Category: Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a very common issue that affects patient’s legs and feet. Yet for something so common, we have a long way to go to help manage this painful and potentially debilitating problem. For most people, the symptoms start slowly and gradually worsen over time.

This slow onset can delay the onset of diagnosis and treatment for months, or even years. The symptoms are often different from person to person making it difficult for a doctor to easily recognize the problem early. Furthermore, there are multiple potential causes for the chronic nerve damage and multiple potential treatments depending on the cause. Long story short…peripheral neuropathy can be a tough row to hoe. But, there is good news.

Only Two Choices?

Too often in my experience, patients with peripheral neuropathy hear that they have only two choices:

1) Take pain medications to mask the symptoms

2) Live with it until the nerves die off and no longer cause pain

For years, doctors have searched for other options that would relieve or cure the symptoms regardless of the cause or severity of the nerve damage. They have tried many treatments, medications, and therapies that have only lead to disappointment. But, there is good news.

The Good News: ESTIM Treatment

Now, here’s the good part. Recently, one treatment (often referred to as ESTIM therapy) has shown quite a lot of promise in relieving, and even eliminating the pain from peripheral neuropathy. A company called NEUROGENX developed this therapy.

ESTIM combines a commonly used local anesthetic with a new type of electrical signals generated by a computer. Together, they can gradually heal nerve tissue by addressing the primary underlying cause of most nerve damage, lack of blood flow and oxygen to the nerves. Over the last four years, we have been using the NEUROGENX ESTIM treatment at our clinics to help patients suffering with different types of neuropathy. And we have seen dramatic results, especially when compared to other available treatments.

How ESTIM Works

For patients with peripheral neuropathy, limited blood flow and oxygen delivery can cause slow nerve healing. Whatever is causing damage to the nerve also can damage the small blood vessels that feed the nerve.

The ESTIM treatment combines both electrical and chemical treatment to stimulate increased blood flow and increased nerve healing. The injections use a local anesthetic called “marcaine” which opens and dilates the blood vessels feeding the nerves. Once the blood vessels are open, the electrical impulse goes through the nerve to “jump start” it and stimulate healing. The computer generates an electric signal that changes constantly. This means that the nerve does not “get used to” the signal, which would reduce the effectiveness.

So with each ESTIM treatment, the nerve receives both the nutrients it needs and the electrical signals telling it what to do. With this, the nerve is able to repair and heal the damage. With each subsequent treatment, more and more damaged nerve tissue repairs itself.

The Patient Experience

The most important thing to us is that we see patients have a dramatic improvement in their quality of life. When they come back to see us and report 85, 95, and sometimes even 100% improvement, that is the most rewarding part of what we do as doctors. I would like to end this blog with a quote from a patient named Zelda.

“Now after treatment, I can walk again. I’m back to my normal activities, and I don’t have any pain. I’m sleeping through the night, and the jittery feeling in my legs is gone. Just make an appointment because there is no one else out there doing this. Even if it only helps 75%, it’s worth it. To be able to live your daily life again, it makes all the difference in the world.”

If you would like to learn more about ESTIM treatment, please call us and make an appointment. We would be happy to answer your questions or schedule an evaluation to see if this therapy is right for you.

Come see us, we can help. To learn more about how we treat neuropathy, click here.

To make an appointment, click here.

In Part 1 of this blog series, we talked about the symptoms, locations and causes of neuropathy. Today, we will discuss the treatment options available. First, I would like to address the approach that many patients experience with conventional medicine. Next, we will talk specifically about our approach, and the treatment options we use that have shown to have a high success rate in patients suffering from neuropathy. Let’s jump in.

The Pharmaceutical Approach

In conventional medicine today, it has become very commonplace to treat neuropathy with medication. I call this the pharmaceutical approach. Medications that are typically prescribed can include Lyrica, Neurontin and Gabapentin.

While these can have some positive impact, the side effects are often what patients struggle with. They can start to feel spacey, and also gain weight. Although the average weight gain is between 10-15 pounds, I have seen some patients gain as much as 40-60 pounds taking these medications. In severe cases, sometimes patients resort to taking narcotics for pain relief, and then there is the risk of opiate addiction.

Is it Coming From Your Back?

The second approach I typically see is that patients have heard the primary cause of their symptoms is coming from their back. They come to us and are often confused. They say, “I went to one doctor and they said my nerves are diseased, and then I went to another doctor and they said it’s coming from my back.”

Many times these patients have been told all they can do is live with it or take medication. If they have been told it’s coming from their back, they might look into chiropractic care, physical therapy, injections, or even surgery.

