“Neuropathy” is a term you may already be familiar with if you or a loved one is living with diabetes. Diabetic neuropathy, otherwise known as “peripheral neuropathy,” is a common complication that damages nerves throughout the body.
As the name suggests, peripheral neuropathy affects the peripheral limbs, including hands, feet, and legs, and can develop in people who are diabetic and insulin-resistant. Insulin resistance, commonly seen in diabetes, is the main contributing factor to the development and progression of peripheral neuropathy.
A range of symptoms can result from insulin resistance neuropathy, including numbness, tingling, sharp pains, or muscle weakness.
In this article, we delve into the complexities of peripheral neuropathy and its intricate relationship with insulin resistance. We will shed light on how these two conditions affect nerve function and discuss the frustrating symptoms that occur as a result.
We also explore the role inflammation plays in the development of insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy.
Lastly, we will provide you with valuable insights into why early detection and appropriate treatment are pivotal to avoiding complications associated with neuropathy.
Living with peripheral neuropathy as a result of diabetes can be challenging, but the good news is that there are effective pain management solutions available. NextPain Care provides breakthrough therapies that address the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy resulting from insulin resistance at the root cause.
We aim to provide you with the knowledge and tools necessary to take proactive steps in managing these conditions, minimize their impact on your quality of life, and enhance your overall well-being.
Now, let’s delve into the intricate relationship between insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy and discover the impact they have on nerve function.
Insulin Resistance And Diabetic Neuropathy
Diabetes and insulin resistance are among the most widespread health concerns globally. While the American diet is often blamed for rising diabetes cases, the condition is increasing worldwide, affecting millions regardless of location.
A recent study from 2020 found that diabetes had a “. . . global prevalence in adults in 2017 being 8.8% of the world population, with the anticipation of a further increase to 9.9% by 2045” (Standl 2020).
Type 2 diabetes is most commonly diagnosed and monitored using a combination of diagnostic tools including the measurement of blood sugar levels, hemoglobin A1c, and insulin levels. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, and it plays a crucial role in regulating the body’s sugar levels by lowering blood glucose.
Insulin resistance can have a significant impact on nerve function throughout the body. This is because insulin is responsible for helping the body’s cells convert glucose into energy. So, how does insulin resistance develop?
How Peripheral Neuropathy Develops
When blood sugar rises after a meal, insulin stimulates cells to uptake glucose and maintain balanced blood sugar levels. As the body takes in more sugar, more insulin is required. Over time, the cells become overstimulated with insulin and develop insulin resistance.
If the body exceeds its maximum sugar intake, there will not be enough insulin to balance the blood sugar levels. Eventually, the body becomes less responsive to insulin, whether injected or naturally produced.
If blood sugar levels are not controlled, the body continues to experience complications associated with diabetes. These complications are often linked to underlying insulin resistance, causing the patient to have both diabetes and insulin resistance.
The development of peripheral neuropathy is directly tied to the body’s ability to process and maintain blood sugar and its level of insulin resistance. Although the most common cause of peripheral neuropathy is diabetes, patients without diabetes may experience symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.
These symptoms can result from medications taken for other conditions, nerve injury from an accident, or various infections. Regardless of the cause of a patient’s peripheral neuropathy, there are several treatments available to address its frustrating symptoms and complications.
Symptoms Of Peripheral Diabetic Neuropathy
Patients with type 2 diabetes can suffer from significant complications that include high rates of sickness, infections, poor healing, and even a decreased life expectancy. With the increase in people suffering from this disease, both doctors and patients are searching for more effective treatment solutions.
Peripheral neuropathy is commonly identified by pain, burning sensations, or loss of feeling in the extremities. Since our nervous system extends from our brain to the edges of our fingers and toes, the most common signs of peripheral neuropathy occur at the ends or periphery of our bodies.
Patients who suffer from peripheral neuropathy often have trouble sleeping and experience frustration and confusion with the loss of sensation or pain. Since most patients experience peripheral neuropathy in their toes and feet, losing balance is a common symptom that can be especially dangerous for the elderly.
