New Therapy for People Suffereing With Neuropathy

According to some recent studies, 66% of diabetics have some form of neuropathy. Neuropathy is a condition that affects the nerves. It causes numbness, tingling, loss of balance and in about 10% of cases pain. Those people who have suffered with painful diabetic neuropathy have only a few treatment options. There are several pills that can treat neuropathic pain with differing levels of success, but none of them increase sensation or improve balance.
Recently, a new therapy has been used on neuropathy. This therapy is called electric stimulation or just e-stim for short. The benefits of this therapy are many. First, this is not a medication so it does not interfere with any medications the patient is already on. Second, not only does the therapy decrease pain but it also improves sensation and restores balance.
E-stim is available in the office setting and it is covered by major insurance plans including Medicare.
The therapy takes a hour per session and it is delivered in our comfortable treatment room equipped with a television and reading materials. A total of thirty sessions must be completed for maximal effectiveness. The treatment is painless.
If you have neuropathy, with or without diabetes you should seriously consider e-stim therapy as a safe effective treatment.


Committed to your health,

Dr. Craig Conti

Sarasota Foot Care Center
http://www.sarasotafootcarecenter.com

No Need to Suffer with Neuropathy Alone

Do your feet tingle and burn, usually worse at night? Do your feet feel numb? Do you feel like your balance is off recently? If the answer to any of these questions is "yes" you may have peripheral neuropathy. Neuropathy is a condition affecting millions of Americans. The most likely cause of neuropathy is Diabetes. If you are not diabetic other causes include chemotherapy drugs, low back injury or surgery, or exposure to certain chemicals. If none of these apply we call it idiopathic, which is the medical term for, "we don't know the cause." Approximately 15-30% of all cases of neuropathy are idiopathic.
Due to the complex nature of the disease and the varying ways it affects people the treatments can be very varied. Also, the best care for this is by a team of doctors, including a neurologist, an endocrinologist, pain management doctor, back doctor and of course a podiatrist. This complicated system, with many different doctors giving patients a lot of different advice, can lead to confusion.
A new support group has started at the Magnolia Health Center, located at 1507 S. Tuttle Ave. to help sort out all of this confusion. I had the opportunity to speak to this dynamic and informative group. I was there to teach but I think I learned more than anyone else. It was fascinating for me to listen to patients discuss all the difficulties they have had with this disease. They discussed the multitude of doctors, the frustration, the joys of treatments that finally helped.
Anyone suffering from peripheral neuropathy should know you don't have to go through it alone. The meetings are held the 3rd Friday of every month at the Magnolia Health Center, located at 1507 S. Tuttle Ave.
Don't forget that if you do have neuropathy you should not be cutting your own toenails. Your insurance will cover nail care for you. You should also check your feet daily for any redness, swelling, wounds or blisters. These can be signs of serious issues but without pain you may not notice them.
In the end, a neuropathic patient must be very aware of their feet and use their eyes and their mind to compensate for the loss of sensation.

Committed to your health,

Dr. Craig Conti
Sarasota Foot Care Center
http://www.sarasotafootcarecenter.com/