Acupuncture for neuropathy

The nervous system includes the brain, spinal cord and all the nerves that to and from the rest of the body.   Sometimes an injury to a nerve can happen.  This is usually by some kind of trauma but could be from other disease processes such as diabetes, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia and other similar conditions. 

Injuries to nerves can happen in many ways, there can be a primary lesion which originates in the brain.  Those kinds are difficult to identify and to treat.  Acupuncture can take time to make a difference as there is lots of work to do to 'get to' the central nervous system.  The acupuncture needles do not stick into that part of the system (brain and spinal cord) and so we have to find other ways to effect change there.  The acupuncture system is thousands of years old and little was known about the nerves then or even now really.  We are continually finding more and more about our nerves and brains that what was thought true only a few years ago is now obsolete.

In acupuncture theory, for example, the nerves and the brain are considered like marrow.  If you think about it it makes some sense.  Inside the bones is marrow, inside the skull and inside the large hole in the spinal bones (foramen) is the spinal cord and brain.  They are of even similar color and texture in the body.  That aside, the acupuncture theory sees the whole body as a unit and microcosm of the environment.  Today we would call that holistic... Then, it was just normal.

When a nerve is crushed or pinched, it can lose its ability to transfer the nerve impulse down or up from the brain.  This makes it difficult for the brain to register the information correctly or the muscles to do exactly what the brain said to do.  Think of it like static on the phone line, it can make it impossible to understand the directions.  That, in a simplistic nutshell, is neuropathy.

Neuropathy can also be from chemical causes.  Either the nerve and surrounding tissues have toxins built up that can 'poison' the nerve or muscle making it work less efficiently.  Another reason is that the nerve does not have all the chemical building blocks to make what it needs to send the nerve impulse or to make and recycle the neurotransmitters. 

There are four main types of neuropathy; or nerve pathology (that is what neuropathy means) is...
1. Motor- this is most commonly called a 'pinched nerve' it can cause weakness and muscle atrophy (the muscle gets smaller)
2. Sensory- The most common, causes numbness, pain, tingling, shooting pain, burning sensation
3. Autonomic- This affects things like your heart rate, digestion and even can be connected to some skin conditions.
4. Autoimmune- some arthritis issues and problems with no identifiable cause.

Other causes and problems that make neuropathy harder to treat are...
#1 Diabetes
#2 Chemotherapy
#3 Heredity disorders (Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Alzheimer's, epilepsy and others)
#4 Infections
#5 Exposure to chemicals
#6 Poor nutrition
#7 Kidney failure
#8 Liver problems
#9 Medications

So how can acupuncture help?

This is a difficult answer to explain.  On one side we are talking about endorphins, histamines and all sorts of Western physiological concepts that although are measurable when significant enough, sometimes do not show changes in blood levels that we can detect.  However there is definite change in the body both subjectively and objectively over time.   The other side of this is the Easter or Acupuncture theory which gets into a type of energy or life force we call Chi or Qi.  This is a definite feel and easily appreciated after only a visit or two.  The third part of this is intention.  Intention in this art and science is important for both the patient and provider.   When a needle is inserted it can cause a myriad of feelings in the patient.  In fact we rely on these subjective feelings to help determine the next steps in treatment.  Over time, the needles have provided a new psychological link to the body part that may have been somehow damaged or not as strong as it once was.  Not only that but each time the needles are inserted, endorphins are released, these are natural 'home made' pain killers that our body needs for healing.  There are also histamines released, histamines attract all sorts of cells and factors to help with the repair process of the area, in these cases, nerves.   Continual stimulation of the nerves sends messages to the brain which will go through processes of directing and interpreting the stimulus.  Then creating a reaction and efferent nerve impulse to the area of dis-ease and therefore increasing the intention and attention to the injured part.  

Acupuncture is a very old and whole body treatment system that does include exercise, nutrition, and of course needles for treatment.  The needles are placed in very specific places to influence different aspects of the body including the nerves.  Some techniques rely on you the patient actually feeling a difference during treatment, some do not.  When the needles are placed you will generally feel the slight pinch of the needle in the skin, but soon the area may feel warm, heavy, light, tingly or even a vibration sense in the area of the needle.  This is an important thing to connect the consciousness to the part being treated.  The brain and mind will work together to get the body to restart or enhance the healing process.  In the case of neuropathy we treat the actual area of complaint. 

One visit is good to get a sense of what acupuncture feels like, but it does not get the healing process back on track.  That takes time and multiple encounters especially early on.  This is about a month of daily or every other  day treatments.  Slowly the body will reprocess the healing energy and get it better moving in the right directions and in the right strengths.  Soon you will find that treatments between once every three weeks and six weeks will keep you on track.  It is a wellness process not an illness process of treatments.  The body will get better and better, needing less and less treatments.  However you will know what it feels like to not be well and will crave feeling better.  This is why that kind of maintenance schedule is so common. 

With simple exercises, good foods and liquids and acupuncture many have found total control and relief from neuropathy.  It does take time and effort on both the doctor and patient to work together to find the right points and patterns to help. 

