6 Tips for Better Rest With Chronic Pain
Chronic pain and poor sleep often go hand in hand. How can you rest better, even with persistent pain? Here are some easy to follow tips to ensure you sleep better and wake up feeling rested.
The Link Between Digestion Problems and Neuropathy
Digestive issues are no joke. From constipation and bloating to uncontrollable irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) or stomach pain, problems with your gut can make day-to-day life feel more than uncomfortable. Your digestive problems can have many causes, including a nerve condition.
When neuropathy is the culprit, Dr. Ajay Kumar and our team at New Jersey Advanced Pain Management Center can help you manage symptoms, making your life easier and relieving pain and discomfort. Dr. Kumar specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of neuropathy and works to address the condition that may be underlying your digestive disorder to bring you relief.
Neuropathy that affects your digestive system
There are several different types of neuropathy. Peripheral neuropathy, the most common, can affect people with long-term diabetes or circulation issues, causing numbness, tingling, or pain in your extremities, often your legs and feet.
Autonomic neuropathy targets things your body does naturally, without your active participation. These include moderation of your perspiration, heart rate, blood pressure, and digestive processes.
Enteric neuropathy directly affects your digestive system. Damage to the vagus nerve and its branches can cause a host of digestive issues that may run the entire length of your gut, causing problems before, during, and after eating.
Causes of neuropathy
There are many underlying causes of neuropathy, including:
- Autoimmune diseases, like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis
- Metabolic syndrome or diabetes
- Viral or bacterial diseases such as shingles, Lyme disease, or diphtheria
- Tumors (either malignant or benign) that press on nerves
- Bone marrow disorders like lymphoma
- Kidney or liver disease
- Underactive thyroid
Trauma or malnutrition may also lead to neuropathy.
Treating neuropathy
Treating the underlying condition may improve your neuropathy symptoms. The amount of improvement depends on the amount of nerve damage that’s already been done.
If treating the cause of neuropathy doesn’t relieve your symptoms, Dr. Kumar can treat the gastrointestinal symptoms themselves with pain relief methods including medications, physical therapy, and injections to quiet “loud” nerves and interrupt their signals to your brain.
Digestive problems consistent with neuropathy
Common symptoms of neuropathy that affect the stomach and intestines include:
- Frequent or constant stomach pain
- Difficulty swallowing
- Early satiety (feeling full after just a few bites of food)
- Regurgitating undigested food
- Constipation
- Diarrhea
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Bowel urgency
- Bloating or abdominal swelling
- Acid reflux
If you have multiple digestive symptoms that fit these parameters, and also have peripheral neuropathy or a disease that causes peripheral neuropathy, you could be suffering from enteric neuropathy.
Are digestive symptoms making your every moment a misery? The team at New Jersey Advanced Pain Management Center can help recommend the right treatment approach for you. Please schedule an appointment by contacting our team in Hackettstown, New Jersey, or Matamoras, Pennsylvania, today.
You Might Also Enjoy...
Stop Letting Sciatica Ruin Your Spring Activities
With pain shooting from your lower back through your hip and even down into your leg, sciatica can make spring activities feel impossible. Find out what causes sciatica and learn about treatments that help relieve your pain.
Thinking About Spinal Cord Stimulation? Here’s What to Expect
Chronic back pain can make it difficult to pursue your dreams, or even to simply get through each day’s ordinary tasks. Spinal cord stimulation can help you regain your mobility.
Plagued by Shoulder Pain? 3 Signs It’s Time for Treatment
Shoulder pain can make it difficult to do normal daily activities, and the winter cold only makes things worse. Don’t just write off shoulder pain as a byproduct of aging. Know when to seek treatment for these three shoulder conditions.
7 Winter Wellness Tips for Managing Your Arthritis Pain
As it continues to get colder in the Northern Hemisphere, aches and pains get worse — particularly if you have arthritis. Knowing tips to alleviate extra soreness can help with your arthritis pain in winter.
Effective Treatment Options for Knee Pain
Is knee pain keeping you from doing the things you need and love to do? Our effective treatment options for knee pain can significantly improve your mobility and quality life.