Our Approach

Our approach is different. We look at the lower limb much like you would look at the upper limb. There are nerve tunnels in the lower extremity that can become compressed or damaged. And the good news is that this gives us the opportunity to reverse the symptoms of neuropathy. Depending on the patient’s exam results and symptoms, we have both surgical and non-surgical treatment options available.

Nerve Decompression Surgery

This is a minimally-invasive, 1-hour procedure. We go in surgically to open up nerve tunnels in the patient’s leg that have become compressed. When we release the pressure from the nerve, patients often see up to 90% improvement from their symptoms. Whether they have diabetic neuropathy, non-diabetic neuropathy, or even chemo-induced neuropathy, we typically see a high success rate with this treatment option. This is also most appropriate for patients with very severe neuropathy symptoms.

ESTIM Treatment

This is a non-surgical treatment option. ESTIM is an electrical stimulation treatment. We use this on the nerves, and send various pulse waves into the anatomy of the leg. This can stimulate the nerves to want to repair themselves. Studies have shown increased nerve repair, and demonstrated how small nerve endings come back to life after ESTIM treatment.

MLS Laser Treatment

This is also a non-surgical treatment option, and it works more on the cellular level. The mitochondria is the “energy-creating” part of your cells. The laser works by targeting the mitochondria specifically in the nerve cells to help repair the damaged nerve tissue.We often use ESTIM and MLS Laser treatment in combination because it can be very effective in providing relief to a patient suffering from nerve pain.

My goal in sharing these treatment options with you is ultimately to instill hope. I find that most patients suffering from severe neuropathy struggle to keep hope alive.

We see patients every day who are finding relief from their neuropathy and nerve pain after years of suffering. In Part 3 of this blog, I will share some of these patient success stories with you. Stay tuned! You don’t want to miss it.

To learn more about how we treat neuropathy, click here .

Part three of this blog post can be viewed at ‘Real Patient Real Stores‘.

To make an appointment, click here.

Do you think you or someone you love might have neuropathy? Perhaps you’ve just been diagnosed with it and you are looking for answers.

You’ve come to the right place. Today, we are going to talk about neuropathy symptoms, locations, and causes of neuropathy. In Part 2 of this blog, we will talk specifically about treatment options, and share stories of patients who have found hope and relief from their symptoms. Let’s get started.

What are the symptoms?

Patients with neuropathy will usually experience:

• Pain
• Burning
• Tingling
• Numbness
• Weakness

These symptoms don’t all need to be present. One person may have a lot of numbness and slight amounts of burning, while another may have numbness and weakness, but no tingling.

So the combination of these symptoms, and the amounts of different symptoms are widely varied. The symptoms may be periodic in the beginning, and then eventually occur 24 hours a day. They may be barely noticeable during the day, but then haunt you by at night by keeping you awake.

The symptoms may have been very mild for many years with very slow progression. Or, you may be experiencing a rapid progression of symptoms getting worse very quickly.

Where do the symptoms occur?

This is  one of the most important things to consider. Many times, I have seen patients who think they are getting neuropathy because they have numbness in one or two toes. Or, maybe it’s in a small area on the side of the foot.

A small location is not common with neuropathy symptoms. To qualify as true neuropathy, symptoms need to be found in a larger area. For example, the entire bottom or top of the foot. Or, in many cases, the top and bottom of the foot, including all the toes.

Symptoms may not be shared equally in both feet and legs. It can occur more in the lower legs than in the feet. In medical school, we were taught that neuropathy occurs in both feet equally. But, I will tell you from years of experience treating patients, this is not what I have seen day to day. What I have seen consistently, is that the symptoms are typically located in larger areas of the foot and leg, usually below the knee.

What causes neuropathy?

Diabetes may be a potential cause of neuropathy, and many people assume that you have to have diabetes to get neuropathy. This is not true. Although a high percentage of patients with diabetes do get neuropathy, we see many who do not have diabetes. Some patients have neuropathy that may have been caused by alcoholism or chemotherapy, and as a result, the nerves have become damaged. Whatever the cause, the locations and symptoms still apply.

Lastly, don’t be confused by the big words thrown around to diagnose neuropathy. You may have heard “peripheral idiopathic polyneuropathy.” Big words yes, but let’s break it down. “Peripheral” means that your symptoms are in the periphery, which means away from the midportion or trunk of your body. “Idiopathic” means from unknown cause. And finally, “polyneuropathy” means in multiple locations. So very simply, this term means that you have neuropathy symptoms away from your midsection, in multiple locations, and they don’t know what caused it.

Neuropathy can be very frustrating and debilitating. I see patients every day who are looking for answers, and the good news is that we can help!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of this series to learn about treatment, and hear stories of hope.

To learn more about how we treat neuropathy, click here.

To make an appointment, click here.