peripheral neuropathy results question (results)

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I received a few requests to post the replies to my query.  Here they are.

 

Andrea Beth

 

Traditional Oriental Medicine

Happy Hours in the CALM Center

635 S. 10th St.

Cottonwood, AZ  86326

(928) 274-1373

 

 

 

 

 

 

a couple quick thoughts --

 

Test the knee and achilles reflex -- if hyper reflexive, most likely

 

CNS/Brain is the root of the problem. Use head/scalp treatment aggressively

 

and with confidence. (you could also use herbs and supplements that promote

 

brain microcirculation based on different dx...). if hypo reflexive, likely

 

due to lumbar nerve root impingement, then lumbar and JiaJi type treatments

 

indicated.

 

 

 

Also is it one foot or both feet? Do the symptoms follow a specific nerve

 

foot pathway, or depend on the position of her lumbar spine

 

(seated/standing, etc...)? That can help determine if it's lumbar/PNS or

 

Brain/CNS issue. In this case there may be both! Once you get the brain

 

firing correctly, you may need to deal with the pain and blockage from the

 

L-spine.

 

 

 

Yes, in my experience too,  if the tissue has not been getting blood

 

nourishment and nerve stimulation, it does feel achey or

have pins and

 

needles as the nourishment and nerve

firing start to wake up. But do

 

consider the idea that you are waking up the brain and now there are

 

symptoms coming from L-spine. Test the dermatomes and myotomes to see if it

 

follows a specific pathway.

 

 

 

Hope it helps!

 

______________________

 

 

 

It does seem that local

needling (Bafeng needled deeply) and electostim from feet to a more proximal

point (St36) are effective in improving sensation (enough to improve quality of

life), even if the root cause is still obscure. I have not had good results

with scalp acupuncture, but I don’t have much experience with it. I think you

can expect to see symptoms going up and down, making it difficult to assess,

but generally expect modest, incremental improvement. Of course, most of what

I’ve seen involved a known cause (chemo) which was eventually discontinued.

 

 

 

Some colleagues and I conducted a study on the use of a topical herbal

preparation for peripheral neuropathy, including Bai Hua

She, Bing Pian, Dang Gui, Gui Zhi, Huang Qi, Ru Xiang, Mo Yao, Dang Gui, Ji Xue

Teng, Lu Feng Fang, Qing Dai, Shan Zhu Yu, Sheng Di, Tian Ma, and  Wu Zhu

Yu.  We got some promising results, though the study itself was

inconclusive for many reasons. The neuropathy in these patients was caused by

chemotherapy. However, the herbal preparation is a branch treatment and may be

modified to suit other neuropathies.

 

 

 

Its important to find out if the neuropathy is caused by a structural

impingement, circulatory

problems, nerve sheath damage from medications, or other causes.

How long has the patient experienced neuropathy? What medications was she on?

What is her pattern?

 

________________________________

 

 

 

 

 

I treated a pretty young guy (in

his 30's who had neuropathy in his hands and feet with scalp treatments and it

was very effective.  So, I'm sure there is more than one way to get to the

same place, as is often the case in acupuncture.

 Working on the scalp can be uncomfortable for some people, but is very

effective with stroke and other similar neurological issues.  I did this

work in clinic with the guidance of a supervisor on this patient and we also

had the patient move his feet and hands at the beginning to send messages up to

the brain that the muscles were moving, while gently rotating the needles.

 Leslie McCoy might be a good resource.  She showed me a very

specific technique - don't recall the name.  My two cents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Andrea Beth,

 

 

 

I have a patient with a somewhat similar issue. Although she

doesn't have numbness in her feet, she first reported that they feel

like " ice blocks. "  The cause of this symptom (among others)

is due to a neurological condition that her medical doctors and

specialists can do nothing about except give her meds. Her condition

causes her to have tight gastroc so I will usually cup her during the

treatment. Immediately afterwards, she feels pins and needles in her feet and I

explain

to her that it is due the to blood that is now allowed to flow to and

from the feet that was not allowed to do so before. With acupuncture,

herbs, and cupping, both she and I have noticed that her feet are no

longer cold and they actually appear pink now!

 

 

 

She continues to feel the pins and needles sensation

and I suspect that she will always feel that until she has complete

circulation, and told her as much. I also do the leg motor line and chorea

line on her because she actually has issues with control of her movement.

So I would definitely do the scalp sensory line on your patient if I was

treating her. 

 

______________________________

 

 

 

Hi. As I understand it, and have seen it, yes the feelings

of 'pins and needles'

or tingling is a good clinical sign of recovery from numbness. K1, which is

usually very sensitive can be  manipulated with good effect in that

stuation, as can seven star, and EA.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sometimes an external lotion such hong hua oil, can help

with what you are already doing. And this may sound funny, but you might want

to occasionally leave them with a slight sensation of pain, rather than be too

subtle.