Before exploring ways of treating Peripheral Neuropathy, it would be worthwhile to understand what it actually signifies. Peripheral means beyond, and in this context it means beyond the brain and the spinal cord. Neuro means nerves, and pathy is a disorder. When you put it all together, it amounts to a condition that occurs when the nerves that usually carry messages to and from your brain through the spinal cord and to your body have a disease or are damaged.
Peripheral Neuropathy is a condition that can affect how you live your life since the peripheral nerves are complicated networks that are vital for your everyday functioning. They connect the brain and spinal cord to all the muscles, skin, and internal organs in your body. Damage to nerves interrupts the supposedly smooth communication between your brain and other parts of your body. This leads to muscle movement impairment, pain, and loss of feeling in your arms and legs.
This condition is common in those suffering from type 2 diabetes, and those above the age of 55. Typical symptoms of this disease are pain, a burning feeling, and tingling sensations.
What Can Cause Peripheral Neuropathy?
Several factors can lead to this disease, and the top three determinants are the following:
- Acquired Neuropathies
This is caused by environmental factors like toxins, trauma, illness, and infection. Other known causes that can lead to acquired neuropathies include:
- Diabetes
- Inherited diseases
- Alcoholism
- Lack of proper nutrition or vitamin deficiency
- Cancer
- Sickness where the nerves in the body are attacked by one’s own immune system
- Kidney disease
- AIDS
- Hereditary Neuropathies
This aspect is not as common. It refers to damage to your neuropathy that has been genetically passed on in your family.
- Hereditary Neuropathies
- Idiopathic Neuropathies
There are times when this disease seems to occur for no apparent reason. As of the moment, doctors refer to such a case as idiopathic, meaning that it is of unknown cause.
Further details regarding the alleviation of symptoms and triggers of Peripheral Neuropathy can be found on nervepaintreatment.org.
Top 6 Ways To Treat Peripheral Neuropathy
Treatment methods of Peripheral Neuropathy vary and will depend on the cause of the condition.
- Use Of Neuropathy Supplements
If you are interested in taking a neuropathy supplement to address your situation, it is best to consult with your doctor first. Not every supplement will match your needs, since there are several things to take into consideration such as dosage, quality, and purity.
Things that you should take into account when consulting with your doctor regarding a specific supplement are the following:
- Speed of results
- Overall effectiveness
- Are there side effects that you should know about?
- What is it made of? You might be allergic to some of its contents
- Customer feedback
- Company reputation
- Return policy
- The overall value for price
- Vitamins
Peripheral Neuropathy can sometimes be caused by vitamin deficiency. This is why taking vitamins is essential to your nerve health because deficiency can lead to nerve damage if you are not careful. Two vitamins that are really vital are Vitamin B and Vitamin D. Vitamin B helps improve the health of your nerves, while Vitamin D prevents nerve pain. Taking vitamins alongside supplements will be helpful in the fight against Peripheral Neuropathy.
- Cayenne Pepper
This spice that you might simply use to season your food is helpful in battling Peripheral Neuropathy since it contains capsaicin, the ingredient that makes them spicy. This is used in creams to help with the pain relief. It also helps decrease the intensity of pain signals that are sent through your body.
Incorporating it as much as possible in the food you eat can help treat Peripheral Neuropathy.
- Warm Bath
In all likelihood, you already like doing this so it will not be a hard choice to make. Taking a warm bath soothes and relieves pain symptoms arising from neuropathy. When the blood circulation in your body increases because of the warm water, pain symptoms lessen, thus making you feel more comfortable.
- Use Of Essential Oils
Essential oils greatly help in soothing the painful areas in our body caused by Peripheral Neuropathy. Putting them over your body also helps increase circulation as discussed above, which helps relieve painful sensations. Additionally, essential oils also contain pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory properties.
- Acupuncture
Acupuncture stimulates the pressure points of your body so that the nervous system releases chemicals that change the balance of pain experienced. This is a natural way of healing because your body is being tasked to heal itself. Many have proven this way to be very effective.
Conclusion
Peripheral Neuropathy can be treated in many ways today. You can start by taking neuropathy supplements, combining them with vitamins because a lack of vitamins in the body is one of the causes of Peripheral Neuropathy. In addition, Cayenne pepper, a warm bath, the use of essential oils, and acupuncture can also help.
Keep these things in mind and live a healthy and long life!