Gabapentin is one of the most commonly prescribed drugs used to treat nerve pain, but is neuropathy treatment possible without gabapentin? At Integrated Wellness, we’ve found treatment plans for neuropathy without the use of gabapentin.
Neuropathy is a chronic disease and can lead patients to live a debilitating life. Pain medications have become the most common form of treatment and it leads to a long road of trying different treatments for relief.
With extended use of pain medications and other prescription drugs, pain tolerance will go up over time. Then projecting negative side effects and ever-evolving symptoms of neuropathy. The crazy part about using gabapentin for the treatment of neuropathy, is that it wasn’t designed to treat it.
Neuropathy Explained
An estimated 20 million people in America have some form of peripheral neuropathy. The chronic condition usually begins with nerve damage in the peripheral nervous system. Which consist of all nerves connecting through the brain to the spinal cord and the rest of the body.
Painful side effects of neuropathy include:
- Numbness
- Prickling/Tingling Sensation
- Sharp Throbbing
- Freezing/Burning Pain
- Extreme Sensitivity
- Lack of Coordination
At Integrated Wellness, we have three treatment options for neuropathy:
- Intersegmental Traction
- Trigenics
- Pulsed Electromagnetic Frequency (PEMF)
These treatment programs are designed to provide you treatment from your neuropathy pain, but also start the process of allowing the body to start healing itself. We want to wean you off a long track of taking pain medication, such as gabapentin, and to put a control on your pain before it becomes chronic.
Let us explain to you further why at Integrated Wellness, we’ll get you off the pain medications and back on the right track for a more natural approach on treating your neuropathy pain. Treating your neuropathy without gabapentin.
What is Neuropathy?
Neuropathy comes from the damage, or destruction of nerve cells. Interfering with the way the nerve cells (neurons), communicates with the brain. Neuropathy is a progressive condition, which means over time it grows worse.
Neuropathy is known to affect one nerve, (mononeuropathy), or type of nerve. Though it can also affect a combination of nerves in one specific area (multifocal neuropathy). It may also affect peripheral nerves throughout the body (polyneuropathy).
Some conditions of neuropathy develop in a short amount of time and only grow worse from there. While others can develop slowly over months and even years. Then eventually becoming chronic without the correct treatment. There’s over 100 types of neuropathy and they can all develop differently, how chronic your nerve pain becomes, or how quickly the symptoms grow may depend on the level of each patient’s nerve damage.
What are the Causes of Neuropathy?
There is no one disease, or cause to point out when getting to the cause of neuropathy. There are countless outside factors affecting health, or other underlying conditions that may cause it. Diabetes is a leading cause of neuropathy in the United States. 60-70% of those with diabetes, experience neuropathy.
Another common outlying cause for neuropathy pain is trauma. Such as falling, sports injuries, or even car accidents. These are all three common occurrences that can create later side effects, including nerve damage. Next, autoimmune disorders, or unexpected infections are both possible factors to create neuropathy over time. One of the most well known being rheumatoid arthritis.
Then, from lupus and on; there is a large list of autoimmune diseases that show the possibility of creating nerve damage. This includes diseases such as: shingles, HIV, or Lyme disease. When it comes to the cause of neuropathy, there’s a long list of other possible causes. Including:
- Health Conditions
- Medications
- Alcoholism
- Inherited Disorders
- Vascular Disorders
When there’s no explanation for nerve damage that your body has received, that can be the worst part. Creating some neuropathy cases that have no known cause.
What is Gabapentin?
So, what exactly is gabapentin? Gabapentin is an anticonvulsant/nerve pain medication. Gabapentin has become so commonly used, that 90% of the written prescriptions are for off label patients.
Off label means that the medication prescribed was created to treat a specific disease/illness, but is being used to treat another condition. Pain from neuropathy has shown some signs of relief by use of gabapentin, but the dosage for the treatment of nerve pain is quite vague, if at all existent.
For the fact that gabapentin is so readily available, the risk of abusing it is high. Though it’s not an opioid, this allows for higher dose prescriptions. Therefore making it easily a risk of misuse. Also, it does not have the same lethal risk of overdose as opioids, but the side effects of taking gabapentin for extended use has unknown outcomes.
Three Part Neuropathy Treatment withouth medications
Our clinically proven protocol for treating neuropathy without the use of gabapentin and other medications could be right for you! Treating neuropathy symptoms such as:
- Numbness
- Diabetic nerve pain
- Sharp, electric-like pain
- Difficulty sleeping from leg or foot discomfort
- Burning or tingling
- Muscle weakness
- Sensitivity to touch
- Pain when walking
Let us further explain the process:
Intersegmental Traction
“Intersegmental traction tables are used for patients with spinal stenosis. This table helps in gently re-establishing the normal ranges of the body’s spine. Intersegmental traction table helps in relaxing the muscles, stretching the vertebrae and reducing the muscle spasms. Using the Intersegmental traction table promotes the recovery and healing process from a back injury.
