Controlling your blood sugar is the best thing you can do to prevent peripheral neuropathy and diabetic neuropathy. Sugar in your blood can also contribute to peripheral neuropathy symptoms by damaging your nerves. To improve the glycemic index of your diet, replace all of your refined grains with whole grains.
Sugary Snacks: Snacks or desserts such as ice cream, cookies, candy, and even excess fruit consumption should be avoided by neuropathy patients. High levels of blood sugar impact nerve damage especially in those with diabetic neuropathy.
High blood sugar can lead to nerve damage called diabetic neuropathy. You can prevent it or slow its progress by keeping your blood sugar as close to your target range as possible and maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Managing your blood sugar is an essential part of your diabetes care plan.
Regular exercise, such as walking three times a week, can reduce neuropathy pain, improve muscle strength and help control blood sugar levels. Gentle routines such as yoga and tai chi might also help.
Surgery. For some more serious cases of peripheral neuropathy, surgery may be the best option. Certain surgeries can take the pressure off a damaged nerve. Surgery may be an option for those with tumors, a herniated disc in the neck or back, or nerve entrapment (such as carpal tunnel syndrome).
Nutritional or vitamin imbalances, alcoholism, and exposure to toxins can damage nerves and cause neuropathy. Vitamin B12 deficiency and excess vitamin B6 are the best known vitamin-related causes. Several medications have been shown to occasionally cause neuropathy.
The following foods have the potential to increase pain in neuropathy: dairy products, wheat, citrus fruits, corn, caffeine, meat of all kinds, nuts and eggs.
Lifestyle choices can play a role in preventing peripheral neuropathy. You can lessen your risk for many of these conditions by avoiding alcohol, correcting vitamin deficiencies, eating a healthy diet, losing weight, avoiding toxins, and exercising regularly.
In conclusion, six-week honey treatment helped in reducing dyslipidemia and oxidative stress. Honey given along with insulin for six-weeks improved sensory nerve conduction velocity in experimental diabetic neuropathy Wistar rats.
Intraneural Facilitation (INF) treatment effectively restores blood flow to damaged nerves, decreasing pain caused by diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), according to a new study conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University Health.
Numerous clinical studies have found that magnesium has beneficial effects in patients suffering from neuropathic pain, dysmenorrhea, tension headache, acute migraine attack, and others.
Vicks Vapor Rub® – Massaging one's feet with Vicks, particularly at night, soothes neuropathic pain and distress in one's feet and legs. It is also excellent for softening your toe nails and diminishing common toe nail problems.
caffeine – Caffeine can irritate the nerves and make neuropathy symptoms worse. It is best to limit or avoid caffeine if you are experiencing nerve pain.
Avoid factors that may cause nerve damage, including repetitive motions, cramped positions that put pressure on nerves, exposure to toxic chemicals, smoking and overindulging in alcohol.
Drink lots of water
Water should be a staple in any diet, and even more so for those looking to reduce nerve pain. It's critical to stay hydrated throughout the day to reduce inflammation and avoid triggering pain receptors. Aim to drink eight 8-oz. of water each day.
DOs and DON'Ts in Managing Peripheral Neuropathy:
Exercise, eat healthy meals, lose weight, and quit smoking. DO avoid repetitive movements, cramped positions, toxic chemicals, and too much alcohol—things that cause nerve damage.
What can slow neuropathy's progression—at least for many patients—is correction of the underlying cause. If the patient's neuropathy is caused primarily by diabetes or prediabetes, strict control of blood glucose levels through diet, exercise and medication can do the trick.
A 2017 paper suggests that some anticonvulsants are among the most effective medications for neuropathic pain. These first-line neuropathy medications act on specific ion channels that traffic calcium ions. They include gabapentin (Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica).
There is no cure for peripheral neuropathy but proper treatment will slow progression and address your symptoms. If the cause of the foot neuropathy is known, then treatment of the underlying cause may provide relief.
Treating Neuropathy
The good news for those living with neuropathy is that it is sometimes reversible. Peripheral nerves do regenerate. Simply by addressing contributing causes such as underlying infections, exposure to toxins, or vitamin and hormonal deficiencies, neuropathy symptoms frequently resolve themselves.
The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may lessen or go away over time, but in some cases they never go away. These are some ways to learn to live with it: Use pain medicines as your doctor prescribes them.