Southwest Florida's Health and Wellness Magazine Health and Wellness Articles
By Dr. Robert Gilliland, DC
The most common method that doctors use to treat peripheral neuropathy is with prescription drugs such as Gabapentin, Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Neurontin. While these drugs may temporarily reduce symptoms, they do nothing to halt the progression of the disease and come with a variety of harmful side effects.
Peripheral neuropathy is the result of nerve damage in the hands and/or feet that often lead to weakness, pain, numbness, tingling, and debilitating balance problems.
While a number of conditions that can ‘trigger’ peripheral neuropathy; diabetes, bad discs, chemotherapy and unknown causes (idiopathic), the underlying cause of peripheral neuropathy is a lack of blood flow to the nerves.
It’s important to understand that having ‘okay’ or even ‘good’ circulation, as evidenced by a strong pulse in your extremities, does not mean that you have good circulation where it counts – in your capillaries.
Capillaries are the smallest blood vessels in your body. They’re so small that a single red blood cell has to alter its shape just to squeeze through them.
The reason why capillary circulation is so important is – your blood has to make its way through the capillaries to deliver its ‘payload’ (oxygen and nutrients) to your cells.
The nerves in your hands and feet are electrical. They’re made up of a collection of nerve cells. These nerve cells are like tiny, self-charging batteries. The way that they ‘recharge’ and maintain a strong electrical charge is by converting the oxygen and nutrients found in our blood into electrical energy (ATP).
As long as our nerve cells are able to ‘recharge’ and maintain a strong electrical, everything runs smoothly. However, if something interferes with capillary circulation and our nerve cells don’t get the oxygen and nutrients that they need to ‘recharge’, then they won’t be able to maintain their strong electrical charge.
When our nerve cells begin to lose their ‘charge’ it can lead to symptoms, such as those associated with peripheral neuropathy. If this ‘loss of charge’ goes on for too long it can lead to cell death. When cell death occurs, your peripheral neuropathy becomes permanent.
This is why you must restore normal blood flow through your capillaries to reverse peripheral neuropathy.
THERAPIES THAT RESTORE NORMAL BLOOD FLOW PEMF THERAPY
One of the therapies that have been shown to reduce the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is called PEMF (Pulsed Electromagnetic Field) therapy. PEMF therapy is a non-invasive, FDA approved, NASA patented therapy that has been shown in double blind, placebo controlled medical studies to reduce the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy with no drugs and with no reported long-term negative side effects.
PEMF therapy reduces the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy by:
DECREASING INFLAMMATION, INCREASING CIRCULATION, INCREASING CELLULAR UPTAKE OF OXYGEN AND NUTRIENTS, AIDING IN CELLULAR DETOXIFICATION and INCREASING ATP PRODUCTION (ENERGY) AT THE MITOCHONDRIAL LEVEL.
HAKO-MED HORIZONTAL THERAPY
Another therapy that has been shown to decrease the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is called horizontal therapy. Horizontal therapy has been shown to increase circulation, to stimulate small fiber nerves and to reduce the pain associated with peripheral neuropathy.
PERIPHERAL NEUROPATHY PROGRAM
In 2014 we developed a peripheral neuropathy protocol that combines PEMF therapy, horizontal therapy and Functional medicine that has helped hundreds of men and women to reduce or eliminate their peripheral neuropathy symptoms with no drugs and no long-term negative side effects.
For more information on our peripheral neuropathy program visit our website at www.FloridaNaturalHealthCenter.com or call our office 239-331-1876. We have offices in Naples and Bonita Springs. Please see our ad below.