Many nerves branch from the brain and spinal cord, innervating the arms, legs, hands, and feet. These nerves can suffer damage, leading to peripheral neuropathy.
People with peripheral neuropathy experience various symptoms, including decreased sensation, weakness, and sensitivity or pain. It’s a tough issue to deal with on your own, which is why Dr. Shachi Patel and the Delmarva Pain and Spine Center team offer treatments to assist.
Dr. Patel is an experienced pain management specialist providing nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablation, and injections for neuropathy and other chronic pain conditions.
Peripheral neuropathy can cause many issues with your legs and feet. Many people experience numbness, tingling, and electrical-shock-like pain in their feet, which is extremely uncomfortable.
If you’re dealing with peripheral neuropathy and want some relief, there are a few things to do at home, and they include:
Regular foot soaks in warm water with Epsom salts help relax muscles and relieve neuropathy pain in the moment.
Use ice packs, not directly on the skin, for 10 to 15 minutes to reduce swelling and inflammation for immediate relief.
Foot massage helps improve circulation and stimulate nerves, relieving neuropathy symptoms. It also reduces foot stiffness, improving function.
Various over-the-counter treatments are available to help with nerve pain, including topical patches and creams that ease discomfort.
Low-impact exercises are great for improving circulation to the legs and feet. Try swimming, cycling, or yoga to help with foot-related neuropathy pain.
We provide specific exercises to perform with your feet to relieve nerve pain. Ankle rolls, heel raises, and foot stretches improve flexibility and circulation, aiding neuropathy relief.
When home care isn’t enough to relieve peripheral neuropathy symptoms, we offer various treatments to help. Dr. Patel evaluates your symptoms and overall health to determine the best treatment plan for your needs.
She typically starts with conservative care that includes medications to ease nerve pain and physical therapy to help with everyday function. PT helps you regain strength and improve balance, even with nerve damage.
When these aren’t enough, Dr. Patel offers nerve ablation procedures and spinal cord stimulators for relief. A nerve block provides long-term pain relief with an injection of numbing medications and corticosteroids.
The numbing medications relieve pain immediately, while the corticosteroids reduce inflammation around the affected nerves.
A spinal cord stimulator is an implantable device that uses a pulse generator and wires in the epidural space to send electrical signals to the nerves, scrambling pain signals. The result is reduced nerve pain and a better quality of life.
To learn more about our neuropathy treatments, call our Newark, Delaware, office to schedule an appointment or request a consultation with Dr. Patel via our website.
