We want to tell you a story. We’ve told it before—elsewhere on this website, even—but it’s very much worth repeating.
A while back, not long after we first brought an exciting new neuropathy treatment option called Neurogenx to our practice, we met an older gentleman suffering from total sensation loss below the knee. At this point, he was already in a wheelchair.
We started him up on the new treatment, eager to see what kind of results he would achieve.
Just three days later, we got a call. The man could already begin to feel his toes again!
Now, we already knew this was an amazing device, but even we were astounded. Yet more proof, at least in our opinion, that we’re on the front edge of an emerging revolution in neuropathy treatment.
Holding Pattern: The “Old” Book on Peripheral Neuropathy
For generations, doctors haven’t been able to offer their patients with peripheral neuropathy much hope.
We could help you manage your symptoms for a time, sure. And with some healthy changes in your life, you might be able to stop the nerve damage you’ve already sustained from getting worse—or at least slow down its progression. If you came in for treatment at the earliest possible stages—when the nerve cells were still alive and relatively healthy—some of the nerve fibers might even slowly regenerate.
For the most part, though, the official word was “you cannot reverse the damage from neuropathy.” For a long time it was believed that nerve cells could not regenerate themselves, or at the very least could not do so quickly or consistently enough to make much difference.
Reduction in pain with perhaps some moderate functional improvements was just about the best you could hope for. And you’d probably be on medications for it for the rest of your life.
But that’s changing rapidly, thanks to new developments in treatment.
Real Hope of Recovery for People With Neuropathy
The gentleman who could feel his toes again three days after treatment? His situation is definitely notable for how quickly the treatment bore results, but the healing he experienced is definitely not unique. Time after time, we’ve seen the new treatments we’re employing in our office bring truly remarkable healing for long-time sufferers of neuropathy.
Some of the cutting-edge technology we’re now using include:
Neurogenx. You can read about this in a lot more detail on our service page, but the short version is that this is a treatment that (painlessly) delivers sophisticated electronic signals that mimic the body’s natural electrical current into your nerves. This creates a “healthy environment” that allows swelling to decrease, nutrients to rush in, and nerve cells to absorb energy and remove waste products much more efficiently.
A standard treatment course of this treatment requires 20-30 minutes sessions once or twice per week, for a period of about 4-6 weeks.
MLS laser therapy. Laser therapy can make a great companion treatment to Neurogenx, especially in cases where you’re experiencing a lot of pain. Again, those interested in more in-depth info can read about it elsewhere on our site. In summary, the laser harnesses the energy of light at specific frequencies and wavelengths to stimulate healing and ease inflammation.
Laser therapy is best known for helping accelerate treatment of chronic pain conditions that aren’t necessarily nerve-related, as well as improving post-surgical recovery. But its effects can also benefit nerves by reducing inflammation near the nerve pathways, and in some cases may help in regenerating damaged nerve tissue.
Healthy Lifestyles Are Still Important
Even with these amazing treatments, the way you live your life is still going to be critically important if you want to achieve and maintain long-lasting results.
The good news is that since treatments like Neurogenx and laser therapy can relieve your pain and, in most cases, even reverse some of your nerve damage and restore feeling and strength, living a healthy lifestyle should be much easier and safer!
Your basic roadmap should look something like this:
- Carefully manage any underlying conditions. The vast majority of the time, this means diabetes. Keeping your sugar in check will help prevent further nerve damage and help you maintain your renewed nerve function.
- Exercise regularly. Even going for 30+ minute walks two or three times per week can make a big difference. And if you do regain enough sensation and stability in your feet, you might be able to go back to hiking, traveling, and other active hobbies you used to enjoy.
- Be careful with what you put in your body. In other words: eat healthy meals, drink a lot of water, don’t smoke, and limit your alcohol intake to appropriate amounts.
What’s the Outlook?
Does it all sound too good to be true? It isn’t. That said, you do have to have realistic expectations.
We can’t promise you’re going to feel like you’re back in college again. Complete, 100% restoration of all previous nerve function is not going to be reality for most people.
That said, the vast majority of patients do see substantial improvements, usually within the first 3-5 treatment sessions. And the effect isn’t temporary—the more treatments you undergo, the better your nerves will perform in both the long and short term.
The clinical success rate of the Neurogenx procedure, according to both controlled studies and our own observations, is close to 9 out of 10.
In real terms, here’s what “successful” treatment looks like:
- You can go from pain every day to very little or no pain.
- You can restore at least partial sensation to feet and legs that may have been completely numb.
- You can drastically reduce, or sometimes even completely eliminate, the amount of medications you need to take for your neuropathy.
- You can return to activities you used to enjoy but had to abandon due to your neuropathy.
In other words: you can get your life back.
Again, individual results vary from person to person. We can’t promise this will be perfect. But it is the best treatment we’ve seen by far, with a significant percentage of patients experiencing dramatic results.
After a lifetime of being told “there’s nothing that can be done,” it’s a huge step forward. There is hope. And it’s right here in the Magic Valley.