Most patients I see for neuropathy have already been through the standard route. Gabapentin. Lyrica. Maybe a neurology referral. Told to manage symptoms and hope it does not get worse. A lot of them have been dealing with burning feet, numb hands, or that constant pins-and-needles sensation for years by the time they find us.
That approach treats the pain signal. It does nothing for the nerve itself.
Different approach here. Not because medication is wrong, but because a nerve needs more than a pain signal interrupted. Three things peripheral nerves need to recover: circulation, stimulation, structural support. That is what we build the protocol around.
What Is Peripheral Neuropathy and Why Does It Keep Getting Worse?
Peripheral neuropathy is nerve damage outside the brain and spinal cord. Most commonly it affects the hands and feet. Symptoms usually start subtle. A little tingling at night. Mild numbness in the toes. Easy to ignore.
Left untreated, it progresses. Nerves have a blood supply. Disrupt that supply long enough and the fibers start to deteriorate. Pain shifts to numbness. Numbness deepens toward complete sensory loss. At that point patients step on something sharp and never feel it. Falls become a real risk.
Causes vary. Diabetes is the most common, roughly half of all cases. Vitamin deficiencies, autoimmune conditions, alcohol toxicity, idiopathic origins cover most of the rest. Different causes, same basic mechanism: the tiny vessels feeding the nerve get compromised. Nerve starves. Function goes.
This is why circulation matters so much. It is not just about pain. It is about whether the nerve can survive and repair.
SEEK IMMEDIATE MEDICAL ATTENTION if you experience sudden severe onset of numbness or weakness, difficulty breathing or swallowing, loss of bladder or bowel control, or rapidly spreading paralysis. These symptoms may indicate a serious neurological emergency unrelated to peripheral neuropathy.
Can a Chiropractor Help With Neuropathy?
Short answer: yes, but with an important caveat.
Spinal misalignment compresses nerve roots. When the lumbar or cervical spine is out of alignment, symptoms show up downstream. Legs, feet, hands, arms. Adjustments address that piece. For patients where spinal compression is part of the picture, it can shift things noticeably.
What I tell patients directly: for most people with true peripheral nerve damage, adjustment alone is not enough. The nerve needs blood flow restored. Needs stimulation. Needs time and the right environment to even attempt repair. That is where the other modalities come in.
Sciatica or radiating nerve pain down the leg often has a strong spinal component, and chiropractic tends to do a lot there. Neuropathy is different. Usually more peripheral, more vascular. Has to be addressed at the tissue level.
Why We Use a Multi-Modality Protocol
Nerves do not fail from one cause. They fail from a combination: poor blood supply, chronic inflammation, lack of stimulation, and sometimes structural compression. A single therapy addresses one piece of that. A coordinated protocol addresses all of it.
The research holds up across all three. Red and near-infrared light restores microcirculation and triggers nerve repair pathways. Electrical stimulation cuts neuropathic pain and improves nerve conduction. Vibration drives significant increases in peripheral blood flow and helps with sensory function and balance. Three mechanisms. Same problem. Hit it from all angles.
Used together, these three modalities work through different mechanisms toward the same goal. Less pain. Better sensation. Improved function. The protocol we use draws directly from that research, combined into a twice-daily home program that patients can maintain long-term.
Red Light Therapy for Nerve Regeneration (NeuroglowLED)
The NeuroglowLED is a wearable red light therapy boot that delivers low-level red and near-infrared light directly to the affected tissue. Patients wear it for 30 minutes per session, twice daily.
The mechanism is photobiomodulation. Red and near-infrared wavelengths in the 630 to 1000 nm range penetrate tissue and get absorbed by mitochondrial chromophores, cytochrome c oxidase in particular. ATP production goes up. Nitric oxide releases locally. Blood vessels dilate. Microcirculation improves in exactly the tissue neuropathy damages most.
Research on monochromatic infrared photo energy has shown meaningful improvements in protective sensation in neuropathy patients. Pain scores down. Sensory function returning. In patients who had not responded to medication. The Foundation for Peripheral Neuropathy notes complementary approaches to nerve support are increasingly studied alongside conventional care.
