Is A Neuropathy Cure Possible?

Posted by john on April 17, 2014

One of the biggest misconceptions is that Neuropathy is just one disorder.

Nothing, and I mean nothing could be further from the truth.

You see, there are so many different things that can induce the various forms of peripheral neuropathy.

The most common form of neuropathy is related to lifestyle and obesity.

This is called metabolic syndrome. As a society we have become larger and less mobile so were seeing many more patients with this affliction.

But that still leaves 50% with neuropathy from other disorders some, indeed very serious and possibly life threatening.

The reality is neuropathy can and does develop from simple things such as a nutrient deficiency like vitamin B12, vitamin D or even cancer.

They’re also significant numbers of patients who have toxic exposures and who develop neuropathy. These toxic exposures could include anything from certain medications to cigarette smoking to occupational exposures.

This of course means your most important first task is to have a thorough evaluation by a professional who truly knows the depth of neuropathy and it’s causes. Unfortunately, too many physicians and therapists are ill informed, in our opinion often not nearly thorough enough.

So is a neuropathy cure possible?

The answer is yes but that of course depends upon what caused it. This also means identifying correctable causes early on is key.

Despite this fact however there are issues that are equally common amongst many forms of neuropathy.

The most important thing that you need to understand is the better care you take of yourself, the better your prognosis.

For most patients this means cleaning up their diets, oftentimes losing a significant amount of weight, eliminating potential neuropathy irritants such as artificial sweeteners and highly refined foods. It also means eating more vegetables and limiting all forms of sugar and sweeteners.

Wherever possible adding exercise, physical therapy, and using the tried-and-true methods of treatment including specialized neural stem and other therapy where available.

If it’s been a while since you’ve had a look, or if you’re new to us please begin your journey HERE!

Got Neuropathy? You May Need To Consider Weight Loss!

Posted by john on April 14, 2014

Many patients with peripheral neuropathy discover is that weight loss can accelerate healing, reduce pain, and dramatically improve quality of life.

Amazingly, one of the things that most patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy discover is that weight loss can accelerate their healing, reduce their pain, and dramatically improve the quality of their life.

Now, this is true for many forms of peripheral neuropathy, especially those associated with diabetes or metabolic syndrome.

The reasons for this are many.

But here are three reasons why you should consider weight loss if you suffer from neuropathy, or ANY form of chronic pain.

Number one: Being even as little as 10 to 15 pounds overweight can help create an inflammatory environment in your body. Inflammation causes pain, which sets the stage for more devastating diseases.

In fact, I have had patients present to my practice with significant widespread aches and pains, whose only medical issue was being overweight. Their inflammatory blood markers (CRP), much like those who suffer from inflammatory arthritis and other devastating diseases, are often significantly elevated.

An inflammatory environment in our bodies helps create symptoms including achiness, fatigue, and other bothersome issues—which many patients simply accept as normal.

Being even a little overweight will also aggravate any underlying pain syndromes, like peripheral neuropathy. Simply by losing weight, you can correct much of this pro-inflammatory situation!

Second, you probably already understand that being overweight makes it much more difficult for you to maintain normal blood and blood sugar levels. Elevations in both of these, especially triglycerides and blood sugars over many years, can lead to the development of, or worsening of, peripheral neuropathy.

The third, and perhaps most powerful, reason to consider weight loss is, by losing weight, we significantly reduce our risks of devastating diseases including diabetes, heart disease, and many forms of cancer.

As we recently published, the NeuropathyDR diet solution is one that is very effective.

In fact, we’ve had patients tell us they lose as much as 5 to 8 pounds in just several days after beginning and following our diet. In case you missed it, you’ll find that at http://neuropathydr.com/the-neuropathydr-diet.

One of the last, and most compelling, reasons to consider weight loss is, like most patients, you’ll likely experience more energy, less fatigue, drop your blood pressure, and perhaps even improve other conditions without more drugs, including health issues such as fibromyalgia and sleep apnea.

Remember we are ready to help, when you are!

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“It’s Just a Slight Tingling, Maybe It Will Go Away…”

Posted by john on April 10, 2014

Nowhere else can this attitude be as dangerous as in your health—especially when dealing with peripheral neuropathy and related disorders.

Now, those of you who read us regularly know that sudden onset of tingling, or other “funny” symptoms could be a medical emergency, like a stroke. That’s why an accurate diagnosis is your FIRST imperative!

What I’m talking about here is the cases where we see patients who “blow off” their own self-care, including available good neuropathy treatment!

