Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition that over 20 million people in the United States have been estimated to suffer from. It is a very painful condition that stems from damaged nerves that carry the messages from your central nervous system (your brain and spinal cord) to your peripheral nervous system (the nerves throughout your body). When these nerves get damaged or diseased you start to experience things like pain, reduction in movement and strength in the limbs as well as weakened and impaired muscles.

What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy?

There are many known reasons for a person to develop peripheral neuropathy. One of the most common is through diabetes known as diabetic neuropathy, it can also be caused by poor diet and certain diseases and infections. There is also idiopathic neuropathy in which the cause of the neuropathy is unknown, up to 30% of cases are considered idiopathic. Lastly, though very uncommon neuropathy can be genetically inherited.

How is Peripheral Neuropathy Treated?

Depending on how severe the condition is or the type of neuropathy a patient has the treatment can be different. Some people respond very well to prescription medications or capsaicin cream. Our office offers a variety of neurologic treatments for those looking to avoid prescription drugs, or those who don’t want to use them. These treatments work by stimulating the nerves to start firing properly again. We also have machines that stimulate increased blood flow to the area so the nerves are getting proper nutrition. We have found that over 40% of our peripheral neuropathy patients have dramatic nerve pressure in their low backs which will cause them to dysfunction. When this occurs we will also use Non-Surgical Spinal Decompression, however 75% of the time there is no back pain associated with the nerve pressure in their backs.