The Next Generation of Nerve Treatment is Here

Have you been told by doctors that nothing can be done about the tingling, burning, shocking pain in your feet? Or worse, that they have no idea what’s wrong with you after you’ve tried unsuccessful treatment after unsuccessful treatment?

This experience is, unfortunately, far too common. Peripheral nerve problems, historically speaking, have proven especially difficult to diagnose, manage, and treat. There are many reasons for this, including (but not limited to):

• Lack of physician training in neuropathy and nerve conditions.

• Misdiagnosis of the initial condition—nerve pain can often superficially resemble other types of injuries.

• Symptoms that may only become severe or cause the patient to seek treatment after extensive damage has already occurred to the nerve.

• Limited ability of nerve tissue to regenerate relative to other types of tissue.

Beyond this, sedentary lifestyles, diabetes, and a large increase in the amount of sugar and carbs in the average person’s diet are all strongly associated with neuropathy and nerve damage.

Given these factors, it’s not so surprising that we are currently experiencing an epidemic of nerve problems in this country. 

But that’s little consolation for those currently struggling.

Frustrated With Your Nerve Pain Treatment?

“There’s Nothing More We Can Do”

Far too many people with nerve problems are used to hearing some variation of this apology from their doctor or even from several different specialists.

Maybe you’re already on a cocktail of powerful narcotics to deal with the daily pain as much as possible—and to your dismay, you’re finding them less and less effective over time.

This is an unfortunate reality for millions of people. Their pain slowly worsens (before they lose all sensation). Their risk of serious injury and falling gets higher and higher. They start to lose the ability to do the things they used to love or even accomplish common tasks like driving or walking more than short distances.

Being told time and again that nothing more can be done while symptoms continue to worsen is a horrible feeling—one that many of our patients knew well before they came to see us.

But that is changing. 

Comprehensive Nerve Pain Treatment with Advanced Options

At Fixing Feet Institute, we’ve made it one of the missions of our practice to stay at the forefront of emerging technologies and techniques to treat (and in some cases even reverse) the effects of neuropathy, entrapped nerves, and related issues.

In fact, in addition to being a past president of the Association of Extremity Nerve Surgeons (AENS), Dr. Peyman Ellison is on the AENS teaching faculty and travels around the country (and abroad) twice per year to train other physicians in advanced techniques!

In basic terms, we’re going to approach treating any nerve problem with the following set of goals:

• Identify and eliminate the root cause of the pathology to the greatest extent possible.

• Help you manage and relieve your pain.

• Restore as much healthy nerve function as we can.

In addition to a lot of specialized training in nervous system conditions, this requires us to take a very comprehensive and personalized approach. The specifics of your condition, your preferred lifestyle, and other factors are all taken into consideration when figuring out how to best accomplish the three big goals.

The first step, of course, is a thorough evaluation to lead us to the right diagnosis. In addition to a discussion with you and a physical exam, we may recommend blood work, diagnostic nerve blocks, a nerve conduction study, or other tests to ensure the exact problem you’re experiencing has been correctly identified.

Building a Treatment Plan That Actually Works to End Nerve Pain in Your Feet

In many cases, there are still a lot of traditional, low-tech treatments that will be part of your overall management, alongside more advanced options. For example:

• Orthotics and/or therapeutic shoes to cushion and reposition feet. (Faulty biomechanics can be a root cause of nerve entrapment.)

• Physical therapy and stretching to ease symptoms and, in some cases, alleviate a compressed or pinched nerve.

• Dietary changes and/or nutritional supplements to reduce nerve-choking inflammation and help ensure nerves get the nutrients they need to thrive.

However, by the time many patients come to us, their nerve problems may already be severe. In some cases, they may already be doing all of these things, plus taking painkillers, and are still in pain. So more advanced measures are also often necessary.

Some of the specialty services we are able to provide for nerve conditions include:

• Electronic signal transfer (EST) therapy. In this therapy, high-frequency electronic waves are sent through your body. The waveform generated is highly compatible with the body’s natural electrical current, allowing it to be conducted by the nerves. The result is decreased swelling, pH normalization, boosted cellular metabolism, and depolarization of the cellular membranes—which allows waste products to be flushed out and nutrients to get in. In other words, it creates an environment that allows nerves to recover and heal.

• Laser therapy. This technique uses the energy of a therapeutic laser to alleviate painful symptoms and improve nerve conduction. The wavelengths of light emitted by the laser trigger photochemical, photothermal, and photomechanical effects with the cells that, among other things, help accelerate nerve cell reconnection.

• Peripheral nerve surgery. Dr. Peyman Ellison is one of just a few hundred surgeons in the country trained and certified in advanced Dellon Institute peripheral nerve decompression techniques. (In fact, he even teaches these and other advanced nerve repair techniques to other physicians in his role as an AENS faculty member.) If nerves become physically pinched or impeded (for a variety of different reasons), decompression surgery may be the fastest and most effective option.

• Therapeutic nerve blocks. With this type of treatment, we inject an anesthetic directly into the affected nerve, blocking its connection with the brain and halting painful symptoms for a longer period of time. This is often combined with EST or other treatments to improve long-term outcomes.

Get Relief For Your Nerve Pain 

The End of “There’s Nothing More We Can Do”

At Fixing Feet Institute, we diagnose and treat foot and ankle nerve problems almost every day at our office. It is one of the core specialties of our practice.

Time and time again, we’ve been honored to help patients who were once told “there’s nothing more we can do” recover lost sensation in their feet, return to activities they thought they’d never get to enjoy again, and just plain get their lives back.

As a physician, nothing is more gratifying than that.

If you have been diagnosed with any peripheral nerve condition, or you are experiencing symptoms such as burning, shocking, or tingling pain, please call our office for an evaluation as soon as possible—regardless of the current severity of your symptoms or whether you’ve seen other specialists.

Regardless of how far along your condition has gotten, there is a good chance we will be able to help you. But the earlier you seek treatment, the better your long-term outcome is likely to be.