Sometimes it’s finances, lack of family—or, even physician—support, but all too often it’s not wanting to make the emotional or time investment in learning all about YOUR type of neuropathy, then focusing like a laser on the things you CAN do!

First, you really have to know what you are dealing with. We do know that better health habits, regardless of your diagnosis, make an incredible difference. That’s why an accurate diagnosis is imperative!

For example, almost universally, we know that diabetic and MANY OTHER neuropathy patients who avoid dairy, gluten, and get strict with what and how they eat, get the best neuropathy treatment results! And this is even MORE true in the case of metabolic syndrome, or pre-diabetes, which is now epidemic.

Another area we feel VERY strongly about is that most neuropathy patients should at least try a gentle electric neurostimulator!   So much so, I have even invented a brand new one! But, more on that next month.

Yes, you can even lease or rent these from us! You’ll find everything at http://neuropathydr.com/homecare

Now, when this type of home care is coupled with great clinicians, manual therapies and rehab, laser therapy, and therapeutic nutrition, you are PUSHING your body in the direction of healing, wherever that is possible!

So, why NOT do everything you can do to help beat your neuropathy early? The longer you wait, or if you just dampen the symptoms with medication, the more difficult feeling better will be!

Our clinics are always ready to help you with great in office treatment plans and home care kits AND many specialized, viable treatments!

A complimentary 15-minute Neuropathy Analysis, lease or rental of related equipment, and even no-interest financing are available in most NeuropathyDR® Treatment centers for any non-covered services, supplies, and equipment!

We are more than happy to discuss YOUR neuropathy treatment needs with your personal physicians, too!

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#Neuropathy And The Blood Sugar Connection Part II

Posted by john on April 7, 2014

#Diabetes and metabolic syndrome are two diseases that are becoming much more common.

healthymeal1 300x200 #Neuropathy And The Blood Sugar Connection Part II

Although there are genetic contributions, most of the time metabolic syndrome and diabetes develop because of a declining level of physical fitness and carrying around too much body fat.

Our so-called modern high-fat and high sugar diets are a big contribution. Most adults need only 2000 calories or so per day yet some people consume as much as 6000 calories or more per day for years on end.

Diabetes and it’s precursor called the metabolic syndrome, are two diseases that are becoming much more common as the result of consuming too many calories and lack of physical activity and exercise.

One of the most devastating things that tens to happen as a direct result of metabolic syndrome and in a large number of patients who suffer from diabetes is peripheral neuropathy.

Most often this does not happen overnight. It takes many years for these to develop and by that time, considerable damage often has been done. This is why it is so important to control your calorie intake and maintain the highest level of physical activity. You can at any age!

Once the damage from elevated blood sugar is done, simply getting sugars under control is not enough! This is a myth that both physicians and patients alike don’t fully understand. There are good studies that show 75% of time just getting sugars control is not enough – you could be left with significant pain and disability just by treating the elevated blood sugar!

This is where a comprehensive NeuropathyDR Treatment plan may help you substantially!

So isn’t it time you learn all you can about #neuropathy treatment in advance?

Remember, we are here to help.

We will do everything in our power to help nurse you back to health, but YOU must reach out and grab all these tools!

Otherwise you run the risk of suffering miserably for the rest of your life.

Harsh words? Yes.

But it is the truth.

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Neuropathy And The Blood Sugar Connection Part I

Posted by john on April 3, 2014

High blood sugar is one of the most devastating consequences of being #diabetic.

diabeticmeter 300x116 Neuropathy And The Blood Sugar Connection Part I

What you may not know however is that even borderline elevations of blood sugar especially over long periods of time can cause considerable problems, not the least of which is peripheral neuropathy.

What a lot of people don’t realize is that borderline blood sugar elevations over a longer time cause them to feel really lousy, stiff, sore, and achy. Yes, this may even contributes to a lot of the symptoms that people ordinarily attribute to things like arthritis and fibromyalgia.

Why is this?

This is due to a process that occurs in our bodies called glycosilation. What might you ask is glycosilation?

This is simply what happens when elevated blood sugars are allowed to persist and free sugar (glucose) molecules attach themselves to protein structures.

Proteins make up large components of our skin, muscles, and yes even the lining of our joints. As you can see, elevated blood sugars over time can affect almost our entire bodies!

Your nerves are no exception.

But what is the root cause of this elevation in blood sugar?

That’s what we’ll talk about next time in part two of this article. So be sure to read this and the next segment very carefully and post your comments and questions on Facebook!

Neuropathy Pain Is A Complex Phenomenon

Posted by john on March 31, 2014

Peripheral neuropathy and many forms of chronic pain are now easier than ever to manage at home and in the clinic.

