Neuropathy carein Wooster

Here is the straight version: what peripheral neuropathy is, what our assessment actually looks at, where this care fits alongside your medical team, and what to expect from it.

What is peripheral neuropathy?

It is damage or dysfunction in the peripheral nerves, the ones that carry signals between your spinal cord and the rest of your body. When they are affected, you feel it as numbness, tingling, burning, or weakness, most often in the feet and hands. It has many causes, and the most common by far is diabetes; others include injury, certain medications, and nerve compression.

Because the causes are so varied, the single most useful thing is an accurate picture of what is driving yours. Some of that is squarely medical and belongs with your doctor. A part of it, sometimes, is mechanical.

Where chiropractic care fits with neuropathy

Where this care earns its place is the mechanical side. If a nerve is compressed or irritated where it exits the spine, or if joint and muscle problems are adding to what you feel in your hands and feet, that part is workable, and it is what we assess for and work on. What it does not do is repair damaged nerves or resolve a systemic cause such as diabetes; that stays with your medical team, and we work alongside them.

The first visit is a detailed evaluation of the quality of neurological function in the extremities, together with an assessment of spinal function to detect any spinal complications contributing to it. From that you get a clear picture:

• A careful assessment of whether a spinal or mechanical factor is contributing to your symptoms.
• Hands-on care for any nerve-compression or joint-and-muscle component we find.
• Movement and practical guidance to reduce mechanical load on an irritated nerve.
• Coordination with the doctor managing the underlying cause, and a referral when that is the right call.

If your neuropathy is entirely medical, we will tell you that a chiropractor is not the answer to it, and point you to who is.

Neuropathy by the numbers

These are the figures this practice publishes about how common neuropathy is and how it is usually managed.

• Peripheral neuropathy affects nearly 46.5 million Americans.
• Approximately 150,000 patients per year have amputations due to neuropathy.
• It is estimated that 60 to 70 percent of diabetics suffer from peripheral neuropathy.
• 30 to 40 percent of all cancer patients have chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy.
• 90 percent of neuropathy sufferers depend on medications or injections to manage their symptoms.
• Falls and hip fractures caused by the balance problems that come with neuropathy are rising.

• No referral needed to book a first assessment.
• We go over the costs with you before anything begins, so you know what to expect.
• An honest read on whether there is a mechanical component, and a referral when there is not.

We cannot promise a specific outcome, and we will not promise to cure neuropathy, because that is not what this care does. Neuropathy care here is a complement to the medical management of its underlying cause, never a replacement for it.