PHOTOS BY MEGAN BLACK PHOTOGRAPHY
Aligned Health & Wellness
For the past 15 years, husband and wife team, Drs. Jessica and Joshua Katz, have worked side by side at Aligned Health & Wellness to practice patient care across a plethora of conditions with the sole purpose of creating well-educated, healthy members of their community. One such pursuit, treating the cause of peripheral neuropathy, has yielded new procedures, techniques, and protocols that have proven effective in rebuilding and reprogramming the nerves so that people can live more healthful, productive, and active lives.
Purpose Statement: “To empower our community to optimize quality of life and embrace life as a gift.” – Jessica Katz, D.C.
What is Peripheral Neuropathy?
In a nutshell…it is a breakdown of the peripheral nerves – the nerves that go into arms, hands, legs, and feet. Peripheral nerves are covered with a myelin sheath (akin to the insulation on an electrical cord) that must function properly to accurately send and receive messages to the brain. For the nerves to function properly, they must have healthy myelin, nurtured properly by tiny blood vessels (capillaries). When there is poor blood flow, the peripheral nerves lack the oxygen and nutrients needed to keep the myelin sheath healthy and, in time, it will begin to degrade, losing the ability for nerves to communicate properly with the brain. For most patients, neuropathy typically starts in one foot and then works its way to the other foot or up the legs. It starts slowly for the first 1-5 years, but then as the condition progresses, it dramatically worsens and the speed at which the degradation progresses rapidly increases so that, at some point in time, it becomes untreatable which can lead to severe disability and often, amputation. The key is to stop the nerve damage before the effects are irreversible.
What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy?
About 8% of the U.S. population (24 million people) suffer from peripheral neuropathy. One of the most common causes is diabetes which accounts for 1/3 of the cases, but it can also result from traumatic injuries, infections, alcoholism, poor diet, reaction to certain drugs like chemotherapy, inherited causes, exposure to toxins, or an autoimmune disease like rheumatoid arthritis or lupus. Interestingly, one-third of the cases have an unknown origin (idiopathic peripheral neuropathy).
What are Common Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy?
- Numbness and tingling
- Pain and burning
- Diabetic nerve pain
- Sensitivity to touch
- Difficulty sleeping
- Sharp electric-like pain
- Lack of coordination
How Is Peripheral Neuropathy Treated?
Peripheral neuropathy can be difficult to remedy because most treatments are focused only on symptom management. The current traditional neuropathy treatment for 90% of sufferers relies upon medications, injections, or a combination of both in the hopes of decreasing the symptoms. While prescribed medications may provide minimal relief for a short period, as time marches on, the condition continues to worsen “beneath the medication” so that an increase in dosage or more potent pain medication is needed to suppress the symptoms. Individuals subscribing to the traditional pain management regimen for months (or perhaps years) may wonder if changing to Aligned Health & Wellness can really make a difference. The answer is YES!
“Nothing changes, if nothing changes.” – Joshua Katz, D.C.
Drs. Jessica and Joshua Katz believe the best treatment is designed to address the core damage that causes the symptoms, rather than merely treating the symptoms. Their team is committed to breaking the cycle of how neuropathy is most often treated – moving from “masking the symptoms” to “treating the underlying cause.” At Aligned Health & Wellness, patients initially undergo a physical exam and a comprehensive assessment including thermography to determine the root cause of the nerve breakdown. After careful analysis, patients are presented with an individualized care plan that is innovative, physician-supervised, and primarily home-based. This revolutionary, scientifically backed practice rebuilds and reprograms the nerves using FDA-approved nerve re-education devices and education and implementation of nutrition and supplementation protocols. Time and time again, this integrated, non-invasive approach has shown outstanding results for sufferers of peripheral neuropathy.
- Remarkably, the third day after treatment, I began to get feeling in my feet, and by the second week I was not using my cane for balance. I am now in my fifth week and things are getting progressively better. – Fred
- I have been in the program for one month and I started noticing relief at just two weeks. I am now off all medications and finally feel my age (30s) and can keep up with my 8-year-old. – Lesley
Aligned Health & Wellness is conveniently located at 1407-G Highway 66 South in Kernersville. Call today to schedule a FREE consultation and thermal scan (336) 996-7007. Check out information about the practice and the many services available at www.alignednc.com.