Practical day-to-day solutions can be difficult for neuropathy and chronic pain patients to deal with.

This is largely because every single medication has potential side effects. Sometimes they’re not obvious for many years. With many over-the-counter medications such as acetaminophen and NSAIDs, the side effects may not be apparent until liver or kidney failure appears.

This is not an exaggeration. If you follow us on social media, you know how often we talk about this; right now it is the number one cause of liver and kidney failure in this country. This is a huge public health epidemic.

Unfortunately, medical education generally does not do a good job of educating physicians on drug-free alternatives to pain management. For generations now, even children have been fed medications at an early age and taught this is the only solution.

There are even links to early dosages of acetaminophen and the development of asthma, and perhaps other health issues as well.

Let’s talk about the most practical solutions. First and foremost, rather than reaching for medications first, use all the drug-free alternatives you have at your disposal. Simple measures early on are far better. Applications of ice packs, warm packs, and Epsom salt baths still go a long way to solving many of life’s aches and pains.

Maintaining proper body weight and make sure you are eating an anti-inflammatory diet.

But neuropathy pain is a different animal. Severe pain—debilitating pain—from any source requires extraordinary measures. Still, the simple things we spoke about earlier can have a powerful impact.

This is especially true when simple measures are combined with appropriate dietary changes.

The good news is, peripheral neuropathy and many forms of chronic pain are now easier than ever to manage at home and in the clinic.

With the introduction of our new NDGen®, and ever improving in clinic protocols, more patients are finding better and longer lasting results than ever before.

Always remember though, the key to best managing neuropathy, arthritis, fibromyalgia, spinal pain, et cetera, is stopping pain at its source wherever possible—and rapidly! This means improving the overall function of your entire body early on, not simply masking pain with medication, and, most importantly, boosting and improving the efficiency and energy of your key body systems.

That’s what we help you do!

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Delaying #Neuropathy and Pain Treatment is Like Playing With Fire!

Posted by john on March 27, 2014

You could end up more seriously injured by delaying #neuropathy, #fibromyalgia, and other chronic pain treatment.

As you probably know working with and actually effectively treating neuropathy can be extraordinarily challenging.

Neuropathy itself can be the result of many different causes and other conditions. The underlying conditions themselves are often times very challenging and then if you add neuropathy on top of it and you can have a very difficult situation.

Unfortunately drug only therapy serves to simply mask the symptoms and not treat the underlying illness. Too often patients who suffer from neuropathy, fibromyalgia, and other forms of chronic pain can go on this pattern for many years before effective treatment is actually implemented.

And often times it’s prolonged self-treatment for pain or other annoying symptoms.

It is not unusual now to see patients taking large amounts of self-prescribed over-the-counter drugs ending up with liver damage or kidney damage and sometimes organ failure.

Don’t let this be you! Yes of course sometimes medications are necessary to help with pain but using them only to the exclusion of other good self-care is a road for disaster.

It’s very important you take the most appropriate steps to actually improve your underlying health and function as quickly as possible.

Also understand that our personal behaviors most especially diet, activity and stress control will have more to do with your outcome than almost anything else.

This is also why using the most appropriate home care tools including everything we’ve made available to you can work so well.

And sooner you can start along this treatment pathway the better your end result will be!

By now, you probably understand that we know much more about actually treating most forms of neuropathy and chronic pain than ever before.

And we do know that early active intervention by YOU usually makes a huge difference in your prognosis!

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Do you have Pain, Neuropathy, and Stress?

Posted by john on March 24, 2014

If we already suffer from a painful condition like peripheral neuropathy, stress makes it worse.

As a reader of this column, you already understand the relationship between diet, lifestyle, and your health.

You probably already know to that inflammation and “inflammatory states”, even at microscopic level, can cause a whole host of human illnesses, ranging from arthritis to cancer and heart disease.

Do you have Pain, Neuropathy, and Stress? The more inflammation we suffer, the more pain and disease we can endure. This is also why we are continually writing about easily correctable factors such as diet, certain supplements, adequate water intake, etc.

A key component of health is stress management. Stress is something that all human beings deal with on a daily basis. Some of us are confronted with enormous periods of stress and remain healthy.

But we all have our limits. Sooner or later, our bodies experience breakdown. And if we already suffer from a painful condition like peripheral neuropathy, stress makes it worse. But why is this so?

We know that inflammatory diets, such as those high in sugar, can aggravate pain, as can our environments, physical activity, and a many other external factors.

Well, scientists have finally made the connection between stress and pain.