One of the things I appreciate about this modality is that it works at the cellular level. It is not masking a signal. It is attempting to give the nerve what it needs to repair.
Aquatic Electric Stimulation for Nerve Pain (NerveCare+)
Warm water in a basin. Effervescent tablet and Epsom salt added to increase conductivity. Affected foot or hand submerged. The device runs a precise signal at 7.83 times per second, calibrated to support endorphin production and interrupt pain transmission.
Sessions run 30 minutes, twice daily. The water acts as a conductor, distributing the signal across the entire surface of the extremity rather than at fixed electrode points.
Research on TENS for diabetic peripheral neuropathy is substantial. Reduced pain intensity. Better nerve conduction. Increased endoneurial blood flow. One meta-analysis found significantly greater pain score reductions at both 4-week and 12-week follow-up compared to placebo. The aquatic delivery distributes the signal evenly across the whole extremity, which matters when nerve damage has made direct electrode placement unreliable.
Vibration Therapy for Circulation and Sensory Re-Education (NeuroVibe)
The NeuroVibe is a vibration platform. Fifteen minutes per session, twice daily. Localized vibration in the 30 to 50 Hz range. That frequency range is where peripheral blood flow response is strongest.
Plantar vibration studies have shown 33 to 50 percent increases in calf blood flow. Whole-body vibration research has documented blood flow velocity in the popliteal artery doubling with consistent use. For neuropathy patients where compromised circulation is the core problem, those are not small numbers.
Circulation is one part. The other is sensory re-education. Vibration at these frequencies stimulates mechanoreceptors and proprioceptors. For patients who have lost sensory feedback in their feet, that stimulation starts to rebuild the signal pathway. Balance improves. Fall risk drops. For patients dealing with knee pain that developed alongside their neuropathy, the vibration work supports lower extremity function at the same time.
How We Evaluate Neuropathy and What Thermal Imaging Shows Us
Starts with a thorough history and physical. Onset, pattern, what has already been tried. Imaging and neurological workup referred out where appropriate. No X-rays or nerve conduction studies done in-house.
One of the more useful tools we use is thermal imaging. Neuropathy disrupts circulation, and that shows up as temperature differences in the affected tissue. We take thermal photos of the affected extremity before the evaluation, then run a trial session with the NeuroglowLED boot and take photos immediately after.
Patients see it in real time. Thermal images often show visible circulation improvement within a single session. Not a promise of outcomes. But it is objective evidence the tissue is responding. For someone who has been told there is nothing left to try, that tends to change the conversation.
A Protocol You Own, Not a Clinic You Are Tethered To
Most neuropathy treatment programs require patients to come in multiple times per week for months. That is expensive, time-consuming, and not realistic for a lot of people.
After the in-office evaluation and trial session, you go home with the full protocol. NeuroglowLED boot. NerveCare+ aquatic stim unit. NeuroVibe platform. Nutritional support. Twice daily for 90 days.
The equipment is yours. Keep it after the program ends. For a chronic condition that does not go away on its own, that matters. No clinic schedule to coordinate. No session fees to maintain progress.
Still involved throughout. Check-ins, follow-up thermal imaging, chiropractic adjustments as needed. Goal is to get you to a point where you know your condition, have tools that work, and are not managing symptoms on a clinic schedule.
What to Expect at Your First Visit for Neuropathy at Glendale Chiropractic
First visit is about 30 minutes. Evaluation focused. Dr. Brockway goes through your history, current symptoms, prior workup. Thermal photos taken. If you have not had recent neurological or vascular imaging, appropriate referrals get discussed.
Usually no chiropractic adjustment on the first visit. Dr. Brockway prefers to have a full clinical picture before beginning adjustments. If your symptoms are severe at the time of the evaluation, some soft tissue care may be provided for palliative relief.
Trial session with the NeuroglowLED runs during the visit. Follow-up thermal photos taken right after so you can see the tissue response before committing to anything. If the protocol fits your case, we go through the home equipment and setup before you leave.
Glendale Chiropractic is located at 425 S. Cherry St., Suite 307 in Denver, right off I-25 and Colorado Blvd. We see patients Monday through Thursday, 9 AM to 12:30 PM and 2:30 to 6 PM. Call us at 720-889-1659 to schedule.