Which habits do you advise your neuropathy patients to stop immediately?
Dealing with neuropathy can be extremely challenging. One of the first steps to living with neuropathy is avoiding certain practices that exponentially worsen the condition. Read on to get a better idea of the habits you should kick to ensure a better quality of life.
Eating Unhealthy Foods and Smoking Cigarettes
Diet
One of the worst things that neuropathy patients can do for their long-term health and symptom management is having a poor diet. The food you eat is incredibly important for your health and wellness, and we all know how bad over-processed foods can be for your health.
Foods like processed grains, sugary snacks, excessive alcohol, and fatty meats do not provide sufficient micronutrients for optimal functioning and wellness. It’s better to focus on certain foods that can naturally ease inflammation that is often linked to chronic pain and neuropathy and look for foods that provide essential nutrients to encourage tissue healing.
Rather than eating a bunch of junk food or over-processed foods, make sure your diet includes whole foods, vegetables, and raw fruits.
Smoking
Many neuropathy patients are chronic cigarette smokers, which can be terrible for your symptoms. Smoking can restrict blood flow throughout the body and exacerbate neuropathy symptoms due to reduced oxygen levels in the blood. It can be challenging to kick a tobacco habit, but it can greatly improve your symptom management and can help you find long-term relief. It’s in your best interest to quit smoking for your overall health and your neuropathy symptoms.
Seek Treatment
Through our work, we’ve also realized that many neuropathy patients will downplay or even ignore neuropathy symptoms altogether. This is a more common occurrence among men, but these individuals may disregard symptoms like cramps, numbness, muscle weakness, and other neuropathy symptoms because they hope the symptoms will go away on their own. This is a poor decision. If you notice any neuropathy symptoms, you need to see a specialist sooner rather than later. Early intervention and management are crucial for slowing progression and improving quality of life.
Along a similar line of thought, some individuals with neuropathy may initially seek treatment but later disregard their chiropractic treatment plan because they’re too busy, don’t want to go, or have experienced some symptom relief. However, this is a poor habit for your neuropathy symptoms too because skipping appointments and treatments can hinder your progress. It’s critical to maintain your physical health and you can only do that by sticking to your treatment plans.
Prolonged Sitting
From the perspective of a chiropractor deeply committed to enhancing the well-being of my patients, one of the foremost bad habits I earnestly advise them to halt without delay is the relentless battle against prolonged sitting. In this digital age, many individuals find themselves ensnared by the seductive grip of their chairs, whether at work or during leisure hours, unknowingly jeopardizing their spinal health.
The human body is a marvel of design, meant to move and adapt, not stagnate in a hunched posture. I advocate for my patients to rise from their chairs frequently, perform gentle stretches, and maintain an upright posture to protect the delicate alignment of their spine. By breaking free from this insidious habit and choosing movement over inertia, my patients can pave the way for a healthier, pain-free life.
5 Bad Habits Affecting Neuropathy
One of the effective ways to manage neuropathy is to address the underlying problem rather than simply treating the symptoms. That includes eliminating or avoiding certain bad habits that can worsen your condition. Here are some of the behaviors I advise my patients with neuropathy to avoid:
1. Stop avoiding exercise and physical activity. Exercise helps increase circulation, reduce chronic pain, and maintain a healthy weight, which can significantly improve neuropathy symptoms.
2. Smoking cigarettes and consuming excessive amounts of alcohol. Both smoking and drinking are known to interfere with nerve function, making it difficult for the nerves to recover from damage caused by neuropathy.
3. Not properly managing stress levels as this can have a negative impact on overall health and increase pain sensitivity.
4. Needing more restful sleep. Sleep is essential for the body to heal and repair itself.
5. Eating unhealthy foods, such as processed or sugary items, can increase inflammation and affect nerve function.
I always emphasize that my patients should focus on healthy habits and lifestyle modifications, such as staying active, eating a balanced diet, and managing stress. These habits can go a long way in helping reduce neuropathy symptoms and improving overall health.
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