A research team at Carnegie Mellon Institute in Philadelphia has discovered that stress significantly affects our body’s ability to regulate inflammation.

Not only can stress affect hormone production, but it can affect the way our immune cells and immune system response to attacks by things like viruses.

And, everybody knows, inflammation causes pain.

For example, how bad does a sunburn or deep scratch hurt? When you look at these, you notice the swelling, redness ,and sometimes extreme discoloration. These are all signs of inflammation.

If we are relatively healthy, our bodies will respond relatively quickly. Within two weeks we never knew anything happened.

But what happens if you can’t control inflammation properly?

That scratch or sunburn may worsen, or could develop a serious complication like an infection. We all know how badly they can hurt.

So, when inflammation is not regulated properly internally, our pain levels will increase; we are more predisposed to everything from the common cold to more significant illness and disease. The longer this goes on, the worse it becomes.

It’s been said that the first step to improvement is knowledge, so next time we’ll talk more about some more practical stress management techniques for those who suffer from many forms of pain and, of course, peripheral neuropathy.

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The Best And The Worst of At-Home Neuropathy Pain Treatments.

Posted by john on March 20, 2014

Better methods of controlling the pain and discomfort that peripheral neuropathy can bring are essential.

By now you realize that there are a huge number of pills, potions, and gadgets etc. that are marketed to people who suffer from neuropathy and many other forms of chronic pain.

Many years ago when I became involved in the treatment of neuropathy and realized that this was inevitable due to the sheer number of people who suffer from peripheral neuropathy worldwide. And the huge numbers of patients is growing rapidly. Peripheral neuropathy now occurs in younger and younger ages.

Make no mistake about it this directly parallels our modern lifestyle and expanding waistlines. This of course is due to a high sugar, carbohydrate diets and less physical activity.

In fact, the overall quality of diet and physical exercise for the vast majority of the population has deteriorated dramatically in the last 40 years.

All that said, doesn’t it make sense that these should be the primary targets of effective treatment?

Of course it does and even more so if you have the type of neuropathy that is directly related to obesity and poor fitness.

So why then did these critical two components get ignored until it’s often too late?

This one is a combination of public health and healthcare professional education to be sure. The relentless push on you that all you need to do is to take this pill so that you feel better is an extreme disservice to both patients and their physicians alike.

But all neuropathy is not caused by lifestyle. Some are due to accidents, usage of certain medications, a side effect of surgery, genetics, or just bad luck.

All this means is that better methods of controlling the pain and discomfort that peripheral neuropathy can bring are essential.

The worst pain treatments are those that have no basis in science what so ever and there are plenty of them available. You only have to scan the aisles of your local pharmacies.

Employing other methods, which are researched and supported by science are our first choice both at home and in the clinic.

Shouldn’t they be yours as well?

If you like, search back through the archives here for references on neurostimulation, TENS, and laser therapy. As well as key nutrients, which we combine into our NeuropathyDR treatment programs.

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Diabetic Neuropathy Tx And Conventional Dietary Approaches

Posted by john on March 17, 2014

One of the most difficult and frustrating forms of peripheral neuropathy we treat is caused by diabetes.

As you probably know, diabetes as well as diabetic neuropathy is on the rise. The reasons for this are many, however it is widely agreed that the most common cause is significant increase in BMI or body mass index, otherwise known as weight gain.

Unfortunately, this is one neuropathy problem that is not treated aggressively enough. Too many patients are simply told to lose a little weight and get more exercise etc. without any meaningful specifics. Worse yet, very common hospital-based diabetic nutrition programs are still far too high in carbohydrates, as are some very famous diet programs.

This also includes programs still prescribed by nutritionists who treat diabetics. In our opinion, this has perpetuated problems with weight control in diabetes. We also see people eating so-called healthy diets, which are loaded with sugars, this commonly includes diets rich in fruits and grains.

In the treatment of diabetes and its cousin metabolic syndrome, the most important thing to realize is that carbohydrates in your diet must be significantly controlled.

This means that carbohydrates need to be restricted to approximately 15 g per meal. For some of you, this will come as a shock. This means no more than a half a slice of bread per meal with no other carbs, minimizing starchy vegetables, and eliminating sugars.

*Now this also means you will need to work with your doctors and nurses to adjust your medication dosages, especially, if you are insulin-dependent. Do not make these suggested changes without your doctors’ knowledge or consent.

Getting very strict about carbohydrate control and realizing that conventional nutrition approaches may not be enough to manage your weight, diabetes, but most especially your neuropathy goes a long way towards helping you regain control of your health and thus your life.

