad of consequences. 

Some examples include:

• If you are unable to feel pain, you might not notice a wound or infection in the foot, which can turn into ulcers and, in severe cases, lead to gangrene and limb amputation. 
• If you can’t feel your feet, you might struggle to position them while walking or running, which can make injuries such as sprains more likely.
• You might accidentally expose your numb extremities to extreme heat or cold, which can cause severe damage. 

6. Trouble Sleeping

Neuropathic pain can have a profound impact on all aspects of a person’s life, starting with affecting their sleep quality and duration. 

In particular, neuropathy can cause involuntary muscle spasms that can wake you up during the night. Additionally, neuropathic pain tends to become more intense and noticeable when distractions are not present, such as when you are getting ready for sleep. 

What’s more, the unfamiliar sensations and extreme sensitivity to touch can make it more difficult to fall asleep, which can lead to sleep deprivation. In turn, a lack of sleep can kickstart a vicious circle that involves fatigue, loss of productivity, and the worsening of neuropathic pain. 

7. Loss of Balance

Loss of balance and impaired coordination are typical symptoms of nerve damage simultaneously affecting sensitive, motor, and autonomic nerves. This happens because of the multiple complications of neuropathy, which include:

• Nerve damage severs the connection between sensory nerves and the brain, thus inhibiting important signals regarding the body’s positioning in the surrounding space. Because of this, you might notice yourself bumping into objects when walking.
• Sensations used by the brain to keep track of the position of hands and feet no longer reach the brain, thus causing clumsiness and loss of balance. For example, dropping things can be a sign that the nerves in the hands or fingers have been damaged. 
• Neuropathic pain can affect the gait and movements of the ankle, foot, and arms. In turn, you might notice an uneven walking pattern or difficulty climbing stairs. 
• Unprovoked twitching, spasms, and cramps can make it harder to maintain balance. These involuntary movements can happen without warning and might affect your stability while walking or running.

This symptom is more common among aging patients and can be a severe cause for concern for patients who already have weakened muscles or mobility issues because it can lead to an increased risk of falls and injuries. 

8. Difficulty Standing From A Low-Seated Position

As we have seen above, neuropathy can manifest itself with a wide range of symptoms, which can vary in intensity and type from one patient to another. One of the less common symptoms is an intensifying difficulty in standing up from a low seated position. 

Multiple factors come into play when you are experiencing this neuropathic symptom. Firstly, neuropathy can affect balance, thus making it challenging to stand up without using handrails or other mobility tools. 

Additionally, motor neuropathy can cause the weakening and shrinking of muscles. Especially among older adults, this can contribute to muscle atrophy, reduced range of motion, and inability to bear weight on your legs and feet. 

If you are experiencing this symptom, strengthening your muscles becomes paramount to prevent injuries and maintain an active and independent life.

How To Treat The Symptoms Of Peripheral Neuropathy

Regardless of the cause of a patient’s peripheral neuropathy, there are several treatments to address its frustrating symptoms and complications. 

In the case of diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the cause is due to insulin imbalances and resulting blood sugar levels, in a complex interaction that is beyond the scope of this writing. 

While patients work to control their diabetes and related symptoms, patients may also wonder what steps they can take in managing the complications associated with peripheral neuropathy.

Some patients may also choose to undergo expensive surgery to address the pain. Other, more simple solutions include the use of pain-relievers such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen or soaking the affected areas in cold water for a short period of time. 

However, solutions for peripheral neuropathy may be both simple and lasting.

Treatment sessions with electroanalgesia offered through Relatyv often result in immediate and long-lasting solutions to the conditions of peripheral neuropathy. 

Patients express relief from the pain but also the peace of mind that they do not need to rely on potentially addictive medications that have less than desirable side-effects, or the stress and fear of surgeries and invasive implanted medical devices.

We Can Help You Manage The Pain From Peripheral Neuropathy

With over 100 different neuropathies, each with their own symptoms and causes, there is no doubt that finding the right treatment for your nerve pain and damage can be challenging.

However, if you suffer from diabetes or you have noticed the early symptoms of neuropathy, it is important to have a clear understanding of the telltale signs and prognosis of this condition.

Having a clear idea of what neuropathy is and how it can affect your life can help you make the best decision when it comes down to choosing a treatment and taking the first step towards recovery.