For Your Doctor

New Treatment of Painful Diabetic Neuropathy with the ReBuilder® Electronic Neuromuscular Stimulator

James R. Arnold D.P.M.
Abstract:
Six patients with diagnosed neuropathic pain due to type 2 diabetes were given a novel electronic stimulator (ReBuilder, http://www.rebuildermedical.com) and treated themselves once daily for 30 minutes. Patient compliance was very high and all six patients reported significant relief (average 40%) from neuropathic pain.

Introduction
There are approximately 16 million diabetics in the United States, and the World Health Organization estimates that there will be 220 million people worldwide with diabetes by 2010. Diabetic polyneuropathy has been reported to affect nearly 50% of the people with diabetes. (1) The neuropathy is associated with pain in approximately 10% of those patients. Although studies show a relationship between hyperglycemia and the development and severity of diabetic neuropathy, researchers are still unraveling the exact pathophysiology of painful diabetic neuropathy. Currently, both pharmacological and non pharmacological treatment options are available, but unfortunately to date there is no fully effective treatment. (2) I tested the effectiveness of The Rebuilder System, an electronic neuromuscular stimulator, in a small, open-labeled study of 6 patients with painful diabetic neuropathy. I assessed:

ease of use
tolerability
symptomatic relief of neuropathic pain symptoms

Methods
I selected six of my previously diagnosed diabetic patients who complained about their uncontrolled diabetic neuropathy pain. All patients agreed to use the ReBuilder unassisted at home for 8 weeks and keep track of and report their results. Concurrent use of pharmacological therapy was not an exclusion factor; however, no new treatment regime was added within 30 days of starting the neuromuscular stimulator. The test group was divided evenly between Insulin and non-insulin dependent diabetics. Their length of time with diagnosed diabetes was one year to twenty-two years; however the painful diabetic neuropathy were between 6 months to 8 years.