Is Your Doctor's Neuropathy Diagnosis Enough?

Today's post from neuropathydr.com (see link below) poses a serious question when it comes to neuropathy diagnosis. Has your doctor reached his/her conclusion a little too easily? When it comes to neuropathy, most good doctors will listen to their patient's story and history and be able to conclude that they currently suffer from nerve damage - the symptoms are so unique, there may be little doubt. However, in reaching that diagnosis and beginning courses of symptom reduction treatment, has he or she ignored the fact that there may be other underlying conditions that are equally or more serious? 'You have neuropathy'...job done, we all know the future and the recognised treatments but does that maybe exclude the cause of the nerve damage and any other serious problems that may be happening concurrently? One would hope not but diagnosing more than one illness will lead to complex treatment approaches and it's possible that the doctor may concentrate on the most pressing problem (neuropathy symptoms) to the detriment of the other (or the other way round). Proper assessment and evaluation is therefore crucial so that the right treatment approaches can be formulated. Sometimes it's obvious. If a patient has neuropathy resulting from diabetes, or cancer treatment, then obviously both conditions will be given priority but sometimes it's not as clear cut as that and the patient may have other conditions that can be overlooked. The patient himself must take some responsibility here and press for a thorough diagnosis that covers all his problems. It will take more time and may require more tests and evaluations but it should be done to help reduce problems in the future. Holistic treatment (now regarded as the best way to treat nerve damage) must also be the result of holistic assessment. Time and financial restraints should not result in short cuts being taken.

The Problem with Treating all Neuropathy Patients the Same
Posted by john on October 17, 2013
 
Treating patients with neuropathy requires great skill, with much time dedicated to proper assessment and evaluation.

Recently, I had the opportunity to read an article written about neuropathy treatment. This article was written directly for neuropathy treatment patients.

Now, maybe you even saw this yourself; it has been widely publicized as a neuropathy treatment solution in a bottle.

As I read through the article, I couldn’t help but think of the patients I’ve seen in my clinic that have been diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy when, in fact, they have another serious underlying health problem.

Unfortunately, this is not at all uncommon. I recently had this discussion with another doctor, who repeated the same thing to me.

The fact of the matter is, not every patient with a diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy has had it confirmed. Far too often, the problem turns out to be something else.

Treating patients with neuropathy requires great skill, with much time dedicated to proper assessment and evaluation. Sometimes, peripheral neuropathy accompanies other medical conditions.

And that is why it is very important before beginning any extended program of neuropathy treatment to most accurately understand what may be causing your symptoms.

It is also very important to stress that any neuropathy treatment at home must not be harmful.

Too often, patients with peripheral neuropathy have impaired sensation and judgment affected by medication. This is one of the things that make self-treatment and home care without supervision potentially dangerous

There are also drug/diet supplement interactions, which can be potentially dangerous. A common one is Coumadin and CoQ10. Then there is the potential interaction with Acetyl L-Carnitine with thyroid, HIV, and many chemotherapy drugs.

The bottom line is that only a trained neuropathy treatment specialist knows for sure.

When in doubt, seek competent professional care before moving forward on any home neuropathy treatment.

http://neuropathydr.com/the-problem-with-treating-all-neuropathy-patients-the-same-2/