To schedule an appointment with me to be evaluated, call or text 720-325-9886

Using a electro-meridian pen on your wrist.

I got this nifty and futuristic looking meridian acupuncture pen.  I liked it enough to buy a bunch of them and have people do work on themselves.  Here is one way I have found to use it.
Carpal Tunnel...Buy your pen NOW from Amazon

See the picture?  I have written numbers on my wrist which coordinate with the nerves we will discuss and treat here.
1. The Radial nerve, this nerve branches off the brachial plexus in the neck at about the 6th cervical vertebral space.  See below...

 Now, we also have to understand that the nerves to the hand come from the entire neck area (brachial plexus, cervical 4 through thoracic 1) but that when someone has a radial nerve or C5-6 nerve root problem we see it in the radial area.  Thumb...

2. the Median nerve... generally attributed to cervical 6 and 7, but you can really link back to the entire brachial plexus... if you really search through the roots, trunks, divisions, cords all the way to the major peripheral branches we are talking about here.

I have used some old x-rays I had to show you the number of the vertebrae and where the nerves branch from.



3. The Ulnar Nerve This one, on the pinky side of the hand comes from the lower part of the neck, C7 and T1 areas.  It is pretty definite in its origin unlike the other two above.  This nerve is easily pinched with trapezius or upper back and shoulder muscle tension.  It is also a common nerve to be affected with shoulder problems.

OK, so first we have to look at the wrist it self... The wrist is made up of an arch of bones called the carpal tunnel.  (Carpal refers to the wrist in anatomic terms).

Here is a cutaway view (rough diagram) of the carpal tunnel.

I took a picture of my left hand.  You will notice that in most anatomy books in the States you only see anatomy of the right side.  This is just convention.  You can see the left in any Gray's Anatomy book.  That is one of the reasons they are so cheap here.

The main points of the carpal tunnel are listed; the Flexor retinaculum, which is a tendon covering to help hold down all the tendons to the hand and fingers on the ventral/anterior side of the wrist (anatomical position).  It is where you would feel for a pulse.  (I did not draw in the arteries... )

The main bones of the tunnel.  These bones are movable and I will show you how in the video portion.
Notice the nerves, just about where I wrote the numbers on my wrist.  I will show you how to find them with the meridian acupuncture pen.

So now we know a bit about where everything is...
Here starts the problem.
I have been a chiropractor and acupuncturist for over 20 years, I have taught anatomy and physiology at the college level for over ten of them.   I have worked on plenty of people with nerve damage and pain in the hand and fingers and have rarely seen a true Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  The anatomy can tell us why.  There is not much space in that tunnel and when you hold your wrist in a certain position for a long time, the joint can actually begin to change and the carpal tunnel can collapse or change enough to put pressure on the tendons and the nerve.

Now back to the pen.
I like it for what it is worth.  Which is not much.  It is a very basic electrical stimulation device, there is no way to change any of the parameters and I rarely feel any difference when I turn it up.  It has a display that goes from 1 to 9 and 0 being the off button.  You need a good grip on the thing and have moist skin for it to work.  You may get pinching or sensation in the treating hand (the hand you are holding it with,) that is because of poor contact.  Grip it tighter or move the depth of the probe.
But I figure, I have it, so might as well make some use of it.
I think it would be a good tool to find and stimulate peripheral nerves as well as motor-points in muscle.   It seems to have a pulse rate of about 2 Hz, but I don't know any of the carrier frequencies or micro amps etc.  It is a one AA battery which will get you a good 1.5 volts.  There is no step up transformer in it as far as I can tell, and I don't even know if that would even work.

Muscles of the hand:  well, this is a great item for that.  You can definitely stimulate them and get them to go.  There are really not many muscles in the hand anyway and they are so deep this pen just cannot really get to them.  The ones we can get are the thenar and hypothenar muscles.  They are on the thumb and pinky side of the palm respectively.

Muscles of the forearm and wrist.  Really you have to go up into the forearm as there are no real muscles you can get to in the distal wrist.  Lots of tendons and nerves.

So, what can it do?   The stim really does relax the muscle by pulsing it making it release stagnant blood and other fluids releasing the lactic acid and then allowing new blood and lymph to enter the area.  It burns up all the muscle fuel (ATP) and makes the body replace it.  It is a good idea to take some Calcium and Magnesium to help with the new needs of that muscle.

As for the nerve, it does appear to cause some anesthesia but this is just a numb feeling I have after using the unit.  There is no prolonged feeling of numbness, tingling or other paresthesia.
For the money I like it enough to promote it and suggest its use to patients.  It is a great tool for students who are learning nerve tracing and such so I would highly recommend it to chiropractic, acupuncture and advanced massage therapy students.  You can not only learn where the nerves are closest to the surface but what they feel like and their distribution.



Buy your pen NOW from Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07FJN4C1B/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=naturalbodywo-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B07FJN4C1B&linkId=d1d154387b61f88d200f6ab1cd0c0361