Many patients also experience difficulty standing from a low-seated position or getting out of bed in the morning. While some patients experience minor symptoms such as a lack of coordination or weakness, others experience debilitating cramps and spasms.
The uncomfortable and elusive symptoms of peripheral neuropathy often cause hopelessness in patients who may not understand how or why it relates to their diabetes and insulin resistance. Knowing what is happening to your body and its primary causes is the first step in seeking and understanding effective treatment.
This leads us to explore how inflammation can impact peripheral neuropathy and how understanding their intricate relationship can help us gain more insight into how neuropathy occurs.
The Significance of Inflammation in Neuropathy and Insulin Resistance
Inflammation plays a significant role in the development and progression of insulin resistance and neuropathy. In a healthy person, inflammation is a beneficial response activated by the body when an injury or infection is detected, helping to heal damaged tissues. However, chronic inflammation in a person with diabetes can cause detrimental effects.
So how does this relate to neuropathy? Simply put, when insulin resistance occurs, the body can no longer effectively process glucose, leading to elevated levels in the bloodstream.
Chronically high blood glucose puts stress on the entire body but significantly strains the pancreas. High blood glucose triggers the pancreas to release inflammatory proteins (cytokines) into the body.
Experiencing elevated levels of both inflammation and glucose in the bloodstream can cause certain immune cells (TNF-a) from our bone marrow to become overly active, where they mistakenly attack the protective layers of our nerves.
As a result, the nerves become damaged, which triggers even more inflammation, leading to further nerve damage. Over time, this ongoing nerve damage causes symptoms of numbness, tingling, sharp pains, or muscle weakness in our peripheral limbs.
For people with diabetes and insulin resistance, managing how much inflammation the body is exposed to will be crucial for preventing and controlling neuropathy. Some strategies that can help reduce inflammation throughout the body include:
- Managing Blood Glucose Levels
Firstly, keeping your blood glucose levels within the safe and recommended range, as advised by your healthcare provider, is a fundamental element in managing inflammation to prevent or slow the progression of neuropathy.
By keeping your blood glucose levels under control and avoiding large swings, you can minimize the stress on your body and reduce the overall level of inflammation.
This involves precisely following and adhering to your stipulated diabetic management plan, including regular blood sugar monitoring, diet control, and taking prescribed medications.
- A Nutritious Diet
Maintaining a diet that is rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and healthy fats can help reduce inflammation in the body. Consider adding foods such as turmeric, ginger, fatty fish, and dark leafy greens, which have anti-inflammatory properties.
- Regular Exercise
Regular physical activity not only helps to reduce inflammation but also supports maintaining a healthy weight. Both exercise and maintaining a healthy weight are great strategies to help reduce inflammation and improve insulin sensitivity.
A range of aerobic and resistance exercises, such as cycling, walking, lifting weights, or Pilates, is optimal for overall health. Always consult your healthcare provider before starting a new exercise program.
- Stress Management
Chronic stress has been linked to increased levels of inflammation in the body. Finding and adopting healthy ways to manage stress can help. It is important to find a technique that best serves you, whether it is meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or regularly engaging in activities that bring you calm and joy.
- Medications and Supplements
In some cases, your healthcare provider may prescribe specific medications or supplements to manage inflammation associated with insulin resistance and neuropathy. All healthcare professionals you consult must be aware of what medications you are taking and any changes.
Now that we have an understanding of the complicated relationship between inflammation and insulin resistance and how it leads to peripheral neuropathy, we can start to explore the pathophysiological processes of why insulin resistance causes neuropathy.
How Does Insulin Resistance Lead To Diabetic Neuropathy?
People with diabetes often experience frustration and confusion when faced with the effects of peripheral neuropathy. Understanding how and why peripheral neuropathy occurs in patients with insulin resistance and diabetes can provide clarity and direction for effective management.
Think of your body’s blood vessels as a river and the body’s insulin levels as a dam built to prevent waves of sugar from damaging the body. If the body experiences higher sugar intake, insulin must be used to build the dam higher.
