
If you’re enduring the pain of neuropathy, the caring professionals at DuPage Integrative Medicine in Naperville, IL , are here to offer assistance. We provide conservative, non-surgical, and medication-free treatments designed to alleviate your pain and restore your body to optimal function.
Neuropathy refers to nerve degeneration or damage, typically resulting in pain, weakness, or numbness. While neuropathy can manifest anywhere in the body, peripheral neuropathy specifically denotes nerve damage occurring outside of the spinal cord and brain.
In the United States, over 20 million people suffer from neuropathy, and this number may be an underrepresentation due to the condition’s complex symptoms, which can lead to misdiagnosis. Neuropathy symptoms vary based on the affected nerves and have a multitude of potential causes. If left untreated, nerve damage can worsen, leading to severe disability and a reduced quality of life.
Root Causes of Neuropathy
Understanding the underlying cause of your neuropathy is crucial for effective treatment. By addressing the root issue causing nerve pain and damage, many individuals can experience pain reduction or complete relief. DuPage Integrative Medicine‘ neuropathy protocol is designed to provide relief and comfort.
While there are over 100 potential causes of neuropathy, some of the more common ones include:
- Diabetes: The leading cause of neuropathy, with over half of all diabetics developing this condition, according to the Mayo Clinic.
- Poor metabolic health: Elevated blood pressure, blood sugar, or cholesterol levels.
- Autoimmune diseases: Conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy can lead to neuropathy.
- Chemotherapy
- Toxin exposure
- Medications
- Infections: Conditions such as Lyme disease, shingles, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C can result in neuropathy.
- Nerve impingement
- Kidney disease
- Liver disease
- Alcoholism
- Vitamin deficiencies
Symptoms of Neuropathy
Symptoms of neuropathy can vary depending on the type of nerve(s) affected. Sensory, motor, and autonomic nerves all serve different roles in the body, and nerve damage to any one of them results in different symptoms:
- Sensory Nerves: Responsible for sensations like vibration, pain, light touch, and temperature changes. Neuropathy in these nerves may lead to numbness, pain, burning, and tingling.
- Motor Nerves: Control muscle movement and coordination. Neuropathy involving motor nerves can cause muscle weakness, coordination problems, and poor balance.
- Autonomic Nerves: Regulate functions such as digestion, bladder and bowel control, blood pressure, and heart rate. Neuropathy in autonomic nerves can result in bladder and bowel issues, digestive problems, and dizziness due to blood pressure drops. It can also lead to heat intolerance and abnormal perspiration.
Although neuropathy can present with a range of symptoms, the most common ones typically start in the hands and feet and progress up the limbs as the condition worsens. Most individuals experience muscle weakness, numbness, tingling, and stabbing or burning pain. Neuropathy can also cause extreme sensitivity to touch and pain from activities that typically shouldn’t be painful, such as wearing socks or applying pressure to your feet.
Peripheral neuropathy can affect a single nerve (mononeuropathy) or multiple nerves (polyneuropathy). Most people dealing with this condition have polyneuropathy.
Treating Neuropathy
Our neuropathy treatment protocol is tailored to promote healing and the reversal of nerve damage. Our approach involves the following methods:
- Increasing blood supply to affected nerves to stimulate natural healing
- Re-educating nerves to function properly
- Enhancing blood flow to affected areas, like the feet or hands
- Improving balance and mobility
At DuPage Integrative Medicine, our mission is to provide neuropathy relief to those in Naperville, IL , and nearby areas without merely masking symptoms with addictive and harmful medications. We aim to facilitate nerve healing to help your body function optimally.
In our Naperville, IL physical medicine office, our doctors perform comprehensive examinations and diagnoses to create individualized treatment plans focused on relieving neuropathy symptoms.
Treatment methods may include:
- Platelet Rich Plasma treatments
- Regenerative treatments
- Cervical and lumbar traction
- Trigger point injections
- Targeted strengthening and stretching exercises
- Postural alignment using Chiropractic BioPhysics
- Chiropractic adjustments