Neuropathy: Doctors Reveal Top 5 Things to Know
If you’ve ever touched a hot burner, your likely recoiled immediately without thinking.
That’s because the nerves in the hand that touched the burner make you immediately aware of the burner’s extreme heat.
Your sensory and perception networks, including your central nervous system, are very complex.
Your brain works together with your nervous system to identify threats and damage and keep you out of harm’s way.
But when your nerves are damaged and stop functioning correctly, which is the cause of neuropathy, an assortment of misinformation is carried back to your brain.
The nerves in your hand could send messages to your brain, telling you that your hand is in danger when it’s not.
Or the opposite could happen.
Read on to learn the five things everyone should know about neuropathy.
Table of Contents
- What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?
- Causes of Neuropathy
- Common Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy
- Neuropathy Treatment
- What Do I Do If I Have Neuropathy?
- Schedule A Visit With Ethos Health Group
What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?
Your peripheral nervous system is the nervous system outside of your brain and spinal cord.
Your hands and feet are included in this system, and they have nerves that tell you where your extremities are in relation to your body.
They also help regulate your temperature and signal pain.
In the example we talked about above, when you touch something hot, your peripheral nerves signal your nervous system so you can recoil your hand right away.
Your peripheral nervous system acts as a messenger between your central nervous system and the rest of your body.
Peripheral neuropathy is the damage done to your peripheral nervous system that disrupts the communication between your brain and the rest of your body.
Three types of peripheral nerves may be damaged by neuropathy, including your sensory nerves, motor nerves, and autonomic nerves.
Causes of Neuropathies
Nerve damage is often hard to recognize because it can have so many different causes and symptoms.
Traumatic injuries, infections, metabolic problems, and exposure to toxins are typical causes of neuropathy.
Diabetes is known to cause neuropathy.
Nerves are the pathways that communicate sensations to the brain, so nerve damage can produce tingling, burning, stabbing, or numbing sensations in the body.
More clear signs of neuropathy involve both the right and left sides of the body.
There are several conditions that can cause numbness, but symptoms that start in the feet and involve both sides of the body are typically neuropathy.
Common Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy
As mentioned above, peripheral neuropathy can cause a tingling sensation or numbness in different parts of the body.
Muscle weakness, high blood pressure, sensory nerve damage, as well as autonomic nerve damage, are all common symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.
Neuropathic pain is most common in the hands and feet.
Your personal experience of neuropathy will depend on the types of peripheral nerves affected, the symptoms you experience from damage to those nerves, and the severity of your symptoms.
There are some typical neuropathy symptoms, but everyone’s experience may vary.
Neuropathy Treatment
Treatments for neuropathy will reduce the sensations and other symptoms you are experiencing.
Neuropathy currently can be cured or have its symptoms reversed.
Doctors are still unable to impact the underlying cause of most neuropathies.
That’s why the main focus of treatment is to decrease the pain that can occur if you have neuropathy.
Nerve damage can also result from autoimmune diseases like Sjogren’s syndrome, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
In approximately 5-10 percent of neuropathy patients, the cause is the person’s immune system attacking the nerves.
In these situations, neurologists can treat the underlying immune system causes and may even stop the neuropathy altogether.
What Do I Do If I Have Neuropathy?
Everyone’s treatments and recovery time will vary, but peripheral nerves can heal, and recovery is possible.
Neuropathy cannot be “cured,” but depending on the cause of your peripheral neuropathy and the type of damage involved, there are a variety of treatment options that may be recommended by your health care team.
These typically include:
- Medication
- Nutrition
- Physical or occupational therapy
- Integrative medicine
Schedule A Visit With Ethos Health Group
If you think you’re experiencing symptoms of neuropathy, you should see a medical professional as soon as possible.
At Ethos Health Group, our treatment process’s first step is to determine how much nerve damage is present and if your condition can still be treated.
We will perform a series of non-invasive tests that tell us just how much sensation has been lost and what options exist for you.
These tests will show us if your neuropathy has reached the “point of no return” or if you can still benefit from our treatment program.
Our treatment programs at Ethos Health Group consist of cutting-edge, non-invasive therapies designed to stimulate new blood vessels’ growth to help reverse nerve damage in the feet or hands.
When the sensation begins to improve, our team of healthcare providers will develop a customized balance program to give you the confidence you need to not live in fear of falling.
We also utilize our NeuroRegen-CT injections, which combine platelet-rich plasma (PRP) with platelet-derived growth factors from your own blood.
These natural regenerative procedures help support blood vessel and nerve growth to reverse damage from peripheral neuropathy safely.
If you’re ready to find relief from your neuropathy, you should contact Ethos Health Group as soon as possible.
Click the button below to schedule your consultation.