Is Peripheral Nerve Damage Reversible?

As the more than 38 million Americans who have diabetes can attest, the diagnosis of this disease is often just the start of a long and complex health journey for many. 

There’s a sizable constellation of health complications associated with diabetes that ranges from cardiovascular disease and vision loss to diabetic foot ulcers and peripheral neuropathy.

Since November is National Diabetes Month, our team at Gill Neuroscience, under the direction of board-certified neurologist Dr. Paul Gill, wants to touch on what is, arguably, the most common complication of diabetes — peripheral neuropathy — and it affects about half of people with this chronic disease.

Here’s a look at why peripheral neuropathy (PN) develops and whether we can reverse the nerve damage.

Peripheral neuropathy related to diabetes

When you have diabetes, namely Type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t control the levels of glucose in your blood well. This is mostly due to two things:

• Your body develops insulin resistance
• Your pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin to overcome the resistance

Insulin is the hormone responsible for delivering glucose to your cells, so when your cells resist this delivery, your blood sugar levels can become too high, and your pancreas is unable to make enough insulin to overcome this resistance.

Over time, higher-than-normal glucose levels can damage your body, including your peripheral nerves, especially those in your lower legs and feet, as well as in your upper extremities. 

This happens because glucose can damage the small blood vessels that feed your nerves oxygen and nutrients. High levels of blood sugar also can lead to oxidative stress and inflammation, both of which can further damage sensitive nerves.

Why you shouldn’t ignore peripheral neuropathy

During the early stages of diabetes-related peripheral neuropathy, you might develop patches of numbness in your feet or you might experience tingling in your lower legs and feet.

Notice we said “early stages,” because peripheral neuropathy is progressive. If you don’t address it early, the nerve damage can grow and lead to pain, placing you at far more risk for diabetic foot ulcers. 

In fact, about one-third of people with diabetes develop diabetic foot ulcers, and half of these ulcers become infected. Going a step further, about 20% of infected diabetic foot ulcers lead to amputation.

Aside from avoiding this potentially serious and life-changing outcome, it’s also a good idea to address PN as early as possible to contain, and even reverse, the nerve damage.

When peripheral neuropathy is reversible

In some cases, we’re able to reverse some peripheral nerve damage, but usually only in the early stages of the neuropathy.

To do this, it takes an all-out effort to better manage your blood sugar levels through:

• Daily glucose monitoring
• Insulin therapy 
• Exercise
• Dietary changes

Regulating your glucose through insulin treatments is certainly a big step, but it’s as important to make some lifestyle changes that will improve your health. 

This means getting away from junk and processed foods and moving to a healthier Mediterranean diet. And exercise is critical for keeping the blood flowing to your lower legs.

If your peripheral neuropathy is severe and more advanced, the nerve damage may be permanent, but you should still take the steps we outlined above to stop further damage. Again, PN is progressive, so think of any action that you take as critical containment.

The lifestyle changes we outlined will also benefit your health on almost every other level, so these are steps that will certainly get your health going in the right direction.

If you’re dealing with some diabetic peripheral neuropathy and you want the damage to stop there, and even reverse, the first step is to see us for an evaluation of your peripheral nervous system. 

To set that in motion, please call our office in Houston, Texas, at 832-912-7777. You can also use our online form to request an appointment.