Millions of individuals around the world suffer immensely from nerve pain. This condition is caused by a gradual degeneration of nerves as a result of chemotherapy, trauma, diabetes and a variety of other health issues. However, there are several treatments for nerve pain that exist – but not all offer an effective solution. Before pursuing any treatment, it’s wise to conduct some extensive research first.
Peripheral neuropathy is an illness that commonly shows up among diabetes patients. It causes severe nerve damage, leading to further loss of sensitivity around patients’ feet and hands. If you suffer from neuropathy, it’s important to exercise, follow a healthy diet and commence physical therapy. Some supplements could also come in handy to deal with nerve pain. Try this supplement for nerve pain.
Here are the top 3 neuropathy treatments in 2018
Topical Medication
These include gels, ointments, creams, patches, and lotions. Apply them onto your skin if you desire to get relief from inflammation and nerve pain. Topical medications contain active compounds that provide localized relief from pain when absorbed by the skin. These medications are basically of two types: analgesics and local anesthetics.
Analgesics are simply non-prescription pain relievers that you rub directly onto the skin. Most contain capsaicin as an active ingredient. Capsaicin is extracted from chili pepper seeds. This substance effectively lowers the transmission of pain signals by your nerve cells, thus offering temporary pain relief when applied to the skin.
Acupuncture
You’ve probably heard of acupuncture, an ancient treatment of Chinese descent. Acupuncture simply entails sticking some needles into specific pressure points around the body. This treatment is so effective that it has spread across Europe and the United States. However, people suffering from peripheral neuropathy are advised to pursue acupuncture as an alternative therapy for easing nerve pain. This complementary treatment is used to treat neck pain, back pain, headaches and other types of pain. And although research on this ancient technique is still ongoing, there are some promising findings that prove its effectiveness in treating chronic pain.
You must be wondering: doesn’t acupuncture hurt? Any treatment that involves piercing the skin with numerous thin needles sounds excruciatingly painful. However, there’s often little to no pain when the needles are inserted. Most patients record feeling relaxed and energized after the acupuncture treatment is over.
Antidepressant medications
Some tricyclic antidepressants (also known as serotonin receptor modulators) are used to provide relief from neuropathic pain. These drugs effectively interfere with certain chemical processes that occur within your brain, causing you to feel tremendous relief from pain. Antidepressants also spike the production of norepinephrine and serotonin, two key neurotransmitters that facilitate the relaying of brain signals around the body. There is a myriad of serotonin receptor modulators to choose from. However, first consult your physician before commencing on any neuropathy treatment.
On the downside, a constant intake of antidepressants could lead to some undesirable side effects. These include drowsiness, constipation, drying of the mouth, nausea and decreased appetite.
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