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Everything You Need to Know About Peripheral Neuropathy in Just 10 Minutes · Neuropathy & Nerve Health with Dr. Daniel Jacobazzi

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: One of the biggest mistakes people make with peripheral neuropathy is assuming that if their feet hurt less or their symptoms are less noticeable, their nerves must be getting better.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: But you can be taking medication for nerve pain, feel better, and still be losing the sensation, strength, and balance necessary for you to remain active and independent.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: My approach to treating neuropathy is quite different from what many patients are used to, because I just don't believe that treating the pain is enough.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: In the next 10 minutes, I'll show you why neuropathy develops, how the damage progresses, and the three-part approach I use with my patients that goes way beyond what conventional medicine can accomplish.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the name itself, because peripheral neuropathy sounds much more complicated than it actually is.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: What is peripheral neuropathy?
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Peripheral refers to the nerves that extend out from your spinal cord and travel throughout the rest of your body all the way to the tips of your fingers and toes.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: Neuropathy means pathological nerves that behave badly.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Think of those nerves as the communication network between your brain and your body.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Your brain sends messages through these nerves to control your movement, and those same nerves report back to your brain so you can feel sensations like pressure, temperature, numbness, tingling, and pain.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: And you know where your feet are when you're walking, even without having to look down.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_00: When a nerve becomes damaged, those messages don't travel the way they're supposed to.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: Your brain may receive garbled or incorrect information, or it might completely stop receiving any information at all.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: For example, a damaged nerve may send a pain signal when nothing is actually hurting your foot, or even worse, it can fail to send a signal when something really is hurting your foot.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: That's why two people with neuropathy can have completely different symptoms.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: One might experience terrible burning pain at night while the other barely notices anything at all.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: But both can have serious problems, even though their symptoms are completely different.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_00: And that's exactly why my approach to treating neuropathy is so different.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_00: I don't just look at how much pain you're feeling.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: I want to understand what's happening to your nerves and why they're being damaged in the first place.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So if these nerves run throughout your body, why does peripheral neuropathy so often show up in the feet first?
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: Why are your feet the first warning sign?
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: The nerves that travel all the way down to your toes are the longest in your body, and that's why they're often the first to be affected by peripheral neuropathy.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: Neuropathy symptoms commonly start in your toes and feet because they are the furthest away from your heart and the vital nutrients and building blocks for repair that are carried in your bloodstream.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: The first symptoms patients usually notice are burning, tingling, numbness, or paresthesis, where you feel like you're wearing socks even though you're completely barefoot.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: And as your nerve function worsens, it can lead to a complete loss of sensation.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: And that's where neuropathy becomes really dangerous.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_00: If you step on something sharp or develop a blister, pain normally tells you something is wrong and you check it out.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: But when your nerves stop sending those signals properly, you won't even realize your foot is injured.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: You'll keep walking on that injury until that small wound becomes a serious problem.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_00: This is especially important if you have diabetes or poor circulation.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: So when someone tells me their feet used to burn, but now they barely feel anything at all, I don't automatically consider that good news.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: It can mean the exact opposite because oftentimes it means those nerves have lost even more of their ability to communicate.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: It's important that I explain the stages of neuropathy because it helps people to understand the progressive nature of neuropathy, how neuropathy can progress.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: The first stage of neuropathy is sensory.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_00: Cold, numbness, tingling, burning pain, which typically starts in the toes and then moves throughout the foot towards the ankle.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: As your neuropathy progresses into the second stage, those sensory changes move from the toes and feet past your ankle and up into your lower leg.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Your motor nerves typically come next.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: Stiffness in your toes and ankles, even cramping in your feet and calves with intermittent jolts of pain in your lower legs.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: As your neuropathy moves into stage three, balance issues start to become more noticeable.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: The nerves in your feet help your brain to know where your feet are at and how they're connected to the ground.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: When those nerves are damaged, your brain gets less information and it becomes harder to remain steady and maintain your balance.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: You start feeling unsteady on your feet, holding on to furniture, avoiding stairs, and worrying more about falling when you walk.