“As a diabetic, I’m no stranger to pain and sickness. However, I was never prepared for the agonizing pain of diabetic neuropathy. It sneaks up on you. Starting with just a little tingle, then maybe a burning sensation. Not too bad, right? That’s just how it begins. As it progresses the burning is constant, like having a match to your feet at all times until you are praying for the pain to go away. And then for the most part it does, but that’s only because you’ve now lost all the feeling in your feet. It’s like you’ve been walking in the snow for hours and the only sensation you can feel is pressure on your feet.
I used to consider myself to be the “Diabetic Superman”. There was nothing my diabetes could do that could stop me. Neuropathy became my weakness. No matter how well adjusted or happy a person you may think you are, neuropathy will take all the joy out of your life. Want to bounce your kids on your knee? Try again, because you have daggers in your legs every time they hit your lap. It just takes all the fun out of every little thing you do, and isn’t it the little things that really make us happy?
So once you realize what the problem is what do you do? If you’re anything like me, you start looking for ways to “treat” the pain. I was told by every doctor I went to that there is no curing or reversing diabetic nerve damage. So what’s the next step if there’s no treating it? Why narcotics of course! That’s if you can find a doctor to write the prescription and don’t mind being doped up all the time and developing an addiction. Not the route I wanted to take, although I did occasionally, because the pain would become unbearable. Your other alternative is “pain management”.
“Pain management” is in my opinion the doctor’s way of saying they can’t do anything to “cure” your pain. Otherwise they would call it a “pain solution clinic”. I told my doctor that I wanted any alternative to narcotics that would give me any amount of relief. You can imagine how excited I was when he told me about a new treatment called a spinal cord stimulator. It would block the signals sent by the nerves in my legs and replace them with a less painful signal. Sign me up! After more than 10 years of dealing with neuropathy this sounded like the answer to my prayers, and it was to an extent. It did indeed block the signals from my legs, but when they removed the trial stimulator I was left with excruciating pain in my back. I couldn’t seem to catch a break. I didn’t know if putting the actual implant in was going to leave a solid side effect of back pain or not. Do I chance it or go on dealing with the neuropathy? To make matters worse, no doctor would admit that something was wrong with my back, despite the disc sticking out about a half inch right where my leads were put in. So after numerous MRIs, CT scans, and any other tests you can think of I felt like giving up. That’s when my wife suggested I see a chiropractor. And I did.
As someone with previous experience in the medical field, I was very skeptical when I first went to see Dr. Frear at Baker Chiropractic. I don’t know why? If you have heart issues you’d go to a heart doctor. So I’m not sure why I put off seeing a back doctor for back pain. Right off the bat I could tell I was going to like this place. Not only was everyone on the staff very friendly and explained the entire process to me, but how often do you see the patients happy as well? So I made my appointment, crossed my fingers and hoped he could help my back. They’ve done that and so much more.
After my first session, I was still sore, but by the end of the second day my back pain was completely gone. That was just the start. After every session I started to notice that I had more and more feeling in my legs and feet, something I was told would never EVER happen. So I continued to go to my appointments, and slowly but surely I’m regaining feeling in my feet. They’ve regained circulation and color as well. I’m not the type of person to push any religion on anybody so I’ll just leave it at this. Miracles DO happen every day. I feel like I’m proof of this. I’ve gone from being told that I’ll never have feeling in my legs and that the lack of circulation will lead to amputation, to taking walks with my dog (and occasionally to see Dr. Brock and his staff ), as well as regaining a sense of joy in my life that I never thought I would have. I guess it pays to listen to your wife. Thank you to Dr. Brock Frear, all of his staff, and to everyone at every Baker Chiropractic office. You truly are modern day miracle workers.”*
– Mike Shuhart
If you or someone you know suffers from the pain of diabetic neuropathy, please contact us by calling (513) 561-2273 or schedule an appointment here on our website.
*Please note, there is no guarantee of specific results with our care and results may vary. Please contact us to discuss your specific condition.