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Developing a Neuropathy and Chronic Pain Schedule

Posted by john on March 13, 2014

Scheduled physical activity every day can improve neuropathy and other chronic pain.

One of the things we find in our practices is that patients who tend to keep tight schedules do extremely well managing and ultimately defeating chronic pain.

More specifically when we work with these patients even recovering from neuropathy, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis and yes even more serious illnesses, we find there is scheduled physical activity every day.

In fact, it may be one the most challenging things you do. But it could also be one of the most rewarding.

The reason for this is our bodies work on set schedules.

Did you know that even such things like body temperature and alertness, etc. all run on internal schedules and cycles?

This also helps explain why those who schedule things such as meals, physical activity, self-treatment with your home-care and clinic care, do far better!

Otherwise, especially in this modern world the tendency is to drift aimlessly. And yes, even things such as our computers, social groups, and social media can wind up being distractions using a vast majority of our time.

Unfortunately, this tends to happen more not less as we get older, retire, become disabled or move away from daily structure.

The bottom line is it is not healthy.

So here’s where I recommend you begin today. Start by outlining what an ideal date looks like for you.

What time do you get up? What do you have for breakfast that makes you feel the best?

Most of our neuropathy and chronic pain patients find that adhering to the NeuropathyDR diet and eating schedule goes along way towards keeping them productive.

This is because the NeuropathyDR diet will allow you to maintain more even blood sugars and thus your energy level and mental alertness.

Next, regardless of your fitness or illness level, some type of scheduled physical activity is critical.

We are here If you need help developing a more productive schedule.

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The Power of Scheduled Neuropathy and Chronic Pain Treatment

Posted by john on March 10, 2014

Most patients search for answers as to why they ended up with peripheral neuropathy or other chronic pain.

If you are like most patients you spent considerable time, money, and energy chasing for answers. Answers as to why you may have ended up with some of peripheral neuropathy or some form of chronic pain.

You probably already have discovered that answers are not always easy. Most of the time there are a combination of factors, which have been at work sometimes for years.

Now given that this is often the truth the difficulty in appropriate treatment lies in not having a schedule and system to follow both at home and in the clinic.

But there is an answer. And that answer is to build and keep yourself a schedule.

You see, your body has certain basic needs and these needs include things such as sleep, fuel, and proper elimination.

When these take place on a set schedule your body has an easier time adapting and healing.

Now of course everyone is a little different. Some are morning people, some afternoon or evening. The best thing you can do is to adapt to schedule the keep yourself on track with eating, and self-care.

We find that most people do the best when they scheduled their self care treatment with their NDGen at set times during the day and perhaps the evening as well.

The same goes for the other tasks including monitoring blood sugar, blood pressure etc.

Most especially though you’ve got to schedule in appropriate eating times, meal preparation, physical activity and exercise everyday.

The most amazing thing about this is you will start to feel better more quickly and your body will actually anticipate and look forward to all the good things you can do for it.

So start today by making yourself a priority.

We have lots of suggestions you just need to let us help!

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The Worst #Neuropathy and #ChronicPain Treatment Plan

Posted by john on March 6, 2014

Just taking medications is Not a treatment strategy for #neuropathy

If you or someone you love suffers from peripheral neuropathy or any other form of chronic pain you personally know how difficult it can be first getting answers and then secondly formulating a treatment plan that actually works.

Too often patients move about from office to office in search for a diagnosis while all the underlying things that could be acted upon and corrected immediately are ignored.

Unfortunately the most common things that contribute to neuropathy and many forms of chronic pain include lifestyle, cigarette smoking, and yes even some prescription and over-the-counter medications.

Sometimes patients go for years before any of these are addressed. All the while more damage to the body and interference to the healing process continues.

It is not unusual for us to find patients who have been taking 10 or more medications long-term.

This of course is not a treatment strategy.

It’s actually a form of blind archery meaning you’re trying to fire an arrow at a target that you cannot see.

Of course trials of various treatment programs need to be and should be attempted. But in order to be effective, they all must be coordinated and part of a bigger plan.

And that of course is the point of this article.

When I started to work with patients suffering from peripheral neuropathy I realized there was no system in place to actually help #neuropathy patients to not only to control their pain but to sleep better and give their body a fighting chance at recovery.

Everything we’ve designed at NeuropathyDR is specifically intended to address a key component of neuropathy and pain. The first tool is our NDGen neurostimulator.

Unlike simple TENS units the NDGen is designed to be profoundly stimulatory in addressing the first component of neuropathy and chronic pain and that is of course, pain control.

