Chinese Medicine & Neurological Pain
Acupuncture can help with the following Neurological Pain:
Neuropathy
Trigeminal Neuralgia
Postherpetic Neuralgia (Nerve Pain from Shingles)
Thoracic, or Lower Back Radiculopathy
How Acupuncture Can Help with Peripheral Neuropathy?
Peripheral Neuropathy is a common condition affecting the quality of life for many. There are different causes to Peripheral Neuropathy with limited ways to traditionally treat its effects directly. Peripheral Neuropathy is when the small nerve fivers in the hands and feet start to become damaged. This leads to a series of odd sensations till the hands and feet are deadened by numbness. This will start interfering with day to day activities. Peripheral Neuropathy may start to effect the way one can grasp with their hands, or perception of their feet. The ability to write, hold their cup of coffee, or walk around the golf field can be hindered. As one gets older with Peripheral Neuropathy, it effects the ability to walk and “feel” where they are placing their feet. Sometimes, this may lead to a misstep, a fall, and commonly, a fractured hip, or bone. Peripheral Neuropathy may start gradually for years; but if ignored, it can lead to life alterating events.
How does Peripheral Neuropathy Affect our Hands and Feet? Within the body, there are 2 types of nerve fibers helping with the communication between the body and brain. These nerve fibers contribute to our ability to move our muscles and feel. The 2 types of nerve fibers include : Large fiber nerves and Small fiber nerves. Peripheral Neuropathy usually affects the Small Nerve fibers and the side effects start in the hands and feet. When damaged, the Large Nerve Fibers can effect balance and sense of equilibrium.
What are the causes of Peripheral Neuropathy? There are 3 main causes of Peripheral Neuropathy all leading to the deadening of the nerve fibers.
Structural blockage to Nerve Health: It is quite common for structural imbalance of the spine and hips to effect the peripheral nerves of the feet. When one experiences lower back pain and sciatica, they can feel how some parts of the toes, sides of the feet and leg can have some sharp, burning pain, or numbness. The spinal cord runs in the center of our vertebrae (Spine bones). There are nerve branches coming out of the sides of the these vertebrae that help control the muscle motor movement and skin sensation for the certain areas they serve. When the spine ends at the lower back area (lumbar and the coccyx-the tailbone), certain nerves branch out, winding out from the holes of the sacrum (on the side of the glutes), branching into smaller networks of nerves from large fibers to smaller fibers ending at the feet. Spinal conditions such as herniated disc, bulging disc, disk degeneration, spinal stenosis, scoliosis, bone spurs, and postural imbalances can throw off this nerve flow. When this nerve flow is pinched, or narrowed; then, the area that these nerves serve will be effected. Leading to sharp pain, tingling, numbness, and loss of balance and ability to move the toes, feet, and legs, properly. With Peripheral Neuropthy, there is usually a chain of effect. When one thing is out of balance, the rest of the system will be effected over time. Structural events leading to Peripheral Neuropathy may include lumbar damage from epidural from birth, prolonged sitting while pushing during labor, car accidents causing disc herniations, or bulging discs, arthritis, osteoporosis or osteopenia leading to damage of the vertebrae, poor posture such as desk sitting all day, and more.
Secondary Causes from Autoimmune Conditions: It is quite common for Peripheral Neuropathy to be caused by Diabetes Type II because this autoimmune conditions can effect the blood system and nervous system health. Treatment would have to focus on balancing blood sugar levels, lifestyle of nutrition and exercise, while using maintaining and healing the nerve pain. Other Autoimmune conditions may cause Peripheral Neuropathy include Thyroid imbalances, Celiac, Crohn’s, or digestive disorders because of the lower absorbing of vitamin B12. Vitamin B12 deficiency can lead to nerve damage because B12 is used for nerve health. In spite of exhaustive workups, no cause is identified in one-third of PN cases, and they are considered to be idiopathic. (1).
