The biggest neuropathy mistake: waiting too long

Short answer: the biggest mistake Dr. Mohamed Karim, D.C., sees is waiting. Neuropathy often starts as slight pain, a little numbness or occasional tingling, and people let it run for years. By the time they come in, more nerve has been lost and there is less to work with.

What quietly makes neuropathy worse

• Poor blood sugar control, which is known to damage nerves over time
• Not moving enough, often because of stiff or arthritic joints
• Ignoring poor circulation
• Chronic inflammation, which in his clinic he often traces back to gut health
• Poor sleep, which puts stress on the body and adds to inflammation

None of these feel urgent on any given Tuesday. Together, over a few years, they add up.

Why people feel stuck

They chase the loudest symptom. Some only want the pain gone. Others only care about their balance. Dr. Karim’s point is that there are several kinds of nerves involved, and while the pain nerves are flaring, others may already be failing or gone. Treat only what is irritating you most and the rest keeps declining out of sight.

He also sees people treat just the feet or hands because that is where they feel it. In his words, you can do everything you want for your feet and it will not fix the problem if the whole picture is not addressed.

What the whole picture includes

He looks for the root causes, and there is usually more than one. It might be gut health. It might be medications that are adding to nerve damage. It might be an old lower back problem pressing on nerves. His Relief Protocol addresses three areas: getting nerves firing properly again, building circulation through new small blood vessels, and bringing down inflammation through metabolic health.

Treatment is not the same for everyone. Where a person lands on his nerve severity scale, from stage one up to stage four, changes what the plan looks like.

Watch the episode

Been putting it off? Book a free consultation and find out which stage you are in, or read how neuropathy treatment in North Liberty works. Related: early warning signs of neuropathy.

This article summarizes a podcast episode and is general information, not medical advice. See our medical disclaimer.