As the next several days go by we’ll talk much more about our systems in particular and why they’re so important.

But for now, start thinking about better ways to help yourself and most importantly what you can do personally with the help of our clinicians to formulate a better neuropathy and chronic pain treatment plan!

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A Simpler Chronic Pain and Neuropathy Treatment Strategy.

Posted by john on March 3, 2014

Suffering from peripheral neuropathy or any other form of chronic pain can be difficult to manage on a day-to-day basis.

distressedlady 300x225 A Simpler Chronic Pain and Neuropathy Treatment Strategy.

If you suffer from peripheral neuropathy or really any other form of chronic pain than you understand how difficult it can be manage this on a day-to-day basis.

One of the reasons for this is that by its definition chronic pain is insidious, meaning it tends to creep up slowly.

So like most patients for quite a long period of time you may have already tried a dozen or more medications.

But yet this entire time no one has helped you focus on the simpler things that can have enormous and often extraordinary benefits to your overall health, no matter what stage you’re at.

Specifically we’re talking about diet, meditation, mindfulness, stress reduction, and as much physical activity in which your condition will allow.

For those patients who have been seriously ill or recovering from surgery this simply may be getting up and about out of bed more often with assistance and at home physical therapy.

In this category I would also add the appropriate use of non-drug treatment modalities, physical therapy modalities, massage, using your NDGen kit and laser therapy.

Some of these of course are available in the clinic as well as at home.

What DOES not work is continually plying your body with more painkilling medications without paying attention to everything else.

This is not to say of course that medications are not helpful. Often times these are extremely beneficial in helping to manage the pain and discomfort associated with neuropathy when it can be at its very worst.

But for too many, simply relying on these along while ignoring the simplest but so critical things is doing you a tremendous disservice.

Many patients find that learning more about how these different tools like the NDGen and then redesigning a simpler life, along with reducing medications and their associated side effects are more appropriate self-care strategies that go a long way towards helping them improve the quality of their life.

That’s why our clinicians are here! We stand by ready to help when you are.

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Got Neuropathy or Other Chronic Pain? Start here!

Posted by john on February 27, 2014

Neuropathy self-treatment often includes self prescribed medication.

pain 200x300 Got Neuropathy or Other Chronic Pain? Start here!

If you felt better, you would change your outlook on things pretty quickly.

While beginning to take a hard look at your own self-care, one of the most important things to do is some form of effective pain control that does not create potentially damaging side effects.

How, you might ask is this possible?

By applying some more simple solutions wherever possible.

The reason this is so important is that too many patients will blow off early warning signs in many illnesses and attempt to self-treat. Often times this self-treatment includes some form of self prescribed medication regimen.

Numerous over-the-counter products are tried often to little or no avail.

Yet silently they could be creating liver or kidney damage. Here’s the most common example.

Did you know that acetaminophen is the number one cause of liver failure?

This is one of the reasons that patients often times will consume multiple preparations and prescription that otherwise contain this compound. Sometimes patients fail to discuss with their physicians which over-the-counter medications they are taking, thinking they are insignificant.

Nothing could be further from the truth, as many professionals prescribe pain products that also contain acetaminophen. In the beginning they may help you feel better but the long-term side effects are devastating unless closely monitored.

So we suggest the very FIRST thing rather than last is the application of these critical pain control measures.

As simple as it sounds a tightly carbohydrate controlled (sugar, soda and sweets elimination) diet can really make an enormous difference. The reason for this is that even borderline elevations of blood sugar over time can make you stiff, sore and predisposed towards inflammation and the resulting internal pain.

Whenever necessary, professionally supervised oral and topical medications, which may be decreased or limited over time can be applied with, in clinic strategies and at home tools like Neurostim.

Although not an overnight cure, many patients who employ these NeuropathyDR strategies especially under supervision do incredibly well!

Remember it takes years to get ill, and a long time to turn things around or recover.

The sooner you begin a more diligent self-care program the sooner you will see the results no matter what caused your peripheral #neuropathy #fibromyalgia or other #chronicpain.

Remember, we are here to help, but YOU must reach out and grab it!

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Why “Hydration” is So Crucial to Feeling Our Best.

Posted by john on February 24, 2014

Maintaining adequate hydration can help you suffer less chronic pain and yes less neuropathy pain too!

older couple running 300x203 Why Hydration is So Crucial to Feeling Our Best.

Almost invariably when we see a new chronic pain patients in our practice, we discuss health habits and we find more often than not, failure to drink adequate amount of water is almost universal.

