Peripheral Neuropathy Pain/Restless Leg Symptom Ca

Do you have foot/leg pain? Do you have foot/leg numbness? Do you have an unsteady gait? Do you have trouble getting to sleep or staying asleep due to foot/leg pain? Do you feel like you have to move your feet/legs constantly when in bed? You may have Peripheral Neuropathy.

Peripheral Neuropathy (PN) is the term used to describe disorders of the peripheral nerves.  Even though 10 to 20 million people in the US suffer with PN, information often is hard to come by.  Approximately 50% of diabetics will develop the condition. Many people using statins: 'cholesterol drugs', will be affected by this mysterious and mostly under-recognized malady.

Neuropathy means “disease or abnormality of the nervous system”, which is not a very helpful definition. We think of neuropathy as any damage to the nervous system. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Herniated Discs and Strokes are all insults to different areas of the nervous system, all with different symptoms. Diabetes is a systemic disease that affects all nerves of the body from the brain, eyes and small nerves of the heart and digestive system, to the nerves in the hands feet and legs.

The peripheral nervous system is made up of the nerves that branch out of the spinal cord to all parts of the body. 

Peripheral nerve cells have three main parts: cell body, axons, and dendrites (nerve/muscle junctions). Any part of the nerve can be affected, but damage to axons is most common. The axons transmit signals from nerve cell to nerve cell or to muscles. Most axons are surrounded by a substance called myelin, which facilitates signal transmission.

There are two types of symptoms with peripheral neuropathy; negative and positive. Negative signs, which come first, are when damage to the nervous system, obviously, brings about LOSS of a particular function. For example; loss of reflexes, loss of strength, loss of sensation like numbness. But these are rarely detectable to the patient, because the brain makes up the difference in these losses.

Only after some time do the sick and damaged nerves develop the positive signs of neuropathy; tingling, burning, biting, stabbing, shooting pains. This too is a reaction of the brain and nervous system, unfortunately this overreaction can tear apart the fiber of patients' lives.

Each patient will describe their pain in their own individual language of 'pain'.  This can easily confuse a doctor not trained in the recognition and treatment of these patients. So the patient usually continues to suffer, going from doctor to doctor, to stronger and stronger doses of various pills until they are either completely drugged up and out of it, or lost in their own world of suffering. 

Some neuropathies come on suddenly, others over many years.  Some people are affected only by a weakness in the arms and legs which leads to difficulty standing, walking, or getting out of a chair. The loss of sensation from the feet, ankles and toes contributes to patients not having a 'good sense' of where their feet are in space, like in touching the ground, and this can cause them to fall very easily. These under-recognized sensory losses CAN ONLY be detected with the proper clinical exam.

This office has all the necessary tools and training to uncover the underlying cause of this 'silent' nerve damage. 

Some patients will eventually become unable to walk at all. Others start with a tingling, pin pricking feeling that turns into deep sharp stabbing pains and burning electric shocks. These debilitating problems can also be at their worst at night while trying to get to sleep, because the PAIN never goes away. In fact, once started IT USUALLY GETS WORSE!! 

Currently, ordinary medical care has no real cure for PN at this time. The extremely powerful drugs dispensed to patients do NOT TREAT the NERVE DAMAGE! They only numb the brain to numb the pain. Most patients cannot tolerate a drugged existence, but feel that they have NO OTHER OPTION against this horrifying pain.

Everyday We Have More Success Relieving Neuropathy Pain 

Why Not You?
Reduced Pain and Cramps

Reduced Tingling and Numbness in the Toes, Legs or Fingers

Reduced Feeling of Cold, Burning or Pain in the Feet and Legs

Improved Sense of Balance and Coordination

Less Dependency on Medications 

Improved Sleep

Restless Leg symptoms reduced 
 

Frederick L. Claussen, D.C.
 8441 Wayzata Blvd. Suite #370
Golden Valley, MN 55426 
(952) 473-3336
www.claussenchiro.com