Can Acupuncture Improve Conduction Of Nerve Signals?

Today's post from neuropathytreatment.co (see link below) looks again at the possibility of acupuncture being of help to neuropathy patients. It suggests that acupuncture can improve nerve conduction through improving blood and energy flows along the nerve pathways. It doesn't really explain how acupuncture can tackle specific nerve damage and talks in terms of a traditional medical approach which may seem alien to many people. However, acupuncture in its many forms can clearly help many people with medical problems, whether neuropathy is one of them is open to debate. The article suggests that the acupuncture treatment should be long-term (up to a year) and that may explain why so many people have found their acupuncture sessions to be of little benefit. Most insurance companies will not cover acupuncture, which leads to an expensive series of sessions and many people go to unqualified practitioners, whose skills may be questionable. It's certainly an alternative but also an accompaniment to traditional medicine but it may be worthwhile getting advice first. If you have benefited from acupuncture treatment, please let us know.

Acupuncture – Chinese Medicine as Treatment for Peripheral Neuropathy
MAY 18, 2013 BY WESLEY MILNE

With the still limited studies conducted on the nature of peripheral neuropathy—it’s causes, pattern, characteristics—treatments for the said condition are also currently limited. The most common type of treatment offered to patients is relief from the pain they are experiencing.

But the age-old art of acupuncture and Chinese medicine may be the key in treating peripheral neuropathy (PN) and its other types due to its scientifically proven effect on the patients with PN.

According to a research conducted by the Heidelberg School of Chinese Medicine located in Heidelberg, Germany, treatment using acupuncture has improved the nerve conduction in various patients experiencing peripheral neuropathy.

Further, the group found out that therapeutic acupuncture has a positive effect on the PN-afflicted subjects studied over a period of 1 year, according to their research published online in March 2007 in the website of the National Institute for Health (NIH).

Peripheral Neuropathy
The peripheral nervous system, one of the most important parts of the body, consists of the ganglia and the nerves in the exterior of the spinal cord and the brain. It connects the central nervous system to the various organs, limbs and muscles and conveys sensations all through the body as its main function, making it possible to feel.

With peripheral neuropathy, the nerves that help in the transportation of information from the limbs to the brain or vice-versa become impaired due to various factors.

A person might already have an existing condition such as diabetes, Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)/Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection (HIV), leprosy, undergoing cancer therapies (caused by poisoning from chemotherapy), alcoholism, or a hereditary disease prior to their condition to develop into peripheral neuropathy or also known as polyneuritis.

The condition of PN might also include causes such as penetrated injuries, carpal tunnel syndrome (due to entrapment or compression), pressures on the superficial nerves on the ulna or radial, which might be from prolonged position (such as using crutches), disjointed bones or fractures, physical injury directly affecting the nerve including trauma, atherosclerosis or radiation, prolonged exposure to cold, tumor or intraneural hemorrhage.

The condition of peripheral neuropathy is characterized by these symptoms: tingling of the distal limbs, the feeling of burning, numbing, aching, and pain and also includes itching or excessive sensitivity to even slightest touch. The symptoms are oftentimes bilateral (two-sided), and aggravated at night, which also affects the lower limbs more than the upper limbs. However, not all people afflicted with PN experience these symptoms upon diagnosis, making it more complicated to assess those needing treatments.

Acupuncture
The similarity of all the diseases above is that they have a severe lack of qi, yin which results to static blood being produced. For lasting effects, the origin of these factors should be addressed first, together with the treatment that will help invigorate the blood, given that the etiology (origin) of the blood stagnation is the lack of yin, blood and qi.

The practice of traditional acupuncture in treating various ailments has been proven not only by centuries of tradition but is supported with scientific facts as well.

In traditional Chinese medicine, it is taught that peripheral neuropathy is caused by the humidity or the dampness going to the limbs, blocking the natural flow of blood and the energy or the Qi flowing in them. There is a two-fold treatment in it: first is to determine the underlying reason that caused the accumulation of dampness and then to directly aid the Blood and Qi circulation in the affected parts. Through the improved circulation, nerve tissues within the affected area will be revived and nourished in order to restore the functions of the nerve and to reduce pain.

Moreover, peripheral neuropathy is one of the symptoms which showed the various patterns of dissonance existing within the body. The treatment done in the traditional Oriental Medicine sense is to treat and address the patients individually in order to assess their specific needs. The treatment will also have to depend on the reason behind the neuropathy and its manifestation, prognosis, etc.

With this, during the treatment, the acupuncturist may interview the patient and will ask about his or her own observation of the disease: what, where, when they exercised, sleep, drink, perspire, eat, felt pain, among others. The acupuncturist will also observe the tongue and take note of the pulse. The initial diagnosis will help the health team, physician, or the acupuncture practitioner to manage and create a special treatment plan to suit the individual patients.

Aside from acupuncture, there are also other treatments applied including transcutaneous electronic nerve stimulation (TENS), used to block the pain signals, cutaneous acupuncture wherein the physical therapy coupled with the herbal treatment could be combined for quicker results.

Acupuncture can also be partnered along with other treatments undergone by the patient.

http://neuropathytreatment.co/acupuncture-chinese-medicine-as-treatment-for-peripheral-neuropathy/