So why is that? Why would not drinking enough water tend to cause more widespread pains? There are several reasons and the answers are not complicated.

You see the vast majority of our body is made of water. Blood and all the critical fluids keep us functioning like well-oiled machines.

Our kidneys, brain and all our other vital organs use these fluids to communicate and also perform daily purification’s.

But yet most of us don’t pay nearly enough attention to this key fact.

So rather than going through our days drinking fluids, most especially water that will keep our blood and fluid volumes high, we tend to over consume caffeine and worse yet soft drinks and perhaps even alcohol which depletes our water reserves even further.

If we don’t drink enough water we can suffer an impaired ability of our vital organs like kidneys and liver that help rid our bodies of toxic wastes.

Our toxic wastes can make us stiff sore and uncomfortable.

If you already suffer from neuropathy or chronic pain, becoming even slightly dehydrated will make you feel a whole lot worse.

So how much water do you need to drink? In the absence of kidney or heart disease the proverbial eight glasses a day is about right.

A more accurate consumption is approximately half your body weight in ounces in a 24-hour period. This is not 100 percent accurate but it’s a darn good approximation.

There are of course other factors which may require more or less water consumption.

This of course includes how much you perspire, the outside air temperature, and yes even the humidity.

So for example, if you weigh 200 pounds, you’d be consuming approximately 100 ounces of water during the course of the daily 24-hour period.

That may sound like a lot, but it’s under a gallon in 24 hours.

As always you need to work with your doctors on your own personal medical issues that you may have questions or concerns about.

You may want to ask for the simple blood tests which measure your electrolytes and relative hydration.

Working together maintaining adequate hydration can help you suffer less chronic pain and yes less neuropathy pain too!

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Reducing Chronic Pain and Neuropathy

Posted by john on February 20, 2014

Not taking care of acute painful episodes when they occur is one reason human beings go on to develop chronic pain.

mail.google.com 1 Reducing Chronic Pain and Neuropathy

It has been known for many years that not taking care of acute painful episodes when they occur is one of the reasons that human beings go on to develop chronic pain.

Of course this is not always possible. Accidents do happen. Surgical complications can and do occur.

But for lots of things we experience in daily life, jumping at the first sign of dysfunction can go along way towards preventing a more chronic and serious health problem.

When speaking about peripheral neuropathy in particular, we commonly find out the patients have had mild symptoms often for years. Sometimes their own physicians don’t take these early signs seriously.

As we speak about all the time there is no such thing as a little neuropathy, or your blood sugar being “slightly bad”.

It’s just like you really can’t be a little overweight. You’re either fit or you’re not. You’re either trim and have adequate muscle mass or you don’t.

Harsh statements?

Yes but you’ve got to understand this concept.

The more you read, the more you understand how imperative it is to take these early warning signs as serious signals. If we don’t do something different, a much more difficult problem could ultimately develop!

Here is what to do next:

If these concepts are new to you, we strongly recommend that you dive into our patient library, read all the articles, watch all the videos, and get all our books.

In essence, what we are suggesting is that you learn everything you can do to help yourself, no matter what your starting point is.

Let your poor old habits go!

This is the day you get to start over by doing more for yourself and applying all the good self-care tips and tools we make available for you!

Remember, we are always here to help.

But you must also do your own homework, reach out and grab all the help you can!

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Your Best Chance of Beating a Serious Health Problem, Just Keep It Simple.

Posted by john on February 17, 2014

Far too often patients are chasing this doctor or that, this drug or that, in search of relief rather than getting to the bottom of what may be actually causing their #neuropathy.

586475 51841078 300x287 Your Best Chance of Beating a Serious Health Problem, Just Keep It Simple.

One of the things that is most serious but far too often ignored in cases of neuropathy, fibromyalgia, many forms of chronic pain and indeed many chronic illnesses is the impact that daily habits and of course our lifestyles have on both the prevention and progression of diseases and illnesses.

Too often, in our society there is a rush to take drugs to cover up symptoms rather than to find out what is really going on that could be perpetuating or in fact causing chronic health issues.

The most common of course in our society now is lack of fitness and excess and poor food consumption. Plain and simple, this causes more disease than any other single factor.

So you would think the smartest thing to do would be to start here when dealing with neuropathy or other health problem. Unfortunately, we find patients are conditioned far too often chasing this doctor or that, this drug or that, in search of relief rather than getting to the bottom of what may be actually causing their neuropathy.

Now this is not to say that bad things don’t happen to good people. Of course they do! This is where some of the most amazing drugs and surgery have a very wonderful place. But for the vast majority of what we see in private practice every day the solutions to so many health problems are right under our noses!

