How Do We Heal Nerves?

First, we need to be clear about something, if a nerve is severed, we aren’t going to be able to grow it back. Science some day may be able to, but not yet. Nerves that are damaged can be healed today!

In neuropathy, nerves are damaged because they aren’t receiving the proper blood flow. The vessels that feed the nerves are slowly dying off. Below is the progression from a normal nerve to one that has been severely damaged by the lack of blood.

The typical treatment for neuropathy are medications that work to dull the symptoms, they don’t increase blood flow. Can you understand why they aren’t helpful in the long term and eventually fail? The only way to improve the nerves is to increase blood flow.

So how do we do that?

There are 3 parts to our treatment of neuropathy:

1. We increase blood flood to the nerves using a cutting-edge technology called “low level light therapy” that was developed by NASA and approved by the FDA over 20 years ago in 2001! NASA was trying to find a way to heal wounds and space and found this therapy creates new blood vessels, a process called “angiogenesis”.

The nerve on the left is a nerve with no blood vessels and the nerve on the right has been treated with low level light therapy and shows a spider web of new blood vessels. Just like a plant that is slowly dying, give it water and nutrients and it will come back to life.

2. The next is neuromodulation. Your nerves have been misfiring and sending the wrong messages to your brain. What this process does is “reprogram” the nerves to send the correct message to your brain so you don’t keep suffering from burning, tingling, and other symptoms while your nerves heal.

3. Last is nutritional therapy. As your body heals, we need to support it through the process as well as give it the building blocks it will need for the increased nerve growth. Patients suffering from neuropathy will have chronic inflammatory states. By addressing and supporting your body as we work to stop the inflammation helps not just your feet but your entire body (the lack of blood flow may be causing symptoms just in your feet, but it’s also happening in your brain, your heart, your lungs and everywhere else).

4. In office protocols. Yes, we only said 3 steps, but for some patients in need of more care, we also have office visits that will work to decrease pain, improve balance, and mobility, and allow them to get moving faster.

The biggest problem we see with neuropathy patients is they wait too long and the damage has gone too far. Don’t suffer any longer, make an appointment today to see if we can help.