The intersegmental traction allows changing the contact pressure of the roller electrically. Intersegmental traction tables are very beneficial in providing relaxation to a patient and are very useful devices for any patient with spinal stenosis and associated leg, knee and foot symptoms.
Spinal discs receive nutrients from the fluid circulation upon spinal joint movements. Joint misalignment in the spine hinders this action from occurring and causes thinning and degeneration of the discs. Intersegmental traction/roller table works by creating passive motion that causes mild stretching of the spinal joints and improves mobility.
Intersegmental traction table functions by mobilizing the spinal column while at the same time gently stretching the muscles and ligaments”
Trignetics
Trigenics® is a neuro-kinetic, sensorimotor assessment, treatment and training system which instantly relieves pain and increases strength and movement. It is currently practiced by over 2000 doctors, therapists, and trainers in 20 countries worldwide.
The complex procedures used in Trigenics® retrain the way the brain communicates it’s movement and/or pain signals with the muscles of the body. The treatments are either manual or involve the use of instruments or exercise equipment. The beneficial effects are instantaneous and seen immediately.
If Trigenics® is what you need, patients having suffered from physical pain syndromes and/or movement dysfunctions always see strikingly measurable results on their first visit to a Trigenics® practitioner. This will be the case; no matter how long they have had the condition and attended other therapies or how many doctors or therapists they have seen. Strength trainers using Trigenics® Power Augmentation training procedures on their clients see an unprecedented acceleration of muscle strength and size without drugs”
PEMF
Pulsed Electromagnetic Therapy (PEMT) is a burgeoning treatment in pain management that has provided life-changing results. Patients are reporting that they are feeling better, sleeping longer and the pain is eased.
The FDA has approved magnetic therapy for broken bones, depression, post-operative pain. Dr. Oz says PEMT can reduce or even erase our pain. Not to be confused with refrigerator magnets, PEMT does not use static magnets but pulsing waves of electromagnetic fields that have the ability to penetrate deep into the body where heating pads, massage, lotions, and creams cannot reach.
Where there’s pain there is inflammation. Pulsing, moving magnetic fields reach and affect cartilage, bones, and nerves. It turns on signals in the body and, Dr. Oz says, can change inflammation.
Acute vs. Chronic Care
We want to go over the two separate types of neuropathy care, delegated by the condition. Starting with acute care: this includes drugs, surgeries and injections that are the most common items to be covered by insurance.
The problem with this is that neuropathy doesn’t require acute care approaches, as it’s not an acute care condition. As acute care is active, but a short term treatment option for a problem that is ongoing. Fixing neuropathy is not easy and requires a very personalized, planned approach to treat. Neuropathy is a chronic condition and we believe that it requires less traditional treatment styles with a systematic approach for a patient to find relief.
At Integrated Wellness, we highly suggest against using drugs like gabapentin for the treatment of neuropathy. This allows the condition to grow worse by shielding the symptoms with medications.
Medication is a temporary fix and could possibly allow your nerves to become further damaged. Then in part worsening your condition over time. At Integrated Wellness, we want our patients to know everything they should about neuropathy and therefore provide more natural treatment options. In the end we want permanent results for your nerve damage and pain.
Your Treatment Plan
So, when it comes to treating neuropathy without gabapentin, we want to provide you the best options. Our three treatment pieces coming together in the perfect neuropathy treatment plan, helping not only your symptoms now, but your overall nerve health and function for time to come.
Integrated Wellness plans their treatment plan around each individual patient. Making sure no one is left without the program they need for their specific symptoms. We want to provide neuropathy treatment without gabapentin. Which means: no drugs, no surgery, no injections. Only satisfaction and relief from your neuropathy symptoms!
Why to try Neuropathy Treatment Without Gabapentin
Using gabapentin, which is a pain medication used to cover up pain, is not doing your body any favors. With neuropathy being a chronic condition, you need a correct treatment plan and a road to healing.
Integrated Wellness wants to help that plan come together and treat the cause of your neuropathy pain and symptoms. Right down to the source.
Using our treatment options, we will figure out how to get you living a life with less pain from neuropathy and help your nerves bounce back to health. Once again, that’s: no drugs, no surgery, no injections, contact us and book your appointment now!