But what are you TO DO?

The first thing to understand is that “everything” doesn’t make you sick. Too often patients fall into this dismal pattern of thinking, based upon popular press and media. Nothing could be further from the truth. Everything doesn’t make you sick but many poor things in combination certainly do!

The most common of these is surrounding yourself with poor food choices, lack of regular daily fitness, and filling your home with possible environmental toxins. If this is the case, then the solution is obvious!

That’s why we do what we do here at Beating Neuropathy! Stick with us every day and we will help as much as we can!

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Neuropathy? Why did I get it?

Posted by john on February 13, 2014

In fact, neuropathy is a group of disorders.

neurodrProfessionals webready 300x86 Neuropathy? Why did I get it?

A question we get all the time is, why did I get neuropathy?

If you read advertisements in the popular press then you would likely believe neuropathy is one condition. As we have discussed many times before and will discuss again today, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact neuropathy is actually a group of disorders.

Neuropathy is the term that simply refers to nerve function gone wrong. Of course this is a gross oversimplification but I’m sure you get the picture.

The known causes of neuropathy include diabetes, certain medications; including some chemotherapy, poisonings from things such as heavy metals and some insecticides.

There are also some devastating forms of neuropathy that are genetic. Most commonly this is the CMT family of neuropathies.

But perhaps the most common cause of neuropathy and the reason for many more cases of neuropathy now appearing each year is the general decline in fitness in our adult population resulting in metabolic syndrome or pre-diabetes.

As doctors we commonly assign half the cases of neuropathy we see to metabolic syndrome. As you probably have read about here before metabolic syndrome, pre-diabetes, or syndrome X, are all the same condition.

In a nutshell, this serious health problem occurs either in very tiny time increments or over a long period of time when body fat increases and with it brings elevations in blood fats and blood sugars.

But the sad part is we are seeing it in younger and younger ages. Unfortunately, now we are seeing patients in their 30’s developing peripheral neuropathy!

One other factor that is imperative to note: Most patients we see in the clinic have several different potential causes of peripheral neuropathy. For one example, district cigarette smoking. Example two is the consumption of statin or anti-hypertensive drugs. And three, excess body fat and decrease in lean muscle mass as a result of years of poor health habits.

And here is the answer to the title question:

You may never know completely with 100% accuracy what caused your neuropathy.

However, you now know about some of the critical factors that need to be addressed in order to boost your potential for healing and recovery.

Here at NeuropathyDR this our ongoing job for you!

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Boron, Vanadium and Other Ultra Trace Elements.

Posted by john on February 10, 2014

This could possibly be the connection between vanadium #neuropathy #diabetes #fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic pain.

Fotolia 41734006 S 300x200 Boron, Vanadium and Other Ultra Trace Elements.

Last time, we spoke about the role of trace elements in health and nutrition.

By definition, trace elements are those necessary for life and growth however, only in the tiniest amounts.

Vanadium and Boron are two more ultra trace elements we should talk about.

In some studies the element Boron has been found to help reduce the loss of calcium in our bodies. Therefore, it may actually have a positive and protective role in bone density maintenance.

In most situations, boron is relatively nontoxic in the forms most consumed by people. Boric acid for example has long been used as a preparation in health care with very rare adverse incidents.

Vanadium, another ultra trace element seems to have a role in potentiating the activities of insulin and blood sugar control. This of course could possibly be the connection between vanadium, neuropathy, diabetes, fibromyalgia and other forms of chronic pain.

I will caution you however, never to self-treat with vanadium supplements alone. To do so could be very dangerous!

Like everything, however you will find individual supplements and claims made for so many individual nutrients. Boron and vanadium are no exception. Be very careful here.

If you consume a diet that is high in vegetables, seeds nuts and the lean proteins, a deficiency of trace elements is extremely rare. Although, not impossible, there are variations in the quality of food based upon such things as the soils in which they are grown and the regions they come from.

Also, if you are supplementing your diet as we recommend, trace elements in very tiny absorbable forms are included.

Rarely should they be prescribed alone and in our opinion, always under close medical supervision.

Because everybody is different, in rare situations deficiencies of these elements can cause significant health issues. There are different tests available.

This is another reason why it is difficult to diagnose conditions, trace element analysis by hair and urine are often very helpful.

Once again, you can see the need for working with a healthcare professional who is trained in managing your neuropathy and chronic pain. Look at all possible facets, dig deeper for answers whenever necessary.

That’s why NeuropathyDR Clinicians are here!

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