Chemotherapy Induced Neuropathy: Chemotherapy and radiation can effect the health of the nerves near the areas they are treating. For example, treating Breast cancer with chemotherapy will be treated near the breast tissue and lymph area (near the armpit). The chemotherapy will effect the nerves that reside under the armpit and branch out down the arm and fingers.
What are the stages of sensations of Peripheral Neuropathy & Common Conventional Treatment Options?
There are 3 stages of Peripheral Neuropathy progression, which can be determined by the level of and type of sensations.
Level 1 of Nerve damage includes sharp, burning pain sensations.
Level 2 of Nerve damage includes tingling, pins-n-needles, and feeling of “ants crawling on the skin”. Here, the nerve damage leaves some sensations.
Level 3 of Nerve damage is numbness. This is the most severe stage because the nerves are deadened. Course of treatment includes the question: Can the Nerve damage be reversed?
Conventional Medicine will do a biopsy of the small nerve fibers to determine which nerves have been affected and damaged. The go-to medication for nerve pain is Gabapentin. We have seen this medication to help with nerve pain, maybe tingling, but have lowered relief for numbness. Remember, everyone responds to medication differently. We have helped some patients wean off of Gabapentin alongside the help of their doctor by using Acupuncture to decrease the withdraw symptoms, while healing the small nerve fiber damage of Peripheral Neuropathy. There are not many treatment options for small nerve damage and numbness for conventional medicine besides pain medication management.
How Can Acupuncture be on the of the top options in treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy?
This depends on whether the Peripheral Neuropathy is affecting the large nerve fibers, or small nerve fibers. and how long the person has had this nerve damage. Acupuncture has excellent results with reversing and treating small nerve fiber damage of the hands and feet. Acupuncture needs more studies to determine if it can help reverse Large fiber neuropathy, but it has been shown to help manage the nerve pain and numbness. The best therapy is Electroacupuncture, where a tens unit is clipped onto the Acupuncture at a very low frequency on selected Acupuncture points. This a very gentle sensation creating a relaxing experience. The benefits of using Electroacupuncture is decrease numbness, decrease sharp/burning pain, no more “ant crawling sensation”, healing nerve damage, improve balance, improved ability to walk on uneven surfaces, and able to improve grip while drinking coffee. Acupuncture is very effective for Chemotherapy induced Neuropathy when Acupuncture treated is started the very beginning of Chemotherapy to restore nerve function.
How fast can Acupuncture help with healing Peripheral Neuropathy? This depends on how long the person has had the nerve damage. In hindsight, the treatment time is much shorter than how long the person has had the Peripheral Neuropathy, which is usually years. The average treatment plan is between 10 to 20 visits, which can span over 6 weeks to 3 months. The frequency per week depends on the medical case history, how debilitating the pain is, and how it is effecting their day-to-day life. The longer one has had the nerve damage, the more work it will take to restore the nerve health. The Licensed Acupuncturist will provide clear answers how many treatments, its frequency per week, what changes to expected, and cost of treatment.
We are now accepting New Patients starting August 2020 for our Neuropathy Relief Program. We start everyone with a consultation with our Licensed Acupuncturist. Here, a complete health assessment is done, answer any questions you may have, and talk about your customized treatment plan.
Feel free to email info.temacupuncture@gmail.com to book your consult for Pain Relief!
Thank you!
Danielle Dickshinski, L.Ac.
Resources:
Dimitrova A. (2017). Introducing a Standardized Acupuncture Protocol for Peripheral Neuropathy: A Case Series. Medical acupuncture, 29(6), 352–365. https://doi.org/10.1089/acu.2017.1242
Wong, R., & Sagar, S. (2006). Acupuncture Treatment for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy – a Case Series. Acupuncture in Medicine, 24(2), 87–91. https://doi.org/10.1136/aim.24.2.87
Dr Sven Schröder, Jarrestraße 42, 22303 Hamburg, Germany (tel.: +49 40 27075901; fax: +49 40 27075905; e‐mail: dr.schroeder@praxis‐jarrestadt.de).