Acupuncture for the treatment of neuropathy

It has often been the case over the course of my career that “chief complaints” from patients happen in trends. Recently, I have been seeing an uptick in complaints of peripheral neuropathy from a variety of causes. 

Neuropathy is a disorder of the nerves that results in pain, discomfort, dysfunction of localized muscles and nerves creating changes in sensation and sensitivity. 

Neuropathy can be caused by a variety of issues including -

• medications

• chemotherapy

• diabetes

• auto-immune disorders 

• viral or bacterial infections

• certain cancers

• tumors

• Vitamin B6 and B12 deficiency and

• heavy metal toxicity

  
  There are many conditions that fall under the umbrella of peripheral neuropathy:

• Bell’s palsy

• Guillan-Barre syndrome

• carpal tunnel

• sarcoidosis

• chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy

• herpes zoster

• Lyme disease 

• and more…

Studies show that acupuncture can help alleviate peripheral neuropathy. My clinical experience has shown that results are dependent upon the case and the cause. 

Some patients respond quickly and improve noticeably, while others have mediocre or lack-luster results.  

I have observed that those patients who are suffering from neuropathy that results from toxicity (medication, heavy metals) or from nutrient deficiency, do not respond as well as cases that result from trauma/injury or underlying auto-immune dysfunction. Neuropathy due to infection (such as Lyme) generally responds well to acupuncture, though a small percentage of patients will feel worse after treatment.

In order to know whether you will respond favorably to acupuncture or not, you will need to try a few sessions.

If you suffer from peripheral neuropathy, it’s important to understand the underlying mechanism of illness so that you can address the root cause. 

Let’s take a look into the TCM view of the symptoms that typically define neuropathy. TCM diagnoses are not the same as biomedicine diagnoses because we have a completely different lens through which we understand the human body and it’s functionality.

In TCM we look for patterns of imbalance, rather than “pathology”.

What does that mean when it comes to a biomedicine definition of neuropathy? It means we will evaluate the manifesting symptoms, plus we will examine the person in front of us to help determine the pattern.

If you have been a patient of acupuncture for any amount of time, you will be familiar with the practitioner examining your pulse and tongue. They will also palpate your skin and body, look for clues in your speech and voice, complexion, gait and other features of your body.

Once an evaluation of all these aspects have been concluded, your acupuncturist will determine which points will be most beneficial for you. There isn’t one specific acupuncture point protocol that will be used to treat neuropathy. The points will be chosen based upon your unique presentation.

Let’s look at an example of a patient with neuropathy to understand how they might be treated with acupuncture and TCM.

The patient is a 55 year old female, weighing approximately 180 pounds. She has recently been diagnosed with type II diabetes.

She is experiencing pain and discomfort in her left leg that radiates from the thigh down to the foot. Her pain is worse in the daytime, usually end of day. The right leg is not affected, however, she frequently has discomfort in her right foot. She has been diagnosed by a neurologist (through a nerve conduction study) to have peripheral neuropathy.

This patient has reddish hair, redness of the face, sweats easily and frequently, her skin is warm and moist to the touch. She prefers cool environments, however, she has noticed her symptoms are alleviated by heat. She has halitosis (bad breath), digestive issues, and mood imbalances; either she is frustrated and tends to anger, or suffers bouts of depression.

The features and characteristics of this patient from a TCM perspective, is that her neuropathy is caused by a combination of dampness, heat, and stagnation. When there is dampness, it indicates a sluggishness of circulation. The qi and fluids cannot adequately nourish the muscles and meridians of the body, thus causing pain and discomfort. This patient has a tendency toward excessive heat, as seen through the redness of the complexion, halitosis, preference for a cool environment and propensity toward anger.

In order to effectively treat this woman’s neuropathy, we will need to cool the body, promote the circulation of fluids, dry the dampness and stop pain. Acupuncture is great at promoting circulation, stopping pain and clearing heat. Clearing dampness will require a little more support through herbs and/or dietary changes. The dietary modifications include reducing her dependency on sweet foods (which exacerbate dampness) and regulating her blood sugar with more non-starchy vegetables, reduce wheat and refined grain intake, and increase dietary protein along with adequate fat.

Treatment for this patient may take 3-4 months of weekly care in order for this patient to have lasting improvement in her neuropathy symptoms, assuming she is also making adjustments to her diet.

Taking into account the bigger picture of symptoms and signs can help you narrow down potential causes of your neuropathy.

For example, if you have been consuming a primarily vegetarian diet for a number of years, you are at risk of becoming deficient in B12 and B6.

In addition to neuropathy, you would have concurrent symptoms if there is an underlying deficiency.

Those symptoms can include

• fatigue

• cognitive decline

• brain fog, confusion or forgetfulness

• weakness

• reduced appetite

• loss of balance

Supplementing is an easy way to address neuropathy if a deficiency is the underlying problem.

If you have worked in an industry where there is high exposure to metals, this could be the cause of your neuropathy. It is very difficult to remove heavy metals from the body, however it can be done. Through either chelation therapy or high-dose niacin and saunas, heavy metals need to be detoxified in order to treat neuropathy from those causes.

Given the ubiquitousness of prescription medication use in this country, medications are a common culprit of neuropathy.

📌 Notice the class of drugs known as statins makes the list. Statins are used to regulate cholesterol levels to reduce risk of a heart attack. It is estimated that 56 million American adults on are taking statins.

Unfortunately, studies have shown that people who take statins are 14x more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy than those who do not.

If you are on a statin and also suffering from neuropathy, talk to your doctor about ways you can manage your lifestyle so that you don’t need to depend on statins to mitigate your risk of a heart attack.

Here is an extensive list of medications (from Neuropathy.org) that may cause neuropathy.

If you have been looking for help with your symptoms of neuropathy, schedule a free consultation today to see if acupuncture might be a solution for you!