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Now, these changes don't always happen in exactly the same order for everyone, but the point is that neuropathy means more than just numb or painful feet.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why I have a problem with treating neuropathy as though it's only a pain condition or a situation where controlling symptoms is enough.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: What gabapetin can't do for your nerves?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Gabapetin is held out as a solution for neuropathy.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_00: And if your doctor diagnosed you with neuropathy, gabapentin or a medication with similar effects is usually recommended.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Gabapentin works by slowing the nerve signalings so they don't fire as quickly or as often.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: For some, that can make the burning, tingling, and shooting pain much more manageable.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: But it's important to understand that gabapentin doesn't do anything to repair your damaged nerves.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So even though you may feel some relief, the underlying problem is still there.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I want my patients to focus their attention more than just pain or symptoms.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to pay close attention to the changes in their symptoms, increases or decreases in sensation, decreases in strength, as well as any changes in their balance, because those are the things that help them keep walking, allow them to stay active and remain independent.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: If this is helping you to understand what's happening to your feet, please subscribe to the channel.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I'm going to be breaking down neuropathy, nerve pain, diabetes, cardiovascular changes, and other hidden inflammatory conditions that typically drive neuropathy, along with the things people are doing to treat these problems.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And if you're dealing with the effects of neuropathy and want my help figuring out what's driving your symptoms, contact my office or make an appointment for a quick discovery call with me.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_00: Check out the link in the bio.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_00: Now that you understand how neuropathy can progress, the next question is why are the nerves losing function in the first place?
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Why do people get peripheral neuropathy?
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_00: Peripheral neuropathy isn't one disease with one cause.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Diabetes is certainly one of the most common sources of inflammation when it comes to neuropathy.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: When your blood sugar stays too high for too long, it leads to chronic inflammation, which damages your nerves and the small blood vessels that supply those nerves.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: They're called capillaries.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's very important to understand that even if your diabetes is well controlled by medications, the inflammatory changes associated with diabetes can still continue to damage your nerves and your neuropathy can progress.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: Other causes of inflammation include certain medications, chemotherapy, vitamin deficiencies, autoimmune disorders, toxic exposures, and even physical trauma.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: When doctors are unable to identify the cause, they call it idiopathic neuropathy.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless of what it's called, simply treating the symptoms does nothing to address the root cause.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where my approach to neuropathy is very different from what many patients are used to.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: I've spent years working with neuropathy patients and I've seen how much attention gets placed on the damaged nerves.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, the problems that actually led to the damage have been completely ignored.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: That's why I use a targeted three-part approach with my patients, and I believe it's the reason why we've been able to achieve so much success with so many people.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: The three parts of neuropathy treatment.
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_00: Think of neuropathy like a series of dominoes.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: And when one part of your health starts to suffer, it can affect another and another and another, and eventually your nerves start to deteriorate.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: The protocol I use is called the MVN protocol, short for metabovascular neuroplasticity protocol.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: It may be hard to say, but how it works is a lot easier to understand than you might think.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_00: The first part, metabo, is related to metabolic health.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: And this might actually be the most important thing you need to understand.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: There are two parts to this equation: the food you eat and how your body processes it.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: The first step in addressing ongoing inflammation in your body is by reducing the amount of inflammation that's coming from the food you eat.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: If you keep pouring gas on the fire by eating the wrong foods, your body will never be able to recover.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: My program uses an anti-inflammatory eating education protocol that eliminates and then adds back foods to figure out the best possible way for you to eat.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Because how I can eat versus how you can eat are going to be two very different things.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: It has to be tailored to be specific to your situation.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: The second half of the equation is your metabolic system, how your digestive system breaks food down for energy, nutrients, and building blocks for repair.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: If your metabolic system is functioning poorly, you will not be able to use the fuel you're putting into the tank.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: Some people confuse lack of symptoms with a good digestive system.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I can tell you, if you have neuropathy and it's not improving, your digestive system probably needs work.