This post is about Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Leg and Foot Neuropathies Acupuncture Can Help- Sural Nerve Pain. Peripheral Neuropathy is a general term for when there is damage to the peripheral nerves. And Peripheral nerves connect your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. Neuropathy can be caused by various disorders and dysfunctions (e.g nerve entrapment, diabetes). Fortunately, if you have peripheral neuropathy of the leg or foot, acupuncture can provide relief! We’ve got some great information to share below about Sural Nerve Entrapment/Neuropathy and how Acupuncture can Help.
Sural Nerve Entrapment and Neuropathy
Do you have persistent pain, burning, aching, or numbness in the back side of your leg, ankle, or foot? These are all symptoms of Sural Neuropathy.
Anatomy of the Sural Nerve
The sural nerve is a cutaneous (affecting the skin) nerve. So it is purely sensory. It provides only sensation to the posterolateral (back outside) aspect of the distal (away from body) third of the leg and the lateral (outside) aspect of the foot, heel, and ankle.
It is formed by terminal (ending) branches of the tibial and common peroneal nerves (both branches of the sciatic nerve) that join together in the distal third of the leg.
The Sural Nerve descends between the two heads of the gastrocnemius (calf muscle). Next, it pierces the deep fascia (casing of connective tissue holding muscles) in the middle or upper part of the back of the leg. Then it is joined by the sural communicating branch of the common peroneal nerve. Finally, it continues to the lateral malleolus (bump of bone on the outside of your ankle).
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Leg and Foot Neuropathies Acupuncture Can Help -Examination
Typically, patients are diagnosed by the physical (orthopedic, neurological etc.) examination. However, your doctor may order a nerve conduction study in a difficult unremitting case. Often, you may also need an x-ray.
Entrapment Sites
Sural nerve entrapment/neuropathy most commonly occurs in the ankle/foot area. The entrapment site located approximately two thirds the distance between the knee and the heel is a less common entrapment location. The most common sites are in the fascia just above the ankle and behind the lateral malleolus.
Sural Neuropathy/Nerve Entrapment Causes
Your pain and paresthesias (numbness and tingling) could have come on insidiously (gradually). However, Sural neuropathy/nerve entrapment can be due to various causes such as trauma, bakers cyst, scaring, fascial restrictions and vascular problems.
Firstly, tight boots and lacing may be the cause of compression of the sural nerve.
Secondly, different forms of trauma can be a leading cause of sural nerve pain. For instance, after an ankle sprain or an ankle fracture. Afterwards, this can create significant pulling and traction on the nerve. Additionally, direct impact to the nerve from being kicked, falling, or an accident can be a cause.
Thirdly, entrapment sites are areas along the nerve’s pathway that may become entrapped, causing more pressure on the nerve. For instance, like carpal tunnel syndrome in the hand.
Fourthly, trauma from surgery can cause sural neuropathy. Sadly, this may be a common cause of chronic pain CRPS (Complex regional pain syndrome). And this is often in the news because of the American opiate crisis. Patients are taking harmful drugs due to pain. And some of these patients’ pain could be related to this painful sural neuropathy. Various surgeries in the ankle, foot and leg can injure the sural nerve, resulting in sural nerve pain.
Here are some examples of Sural Neuropathy after surgery:
- Heel Fractures: Surgey is performed on the outer side of the heel bone which is next to the pathway of the nerve. A post-surgical scar can occur which irritates the nerve. So the nerve can become entrapped and tangled in the scar.
- Achilles Tendon Repair: Similarly, surgery performed on the achilles tendon for repair or lengthening places the nerve at a risk for injury.
- Ankle Surgery: Any ankle surgery may also cause injury to the nerve.
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Leg and Foot Neuropathies Acupuncture Can Help-Sural Nerve Pain-Research:
First, in one study, among patients with chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy (CIPN), acupuncture helped the sural nerve. Acupuncture helped by enhancing structural regeneration of the sural nerve. This was according to study findings published in the journal Phytomedicine.
Second, Chemotherapeutic agents cause cellular and DNA damage and inflammation which evoke peripheral nerve degeneration and small fiber neuropathy. To evaluate whether acupuncture may improve symptoms of CIPN, the Acupuncture for Chemotherapy-Induced Neuropathy (ACICIN) study was conducted between 2012 and 2015 at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf in Germany. Patients received weekly acupuncture for 10 weeks.
Third, in the same study, Acupuncture was also associated with improvements in burning pain, numbness, hypesthesia dorsum of foot, cramps, frequency of symptoms, and unsteadiness of gait.
Fourth, researchers concluded, subsequent studies should investigate the possible preventive effect of acupuncture if applied during chemotherapy.”
Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Leg and Foot Neuropathies Acupuncture Can Help-Sural Nerve Pain: How does Acupuncture help?
Acupuncture is a treatment that has been used for over 4000 years to treat pain and other health problems. It is a painless technique used to affect what the ancient chinese practitioners called Meridians (energy channels) in your body under the skin. Traditional acupuncture is based on the belief that an energy, or “life force”, flows through the body in these channels called meridians.
Today, Researchers believe when an acupuncture needle is inserted, the sensory and proprioceptive nerves are stimulated. This sends a message to your brain and nervous system. Ultimately, Acupuncture improves blood flow and calms the nervous system. This triggers nerve signaling that affects the function of other parts of the body, including organs.
Meiri Chiropractic offers acupuncture for sural nerve pain and many other ailments.
Dr. Natalie Meiri is a chiropractic physician, board certified in acupuncture with over 20 years of experience. Call 561-253-8984 today! Ask to make an appointment or find out more about: Chiropractor West Palm Beach: Leg and Foot Neuropathies Acupuncture Can Help- Sural Nerve Pain. The next post will be on leg, ankle and/or foot neuropathies involving diabetes acupuncture can help.
References:
Friedemann T, Kark E, Cao N, et al. Acupuncture improves chemotherapy-induced neuropathy explored by neurophysiological and clinical outcomes – the randomized, controlled, cross-over ACUCIN trial. Phytomedicine. Published online June 26, 2022. doi:10.1016/j.phymed.2022.154294