There is hope for those who suffer from peripheral neuropathy. 

If you're looking for a solution to peripheral neuropathy, you may be wondering about peripheral neuropathy rehab therapy. 

Here's a first hand account from staff member, Shelby, on how she's seen treatments WORK!

It is difficult to imagine it - numbness, burning, tingling. It is even more difficult to imagine experiencing it for a year, let alone 10 or 15. People live like that, though. They take a medication that keeps them from experiencing the painful symptoms of nerve damage for a while. Not if, but WHEN it wears off, they just take more. At some point, most people grow tired of the medication. Or worse, it stops working. It is then that some come to the realization that it was never really helping, just hiding. That is not to say that it didn’t provide relief that is needed, but it didn’t really do what we all want medication to do: fix us. 

When I first started working at Natural State, that was really the first time I had heard the words ‘peripheral neuropathy’ and learned of an all-too-common fate for those with untreated medical issues, exposure to certain toxins, and a commonly shared but not-limited-to experience in the elderly. At the same time, I learned just how well it can be prevented, what we can do to reverse as much damage as possible, and a treatment that is more sustainable, without any side effects. 

A man walked into our office a few years ago. I remember he looked tired. That was my first impression. I walked him to his room where he sat down in his worn New Balances. His shoelaces were loose not because he forgot to tie them but because his socks were already squeezing his feet and although he couldn’t feel them very much, he figured keeping his shoes loose was the least he could do to help. Shortly after his initial appointment and report, he hesitantly decided to pursue care. He decided to do care options from home, and he would come in for follow up appointments. I showed him how to do his home care, and we created a running joke about his name because I told him he looked like a ‘Henry.’ To this day, he always calls and says, “It’s me, Henry!” Anyway, he came in about eight weeks later, expressing he didn’t feel much better, but in fact, felt more pain. You can imagine his confusion when we expressed excitement, as it is common for you to feel more pain as your nerves are becoming more engaged. We encouraged him to keep doing his home treatments, gave him some additional tools to help with the pain, and scheduled his next follow up. At his six-month exam, he was a sight for sore eyes. He expressed the pain had mostly subsided, and he could actually start to feel his feet again. He expressed that he was able to start doing basic activities that I for certain take for granted every day, and he was very happy with his results. 

Now, almost three years later, he continues with his treatments and he is able to do more with his life than what he could do before coming to see us. We gave him the tools he needed to take better control of his health, and he did just that. He wanted a semblance of normalcy in his life, and what was once a stumbling block for him to do much of anything, became something he took control of and didn’t let define him. 

This is my favorite memory of healing because when I saw “Henry,” I saw my grandpa. I saw my dad in 20 years. I saw someone tired, ready to find a better solution to one of his biggest problems, do just that. It was the power of taking responsibility for his own actions that led him here, accepting them and allowing himself to be held accountable for the actions he needed to take to get better. He’s always expressed how grateful he is to have found us and to learn all that he has, but what he doesn’t realize is we just gave him the tools. His steps made the change happen. Hearing him feel the freedom of living with less pain, actually being able to feel his toes on the carpet, to be able to work outside again...These are just a few things that remind me our health is worth it. Having a role in Henry’s pursuit of his health is more than worth it. Henry, you are worth the steps you’ve taken to get where you are. Now, don’t forget to tie your shoes.

If you suffer from neuropathy, call Natural State Health Center to see how we can help you move forward with your health!