BRISBANE, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA: /EINPresswire.com/ — Neuropathic pain is the type of pain you feel if your nervous system has been damaged or isn’t working correctly. The pain comes from the various levels of the nervous system, which include the peripheral nerves, the spinal cord and the brain.
People often describe neuropathic pain as a shooting or burning pain, but it can also be felt as tingling or numbness. Neuropathic pain sometimes goes away on its own, but often it’s a chronic condition which persists, particularly in people’s senior years when arthritis sets in, with diabetics, or after an injury. Nutrition plays a big part in the management of this syndrome.
“Our findings show a 2-week intravenous magnesium infusion followed by 4 weeks of oral magnesium can reduce pain intensity during a 6-month period in patients with chronic low back pain.”
WHAT ARE COMMON CAUSES OF NEUROPATHIC PAIN?
Some of the common causes of neuropathic pain include: alcoholism; amputation; chemotherapy; diabetes; facial nerve problems; HIV infection or AIDS; multiple myeloma; multiple sclerosis; nerve or spinal cord compression from herniated discs or spinal arthritis; shingles; spine surgery; syphilis; and thyroid problems.
WHAT ARE SOME OF THE TREATMENTS FOR NEUROPATHIC PAIN?
Often people with neuropathic pain are prescribed anticonvulsant and antidepressant drugs. Some studies suggest non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as Aleve or Motrin can help. However, these medications are basically only providing temporary relief from the pain and can sometimes cause unwanted side effects such as nausea, kidney injury, gastrointestinal bleeding, heart complications and stroke.
Alternative natural treatments which can help reduce the incidence and intensity of neuropathic pain include:
Physiotherapy
Relaxation therapy and sound healing
Massage therapy
Acupuncture
Yoga and meditation
Whilst these therapies can be helpful, it may not be enough for some. If neuropathic pain becomes intense and chronic, it can lead to a serious disability. Healthy lifestyle habits such as maintaining optimal weight, avoiding toxic exposures, eating a balanced diet and correcting vitamin deficiencies can strengthen nerves. It’s also important to stop smoking because smoking constricts the blood vessels which supply nutrients to the peripheral nerves and can worsen neuropathic symptoms. Exercise can deliver more blood, oxygen, and nutrients to far-off nerve endings, improve muscle strength, and limit muscle atrophy. Certain nutritional and lifestyle strategies are also essential to provide relief, including the use of magnesium supplements, in particular – transdermal magnesium.
Those with diabetes tend to have impaired pain sensation and nerve damage. It is well known that magnesium deficiency is a hallmark of diabetes and metabolic syndrome, and that magnesium replenishment can help to control symptoms, including insulin regulation and blood sugar sensitivity. Strict control of blood glucose levels has been shown to reduce neuropathic symptoms and help people with diabetic neuropathy avoid further nerve damage. (More information here)
HOW DOES MAGNESIUM DAMPEN DOWN PAIN?
These days magnesium is widely used to alleviate pain. It helps with pain management by blocking the NMDA receptors and controlling calcium ions, which thus causes an anti-nociceptive effect, or numbing effect. (See study here)
This anti-nociceptive numbing effect also helps to prevent the onset of ‘central sensitisation’. Central sensitisation is caused by repetitive inputs in the pathways of the central nervous system, reducing the threshold of pain so that small pain is percieved as big pain. In other words, people can grow less tolerant of pain and become very sensitive to even slight provocations. Some can continue to feel pain even after the stimuli have disappeared.
Magnesium therefore plays an important role in the prevention of central sensitisation and in the reduction of established pain hypersensitivity. Several studies have shown the beneficial effects of magnesium therapy in patients with neuropathic pain, such as malignancy-related neurologic symptoms, diabetic neuropathy, postherpetic neuralgia, and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. In addition, magnesium treatment was found to alleviate other pain including fibromyalgia, endometriosis and pre-menstrual tension, dysmenorrhea, headaches and acute migraine attacks.
THE ROLE OF MAGNESIUM IN PAIN MANAGEMENT STUDY
This study was designed to find out if intravenous and oral magnesium therapy helped patients with chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component.
Patients were asked to rate their pain using a numerical rating scale. In the magnesium group, the patients’ numerical rating scales revealed a significant reduction in pain intensity. The reduction in pain intensity was accompanied by significant improvement in lumbar spine range of motion during the follow-up period. Their findings showed that a 2-week intravenous magnesium infusion followed by 4 weeks of oral magnesium supplementation can reduce pain intensity and improve lumbar spine mobility during a 6-month period in patients with refractory chronic low back pain with a neuropathic component.
TRANSDERMAL MAGNESIUM BYPASSES THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM AND WORKS FAST
As the digestive system can only cope with low concentrations of magnesium, such as what would be in mineral water and foods, the higher concentrations of oral magnesium supplements tend to mostly be excreted and provide only a weak magnesium effect. Intravenous infusion delivers more magnesium quickly, but it is invasive and not practical as a regular healthy lifestyle practice. Transdermal magnesium is however gentler, and potent without digestive side effects. Those with digestive issues find this method particuarly helpful. You can soak in a magnesium detox bath or a footsoak with magnesium chloride salt flakes to relax the body, calm stress, and promote better sleep.
When Magnesium Cream, Lotion or Oil made with natural magnesium chloride is massaged into the skin, it’s taken up into the epidermis, which acts like a reservoir (or dinner plate) that supplies nutrition to the body in a safe controlled way. Magnesium Cream is also great for skin care. TIP: Use transdermal magnesium with massage and/or heat pack to help magnesium be taken up faster via the blood circulation, and to penetrate deeper into muscle tissue.
Sandy Sanderson (Elektra Life Pty Ltd)
Elektra Magnesium
+1 640-930-7327
sandy@elektramagnesium.com.au