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: An impaired digestive system leads to decreased healing capacity and increasing levels of inflammation, which over time spread to the rest of your body and ultimately cause a breakdown of myelin, the protective coating around your nerves.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: So simply trying to quiet the symptoms caused by neuropathy won't actually address what's driving the problem.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: For people who are diabetic or prediabetic, we need to work on reducing inflammation, not just controlling your blood sugars with medications, because managed blood sugars won't protect your nerves from being damaged.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: Regardless of what type of neuropathy you have, the major focus has to be on reducing your level of inflammation.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: The second part of the protocol is the vascular component, which is about microcirculation, the flow of blood in your capillaries, the tiny little blood vessels that deliver blood to your nerves carry the energy, nutrients, and building blocks necessary for repair.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: Your nerves need oxygen and nutrients, and it can only reach the nerves through your blood supply.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to support and maintain healthy blood flow and give those nerves an adequate amount of the things they need to maintain and repair themselves so they can function normally.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: The vascular protocol is where we look at which treatments work best to restore and improve circulation because increased blood flow to the tissues surrounding those nerves will restore the body's natural healing capacity.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Some of these treatments include medical grade light therapy, but light therapy alone won't replace treating diabetes or other underlying medical conditions which are causing inflammation.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: It has a different job, which I'll explain in more detail later.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: The third part, neuroplasticity, is about working on the nerve's behavior.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: When nerves are damaged, it leads to abnormal signaling from sensory, motor, and balance nerves.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: This abnormal signaling can best be described as bad behavior.
• 9:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your nerves don't remember how to respond appropriately.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: Too much signal, too little signal, and just like anything else, when bad behavior isn't corrected, it only gets worse.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's not enough to just repair the structure and myelin of a nerve.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: You have to re-educate it too.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Treatments are necessary to improve the nerve function and restore its ability to communicate with the brain and the rest of your body.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is where I use treatments designed to work directly with nerve signaling, which includes a bioelectrical feedback device called the rebuilder.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: And I will explain that device in much more detail in my next video.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: But here's what I want you to understand about these three parts.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: You can work directly on the nerve, but if the inflammation related to diabetes or other health conditions causing inflammation is not reduced, you still haven't addressed the entire problem.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: You can work to improve circulation, but that alone won't be enough unless you treat the other sources of inflammation in your body.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: And you can take medication that reduces your pain, but pain relief doesn't mean the nerve has recovered.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: If you're trying to reverse neuropathy without completing all three steps, it's like trying to finish a puzzle with a piece missing.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_00: It's just not possible.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: That's why my approach looks closely at all three areas rather than relying on a single treatment to try and solve everything.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: What should you do if you think you have neuropathy?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: If you're experiencing burning, numbness, tingling, pain, or balance problems, you need to get evaluated by someone who specializes in treating neuropathy.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: There are many different reasons these symptoms can develop, and the sooner you understand what's causing them, the sooner you can address what needs to be treated.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_00: If you have already been diagnosed by a neurologist or other healthcare provider, I encourage you to ask them one simple question.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: What are we going to do to address the cause of my neuropathy?
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: Because we both know the pain relief is not a solution.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_00: It's just managing the situation.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: You never judge your progress by pain alone.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: Pay close attention to whether you're losing feeling in your feet, whether your legs are getting weaker or whether your balance is getting worse, because monitoring the changes in your symptoms and monitoring progression is extremely important.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: And if you've lost sensation, please remember to check your feet every day for cuts, blisters, or sores that you might not otherwise notice.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: Our goal here isn't just pain management, it's protecting your health, your ability to walk, stay active, maintaining your mobility and independence.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: If you're dealing with neuropathy and want to find out whether my three-part approach could help you, use the link in the description below to contact my office or better yet, schedule an appointment with me.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: And please subscribe to the channel because we're going to go much deeper into what you can do about your neuropathy.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: In my next video, I'm going to explain why I do not recommend relying on traditional TENS machines for neuropathy and why I use a completely different device for my patients.
• 12:07
  SPEAKER_00: I'll show you what makes it different from the electrical stimulation treatments you may have already tried and explain why your relief was at best only temporary.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'll see you there.