The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy estimates that there are 30 million Americans who suffer from Peripheral Neuropathy. For some it is just annoying – a light numbness in toes or fingers, or feeling like there is a piece of leather between your foot and the ground when walking barefoot, tingling, or burning, intermittent or constant. For others, it is more than just annoying, it is painful beyond belief, effecting everything they do, disrupting the quality of their lives. To get a feel for what can be done about it, we have to understand what causes Peripheral Neuropathy (PN).
The primary causes include alcohol consumption, certain auto-immune diseases, chemo-induced PN, imbalance in blood sugar/diabetes, certain inflammatory and infectious diseases, kidney diseases/renal failure, mineral toxicities (arsenic, lead, mercury, zinc excess), chemical toxicities (ethylene glycol, ethanol, acrylamide, carbon disulfide, Agent Orange, hexacarbons, organophosphates and others), medication-induced (not all drugs in each category – read medication inserts – medications used for high blood pressure, cancer, anticonvulsants, anti-alcohol, antibiotics, antimicrobials, skin treatments, and many more); certain hereditary disorders, nutritional deficiencies and the popular category of “Idiopathic” causes (a doctor once laughed and said “Idiopathic means we’re idiots – we don’t have a clue what is causing it”), and a few other causes.
So what does that mean for you? If you are using medications, research the drug and if it has a side effect of Peripheral Neuropathy, ask your doctor to change medications, or pursue other options to eliminate the symptom and not simply just control it. If you drink excess alcohol, stop. Know that it will take a few months, but gradually your PN should start lessening, and at very least, stop progressing. If you use insecticides containing organophosphates, find alternative solutions.
There are many alternative solutions for things like inflammation, infection, autoimmune diseases, high blood pressure, etc. Herbal remedies, acupuncture, and dietary control are just a few.
Acupuncture can really benefit those suffering from PN. Several studies have confirmed the benefits of acupuncture, but what is better, is that it is customized to the individual person and their set of health needs, not a one-size-fits-all approach as studies require.
Nutritional deficits are key in helping PN sufferers. The Vitamin B complex is of utmost importance in PN. But a warning is require: most B-vitamin supplements are synthetic and therefore don’t have the same benefits as food-based B vitamins. Vitamin E is essential for improving blood flow; calcium, magnesium, copper, zinc and healthy fats (nerves require healthy fats) can be helpful. It is critical that copper and zinc be in proper balance as both excess and deficiencies of those two minerals can cause neuropathy as well as help it.
This is a very broad subject and I’ve barely scratched the surface. Suffice it to say, that much can be done with acupuncture, herbal medicine, nutrition, massage and other modalities to help you figure out your cause of PN and help eliminate it.
©2022 Holly A. Carling, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D.
