Neuropathy

The sensation of pins and needles shooting through our fingers and feet can be excruciating to many people.

This is a hallmark symptom of neuropathy. If you suffer from a neuropathy, you understand how painful this condition is. There are a few different types of neuropathies and general nerve pain that we see in our office.

• Diabetic neuropathy
• Peripheral neuropathy
• Carpal tunnel syndrome

And adjustments, we can significantly decrease or eliminate most nerve pain in the body for most patients. However, there is a percentage of patients who do not always respond to chiropractic treatments alone.

With these patients, we like to dig deeper into how their hormones can be triggering or causing their nerve pain.

Thyroid and nerve pain: Thyroid hormone is one of the two main hormones that have the greatest influence on nerve pain and neuropathy. Thyroid hormone imbalances have been implicated in diabetic neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, and indirectly in carpal tunnel syndrome.

With diabetic neuropathy, it is thought that the thyroid hormone imbalances can cause mitochondrial dysfunction. It may also cause inflammation which can increase neuropathy symptoms like peripheral neuropathy and carpal tunnel syndrome. 

One mechanism which thyroid hormones is thought to contribute to the issue is simply an increase in the patient's body weight. 

Hypothyroidism increases body weight and fluid retention. It is also thought that the fluid retention compresses the nerves. By controlling the thyroid hormone levels and decreasing body weight, there will be not as much pressure on the nerves. This may alleviate some of the symptoms.

Insulin and nerve pain: Insulin is the other hormone that exerts an influence on neuropathy and nerve pain. For many patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, they may also suffer diabetic neuropathy because of uncontrolled blood sugar and insulin hormone levels. This is typically caused by our poor dietary habits and lack of exercise. When our blood sugar levels are consistently out of range, we experience insulin hormone resistance, and this progresses nerve death and becomes more apparent. Controlling blood sugar levels and improving insulin hormone signaling, may help reduce or eliminate the effects of the diabetic neuropathy.

Progesterone and testosterone effect on nerve pain: As somewhat discussed before, neuropathy is commonly associated with nerve pain and nerve death. This leads us to the conclusion that we need to protect the nerves. Progesterone and testosterone hormones can seem to have a neuroprotective effect, as seen in multiple clinical research studies. This means that it is important to ensure that the body has adequate progesterone and testosterone hormone levels.