Over time, the blood sugar level may decrease, and the insulin may be adjusted to match it. However, if the body cannot handle a high sugar level in the blood, the sugar will spill over the insulin dam and flood the body’s normally functioning systems, causing damaging complications.
Physicians Liumeng Jian and Guangda Yang confirmed in a recent study in 2020 that “Diabetes-related metabolic factors such as increased glucose, decreased insulin, and increased lipids produce changes underlying the development of diabetic neuropathy. Injury to neurons, microvascular endothelium, and Schwann cells in diabetes contribute to the pathogenesis of neuropathy” (2020).
These changes associated with diabetes and insulin resistance damage patients’ peripheral nerves, the cells responsible for communicating sensory experiences from the extremities to the brain. The damage inflicted on neurons can account for patients losing feeling in their toes, feet, and sometimes fingers or hands.
Doctors often check for signs of peripheral neuropathy by running a soft tool over the surface of the patient’s toes and feet. They may also test neuron responses to sharp pain from a needle prick and the differences between heat and cold.
If patients experience little to no sensation from these methods, the doctor may diagnose the patient with peripheral neuropathy.
Other changes mentioned by Jian and Yang include damage to the microvascular endothelium (small blood vessels that run along the body next to the peripheral nervous system) and damage to Schwann cells.
Schwann cells function much like neurons but specifically maintain and regenerate peripheral nerves.
Without neurons that communicate sensations to our nervous system, microvascular endothelium that supplies blood to our peripheral nerve system, and Schwann cells that maintain peripheral nerves, we experience the contributing pain, numbness, and burning sensations associated with peripheral neuropathy.
What Can I Do About It?
Once the leading causes of peripheral neuropathy and its relation to insulin resistance have been explained to patients, many will seek treatments that suit their needs and comfort level.
Why It Helps To See A Physician
Consultation with a medical physician and a confirmed peripheral neuropathy diagnosis should be sought before patients seek treatment. Patients should not rely on diagnosing peripheral neuropathy from non-physicians or any other type of healthcare worker who may claim to be able to diagnose peripheral neuropathy.
Physicians tasked with diagnosing a patient’s peripheral neuropathy will conduct motor, reflex, and sensation examinations, blood chemistries, and several other possible diagnostic tests to determine a positive confirmation diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy.
The Significance of Early Detection and Treatment
Recognizing the early signs and symptoms of peripheral neuropathy is vital in preventing its progression, optimizing treatment outcomes, and reducing the risk of complications.
Attending regular checkups will facilitate early detection and prompt intervention, which allows for the implementation of an effective treatment plan. This way, targeted strategies can be tailored to your individual needs in a timely manner, giving you more control to tailor lifestyle modifications and access specialized care.
This way, a treatment plan that manages blood sugar levels, reduce inflammation, and protects nerve health can be implemented that best suits you and your lifestyle.
Possible Treatment Options
Once a confirmed diagnosis has been reached, patients are often presented with various treatment options. According to Maher R. Khdour in the Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, published in February 2020, “. . . peripheral neuropathy is often inadequately treated.”
Khdour also raises the concern that “. . . neuropathy is a highly prevalent, disabling condition, the management of which is associated with significant costs.”
While physicians like Khdour push these issues of peripheral neuropathy treatment to the forefront, patients may wonder if there is a simple and affordable solution to their chronic pain. Patients may also wonder what steps they can take to manage the complications associated with peripheral neuropathy.
Khdour continues to list some of these treatments, including “the use of specific anticonvulsants and antidepressants for pain management in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy” (2020).
Some patients may also choose to undergo surgery to address the pain. Other, simpler solutions include using non-steroidal anti-inflammatory pain relievers, NSAIDs such as acetaminophen or ibuprofen, or soaking the affected areas in cold water for a short time.
However, real and effective peripheral neuropathy solutions may be simple and lasting.
Possible Complications Associated with Neuropathy
If peripheral neuropathy is left untreated and unmanaged, it can lead to various complications that significantly impact your quality of life.
By acknowledging these possible complications, we enhance our ability to proactively address them and pursue prompt treatment.
