Author, Guest Blogger: Dr. Kira Capozzolo is a Chiropractor at Twin Waves Wellness Center, a holistic chiropractic office that practices Network Spinal. She opened up her wellness center with her Twin Sister. Kira enjoys writing about health, wellness, and holistic topics.
There are various types of peripheral neuropathy. Each kind comes with its unique baggage. Symptoms and treatments may vary depending on the exact type and root cause of the neuropathy. Certainly no two people experience it the same way. The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy can be taxing on the mind and body. They range from “annoying tingling” to “it is a searing pain that takes my breath away”; from “fluttering” to “pounding”; or “numb” to “full loss of feeling”. Ouch! Understandably, it’s not easy to enjoy each day when you’re battling against these physical conditions. Damaged peripheral nerves outside of the spinal cord contribute to some of these symptoms. If you’re dealing with neuropathy pain, what are your options?
Your quality of life is important. Wellness practices, like seeing a chiropractor, can provide more comfort and, therefore, joy to your life. Chiropractic care is not a ‘cure’ for peripheral neuropathy, however, it can reduce your symptoms and help your body feel better. When used, chiropractic care should be one of many wellness practices that you implement to get the most out of your self-care. When you visit a chiropractor, they will address the symptoms and issues you’re up against with focused adjustments. Their goal is to help reduce pressure on nerves, realign vertebrae joints, and provide pain relief.
Life was not meant to be lived in pain! Here are several powerful benefits that chiropractic care offers when combatting neuropathic pain and other symptoms.
Focus is on the Nervous System
Chiropractic care treats the entire body as a whole. When you visit a chiropractor, they don’t simply provide random adjustments and send you off. They believe the body is intelligent and works together with all of your parts in the healing process. There are different types of chiropractic techniques, including some specifically focused on the nervous system.
Holistic chiropractic techniques typically bring a different perspective to healing. There is a spiritual and emotional component to many holistic chiropractic services. They help calm your nervous system, which influences various functions within your body. For example, Network Chiropractic is a gentle force technique where chiropractors help unwind tension in your spinal cord without cracking your bones. Also known as Network Spinal or NSA, this technique can calm your nervous system by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system to bring on a more relaxed state. As humans, we tend to store emotional trauma in our bodies as a form of defense. Emotional trauma is defined by the Jed Foundation as, “the end result of events or experiences that leave us feeling deeply unsafe and often helpless.” In the case of neuropathy this could be inability to find relief, repeated grief due to the loss of function, or feelings of isolation. It’s easier to bury an experience versus dealing with it. This energy gets stored in our bodies and can reappear later on in life as different injuries, aches, and pains.
There are countless patients that have expressed profound emotional breakthroughs in their lives after receiving this care. For example, one patient began to cry intensely on the chiropractic table after experiencing Network Chiropractic. She claimed that memories from her childhood of abuse resurfaced after years of whipping them from her mind. This emotional trauma became present as her body let down its defense and released the physical tension it was holding from this situation. When your nervous system is brought back to baseline, it can begin to function and heal your body more efficiently. If you’re suffering from damaged nerves or simply ones that are impeded, this holistic chiropractic care can help.
Realign the Spine
When anything is out of balance or ‘misaligned’, there’s a good chance it could cause an ache or pain somewhere else in your body. Everything in our bodies is connected. The Peripheral nervous system is a great example of that! Specifically in the spinal cord, if you correct existing misalignments, pain relief usually follows suit. Misalignment and deterioration of the spine can cause nerve roots to compress.
If your spine is imbalanced, nerve signals can become scattered, sending messages to areas of the body where they weren’t intended to be. This is called referred pain. This can lead to different sensations in your extremities that seemingly have no explanation. Seeing a chiropractor can also help improve your posture. Poor posture, if not corrected over time, can lead to varieties of back and neck pain. Chiropractic care can help you feel better in your body when dealing with neuropathy pain.
Increased Blood Flow Throughout the Body
Chiropractors help bridge the gap between your mind and body. Different parts of your body will feel like they are coming back online. Your body awareness will increase dramatically after consistent chiropractic care. Many people state that over time they can feel each vertebra in their spine after receiving chiropractic care.
Chiropractic adjustments increase blood flow to different areas of the body that are under stress. This serves several purposes-in helping people with neuropathy pain. For example, you may be experiencing pain from damaged nerves or tissues. Adjustments promote healthier tissue repair by increasing blood flow to this area and speeding up your recovery. Oxygenation and nutrients delivered to damaged areas through the blood flow assist your body in healing more efficiently. You can align your body and decrease neuropathy symptoms by receiving chiropractic care.
Decrease Stress and Anxiety
Dealing with neuropathy pain is very stressful. Naturally, there are good days and bad days. The bad can be really, really bad. Our physical bodies affect our emotional state. Not to mention, if you have to skip out on the things you love, such as a favorite sport or long-awaited event, it can be tough to deal with. Emotional stress can eventually lead to spiraling negative thoughts and emotions, eventually turning into anxiety or depression. When it feels like there’s no way out, it’s completely understandable to feel this way! Fortunately, there are wellness practices you can utilize to make those horrible days a little less crappy.
Chiropractic care helps decrease emotional stress and anxiety. As mentioned before, there are a variety of chiropractic techniques out there. Holistic approaches, such as Network Chiropractic, believe that there’s a huge emotional component to any healing process. Network chiropractors work with people to calm down their nervous system and give them strategies on how to deal with stress going forward. It’s not about how we feel; it’s about how we respond to that feeling. Holistic chiropractic techniques guide you to go deep within yourself to work through emotional impacts of neuropathy and breakthrough limiting beliefs about your condition that are hindering your life.
Experience the Pain Relief You Deserve
Neuropathy pain is debilitating, frustrating, and restricting. As much as you try to treat the symptoms, it can feel like there is no end in sight. Experimenting with credible and effective wellness practices is important to find out what works best for you throughout your healing journey. Consider chiropractic care a tool that you can use to deal with neuropathy symptoms. It may not make your symptoms vanish completely, but it can provide you pain relief to help you get through your day. Life is meant to be lived free of pain! Continue to seek out varying and different self-care practices to enhance your physical health and optimize your life.