Legacy Clinic of Chiropractic

How Acupuncture Can Help Neuropathy

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How Acupuncture Can Help Neuropathy

What Is Acupuncture?

Acupuncture is a branch of traditional Chinese medicine. The practitioner inserts thin needles into the body at the acupuncture points to stimulate the central nervous system. They palpitate these needles to stimulate the flow of neurochemicals that flow into the brain, spinal cord, and muscles. These secretions stimulate the body’s natural healing abilities promoting emotional and physical well-being.

What Is Neuropathy?

Neuropathy is damage to the nervous system. Mainly, it affects the peripheral nervous system that sends information from the spinal cord and brain to the rest of the body. Peripheral neuropathy may be because of genetics, injury, hormonal imbalance, or disorder in an organ. Meaning, that some people may suffer from neuropathy because they have inherited this disorder from their parents. While others suffer from lifestyle, diseases like diabetes.

There are a hundred types of peripheral neuropathy with their symptoms and prognosis.

We classify them as;

Motor Neuropathy is damage to the nerves controlling the body’s muscles. It may affect the mouth, impairing the ability to talk and eat or locomotion and movement using the arms and legs.

Sensory Neuropathy – Sensory nerves control the sense of touch, pain, and temperature. Sensory neuropathy impairs all of them.

Autonomic Nerve Neuropathy – Autonomic nerves control the involuntary function of the body such as breathing, blinking, heartbeat, etc. Damage to autonomic nerves can be fatal.

Combination Neuropathies

A patient may suffer from a mix of the neuropathies mentioned above such as sensory-motor neuropathy.

How can Acupuncture Help Neuropathy?

The symptoms of neuropathy, such as muscle weakness, twitching, cramps, numbness, loss of sensation, etc; can be treated with acupuncture. The practitioner inserts the needles into the pressure points to stimulate the nervous system. This action releases the body’s natural painkillers such as endorphin into the muscles, brain, and spine. These secretions not only change the way the body responds to chronic pain. They also restore nerve damage. Research confirms the benefits of acupuncture as an alternative treatment for neuropathic patients and acupuncture can help neuropathy.

Reference

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17355547/ – Schröder S, Liepert J, Remppis A, Greten JH. Acupuncture treatment improves nerve conduction in peripheral neuropathy. Eur J Neurol. 2007 Mar;14(3):276-81. DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-1331.2006.01632.x. PMID: 17355547.

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