Here are some of the more common complications associated with peripheral neuropathy:
Foot Ulcers
The nerve damage that peripheral neuropathy inflicts can cause impaired sensation in the feet, making it difficult to detect pressure or wounds. This can lead to cuts, blisters, and pressure sores being unnoticed and developing into severe foot ulcers.
Foot ulcers are often slow to heal and may become infected, leading to serious complications, including cases where amputation may be the only adequate treatment.
Inspecting your feet regularly, maintaining proper foot care, wearing appropriate footwear, and seeking timely medical attention for any wounds or abnormalities are essential to preventing and managing foot ulcers.
Infections
Increased inflammation due to peripheral neuropathy can impair the immune system and its response to infection. This, combined with decreased sensation, can cause minor cuts, wounds, or infections to go unnoticed and lead to rapidly progressing skin infections, cellulitis, or even bone infections (osteomyelitis).
It is crucial to seek medical attention for any signs of infection, such as localized warmth, redness, swelling, or increased pain. Accessing treatment, adequate wound care, and practicing good hygiene are all important to help prevent and manage infections associated with peripheral neuropathy.
Muscle Weakness
Neuropathy can also impact the nerves responsible for muscle movement. People with advanced peripheral neuropathy can experience weakness and problems with balance, making it difficult to perform daily activities.
This can lead to an increased risk of falls and injuries. Having a regular exercise and physical therapy routine can help improve and maintain muscle strength, mitigating the impact of muscle weakness caused by neuropathy.
The Psychological Effects of Peripheral Neuropathy and Insulin Resistance
We have explored in depth how diabetic neuropathy and insulin resistance affect our physical health, but they can also significantly impact our psychological and emotional well-being. Chronic pain and daily treatments can take a mental toll, leading to stress and anxiety. Effective coping strategies are essential for maintaining emotional well-being. Sharing your thoughts with your healthcare provider can lead you to local resources that may benefit you, such as support groups and counseling services.
You may also wish to explore your own management strategies, such as talking with friends and family, regular journaling or meditation practices, or regularly engaging in activities that boost your mood.
However, likely the most effective way to alleviate both the physical and psychological stressors caused by diabetic neuropathy is to find therapies that offer instant and long-lasting results. Let’s now explore some of the breakthrough solutions available for chronic pain management.
Lasting Solutions With NextPain Care
NextPain Care offers one of the nation’s most advanced treatment programs for pain associated with peripheral neuropathy.
Our comprehensive approach to pain management includes a variety of treatments tailored to meet individual patient needs. Patients who need to alleviate their symptoms can find relief, restore health, and improve their quality of life with the NextPain Care treatment program. Our approach starts with the least invasive and most effective treatments to minimize the disruption to your daily activities while also aiming to provide reduced pain and long-term relief. If these initial treatments do not provide sufficient relief, we offer more advanced interventions to address more severe pain.
One of our main goals is to help patients manage their chronic pain without relying solely on medications alone. Our team of experienced medical professionals works with each patient to develop a personalized treatment plan that may include physical therapy, nerve blocks, spinal cord stimulation, regenerative medicine techniques and more.
These treatments are not only used to alleviate the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy but also other chronic pain conditions such as chronic joint pain, back pain, knee pain, fibromyalgia, migraines, chronic headaches, plantar fasciitis pain, pain stemming from injuries or accidents, and chronic post-surgery pain.
Choose Root-Focused Treatment Options
When it comes to managing the painful symptoms of peripheral neuropathy and insulin resistance, prioritizing treatment therapies that are root-focused is essential for long-term relief. NextPain Care offers expert advice, comprehensive treatment plans, and resources to address the underlying causes and provide lasting relief from chronic pain.
When you choose NextPain Care for your pain management needs, you can access a comprehensive plan that aims to deliver the best possible results. By addressing chronic pain associated with insulin resistance and peripheral neuropathy, NextPain Care helps you minimize the profound impact these conditions can have on your daily life.
Exploring the diverse treatment options we offer could be the solution you have been looking for to gain control over your chronic pain and improve your quality of life and overall health and well-being.
Don’t let diabetic neuropathy and insulin resistance affect your quality of life.
