Diabetic neuropathy is nerve damage that’s caused by diabetes. Over time, high blood glucose levels and high levels of fats in the blood from diabetes can damage your nerves. Symptoms depend on which type of diabetic neuropathy you have. Though a lot of these signs and symptoms may seem alarming, diabetic neuropathy isn’t a death sentence. Providing you’re managing your diabetes, there are ways to treat diabetic neuropathy effectively from home. Here’s what you need to do: 1. Manage Blood Sugar Levels The very best thing you can do to help prevent or control neuropathy is to manage your blood sugar levels. Maintaining blood sugar consistently within a healthy range will prevent permanent damage to your nerves, blood vessels, eyes, skin and other body parts before complications develop. Studies have found that poor blood sugar greatly increases risk for peripheral neuropathy. You can avoid poor blood sugar through a combination of frequent blood glucose testing, eating a healthy diet, exercising, and working with your doctor to determine if you need diabetes medicine or insulin therapy. 2. Follow a Healthy Diet Your diet has a direct impact on your blood sugar levels, so it’s the first place to start if you want to manage your diabetic symptoms and complications. Focus your diet around unprocessed, whole foods, and limit or reduce your intake of refined carbs, added sugars and sugary drinks to help stabilize your blood sugar. Some simple ways to improve your diet include swapping herbal tea for fizzy drinks, juice and other sweetened drinks; eating plenty of healthy fats and lean proteins instead of refined carbohydrates; buying less packaged foods and always checking labels for added ingredients or sugars when you do; and managing your weight more easily by cooking at home and using techniques like roasting, baking, steaming or broiling over frying. 3. Try Exercise and Physical Therapy Exercising regularly is one of the simplest ways to manage your diabetes symptoms, help you maintain a healthy weight, control blood sugar and high blood pressure symptoms, increase strength, and improve range of motion. If you’re not doing it, it’s time to start now! A recent study found that regular exercise can significantly reduce pain and symptoms in diabetics. Work your way up to exercising for 30 to 60 minutes daily, doing low-impact exercises like cycling, swimming or walking. This helps your body respond to insulin better and lower your blood glucose, possibly even to the point where you can take less medications. Exercise also helps protect nerves by improving circulation, reducing cholesterol and lowering stress, which can raise your glucose levels and increase inflammation. 4. Reduce Exposure to Toxins and Quit Smoking People with diabetic neuropathy are more likely to develop kidney stone symptoms and other kidney problems, including kidney disease. This is why it’s important to take added stress off your kidneys to prevent an accumulation of toxins in the blood that worsens the problem. Make sure to lower your exposure to pesticide chemicals sprayed on non-organic crops, chemical household cleaners and beauty products, unnecessary prescriptions or antibiotics, and too much alcohol and cigarettes or recreation drugs. Though it’s easier said than done, it’s essential that you quit smoking as quickly as possible, as if you have diabetes and use tobacco in any form, you’re more likely than diabetic non-smokers to develop nerve damage and even have a heart attack or stroke. 5. Manage Stress Stress makes inflammation worse and raises the risk for diabetic complications of all sorts. Exercising, meditating or practicing healing prayer, spending more time doing hobbies or being in nature, and being around family and friends are all-natural stress relievers you should try. Acupuncture is another beneficial treatment that not only helps lower stress and pain, but has also been shown to be ease symptoms of diabetic neuropathy safely with very few side effects. 6. Take Supplements To Naturally Lower Pain If you’ve already developed diabetic neuropathy and are looking for ways to lower your nerve pain and improve daily functions, you’ll be happy to hear that a combination of natural remedies can help. Studies have shown that several natural supplements can help stop nerve damage from progression and lower pain. These include: • Alpha lipoic acid, an anti-inflammatory shown to improve insulin sensitivity and defend against neuropathy • Evening primrose oil, an anti-inflammatory that lowers neuropathy numbness, tingling and burning and has other positive effects • Chromium, which helps improve insulin sensitivity • Cinnamon, known to help stabilize blood sugar • Omega-3 fish oil • Vitamin B12, which many diabetics seem to be low in, and deficiency can worsen nerve damage
