When you feel pain, the nerves in the damaged area are alerting you to a problem. When that pain originates from the sensory nerves themselves, finding relief can be challenging because there's no underlying problem to heal.
This is exactly what occurs for millions of people with peripheral neuropathy (PN). A majority of cases of PN stem from diabetes — about 40 million Americans have diabetes and about half this number will develop PN.
Since November is National Diabetes Month, Dr. Ali H. Mesiwala and his team want to take a closer look at an effective treatment for peripheral neuropathy: peripheral nerve stimulation, a neuromodulation. Let’s take a look at how this innovative approach to nerve pain works.
We just mentioned that diabetes is the biggest driver of PN, and this nerve damage tends to develop in the lower legs and feet, and less commonly in the arms and hands.
With diabetes-related PN, the nerve damage is progressive if glucose levels aren’t controlled properly, and the issue can lead to no small amount of pain. This neuropathic pain is often described as shooting, stabbing, and/or burning. In addition to the pain, many patients also experience numbness and tingling.
Unfortunately, these symptoms are difficult to treat and don't respond well to traditional pain relief measures, such as medications, which is where neuromodulation comes in.
At our practice, we bring a neurological perspective to painful nerve and spine conditions. As a neurosurgery specialist, Dr. Mesiwala understands the nature of pain better than most, which is why we offer neuromodulation.
Neuromodulation and peripheral nerve stimulation have been around for about six decades, and we use electrodes that emit mild electrical signals designed to disrupt the damaged nerve's pain signaling. So, in basic terms, if the nerves aren’t sending the right pain signals to your brain, you won’t feel the pain as much.
In most cases, we typically perform a trial run in which we insert electrodes but use an external battery pack to power the pulses. You have a remote control that you can use to control the nerve stimulator.
If we find that the peripheral nerve stimulator relieves your pain, then we can perform a quick procedure to insert the generator under your skin. Even though we implant the generator and insert the electrodes, both can be easily removed, so this isn’t an irreversible procedure.
Beyond pain relief, another benefit of peripheral nerve stimulation is that some evidence suggests it may help with nerve regrowth.
So, if you’re frustrated by inadequate treatments for your peripheral neuropathy pain, it might be time to explore different avenues like peripheral nerve stimulation.
To learn more about peripheral nerve stimulation and to determine whether you’re a good candidate for this procedure, contact one of our offices in Newport Beach, Marina del Rey, or Rancho Cucamonga, California, to schedule a consultation today.