A sound mind resides in a sound body. For the body to be fit, it is essential for a person to get proper rest, exercise regularly, maintain a well-balanced and nutritious diet, get six to eight hours of sleep and keep away from habits like smoking, drinking and eating fast foods. When a person experiences numbness or weakness in his or her hands, legs or other parts of the body or demonstrates impaired reflexes, this may be a sign of peripheral neuropathy.
Peripheral neuropathy can affect any or all of the nerve groups, including sensory nerves, motor nerves and autonomic nerves. People with peripheral neuropathy may show the following signs:
- Numbness and tingling sensations in the hands or feet,
- Acute stabbing pain
- Drop in the blood pressure
- Heaviness in arms and legs
- Weakness of the hands and legs
Causes of Peripheral Neuropathy
Various factors leading to nerve damage are enumerated below-
- Pinched nerves due to herniated disc or muscle spasm
- Glucose intolerance
- Reynaud’s disease
- Lupus
- Diabetes
- Kidney disorders
- Hypothyroidism
- Vitamin deficiency, especially of C, B-1, B-6, or B-12
Consulting a neurologist or neurosurgeon who would assess your present health condition and diagnose your nervous disorder would help you get a picture of your prognosis.
Treatment of Peripheral Neuropathy
Before finalizing the right course of treatment for peripheral neuropathy, it is essential to find out the exact cause that has led to this disorder. If it is caused by a vitamin deficiency, then a change in the diet along with vitamin therapy would be helpful. Likewise, if the nerve damage is due to alcohol abuse or taking a certain medication or toxic substance, then avoiding the substance can restore the health of nerves. One main factor contributing to nerve inflammation is a high sugar and high salt diet. Even you do not have diabetes, avoiding processed food and sweets will save your nerve function, so that, when you reach 90 years old, you still can walk and think normally.
Alternative Medical therapy for Peripheral Neuropathy
Acupuncture has been found to be highly effective for patients with peripheral neuropathy. Besides the pain relief, patients also experience a marked improvement in nerve conduction after completing the acupuncture course specified by the acupuncturist. The number of treatments depends on each person’s medical condition; for a chronic condition, a few months will be required to recover the nerve function.
Researchers have revealed that electro-acupuncture has helped regenerate nerve cells in rats suffering from spinal cord injuries. There are also human studies that have indicated that acupuncture can bring back the normal sensation of the nerves in the hands and feet. Furthermore, acupuncture can help the hands regain their strength. If after a nerve injury, you still have developed muscle atrophy after doing physical therapy for a few months, it is the right time to start acupuncture treatment to help the nerves regenerate as soon as possible.
Nervous disorders that acupuncture can correct
Whether it is alcohol, tobacco or junk food addiction, or it is Bell’s palsy, dementia, headache or a migraine or stroke, getting acupuncture treatment from a specialist and completing a 12 to 24 course of treatments would provide sufficient blood flow to the nerves. If diabetes is the major cause of nerve damage, then acupuncture treatment can also prevent a spike in blood sugar level induced by sugar intake and will help stabilize the sugar level in the blood.
Complications of peripheral neuropathy include falls, infection, burns and skin trauma. Besides getting specialized acupuncture treatment, patients should make healthy choices related to their food, exercise and lifestyle. This would help them minimize the risk factors and prevent any further nerve damage, thereby enabling them to enjoy a long and healthy life.
Some of the important things you need to take care are as follows:-
- Include fruits, green vegetables, whole grain and protein in your diet for healthy nerves
- Exercise 30 minutes-1 hour three times a week to improve the circulation to the peripheral nerves
- Avoid smoking or excess drinking, spicy food, exposure to drugs or toxic chemicals.
