- Okay. Today, Brad and I are gonna talk about peripheral neuropathy. And we're gonna share what helps, and what does not help. Stick around. ♪ Bob and Brad, ♪ ♪ The two most famous
physical therapists, ♪ ♪ On the internet ♪ - All right, this first one, Brad, is supported by research. - Yes. - So, it not only makes you stronger, but it will also take your pain away. Help. So, you can do it in bed, you can do it in a chair. Real simple. Start out, Brad. We're gonna start by doing circles out. - With our ankles? - Right. - Yep, out. So just, I always tell my patients, imagine you got some chalk
on the end of your toes, and you're trying to make big
circles on the chalkboard. - And I would say, start with 20. - Mm hmm. - But you could eventually
work up to 50 if you want. - Right, you'll definitely
feel those ankle muscles. - All right. How about we go circles in, Brad? - Yep. - They're very similar. - Yeah, it does work a
little bit different muscles. The whole idea with this, I think, is just to improve
circulation into the feet. - Right, exactly. - Peripheral neuropathy-- - More circulation to the nerves, more health. - That's right. - All right. And then we're gonna flip, like
we're flipping in the water. - [Brad] Yeah, I just
call 'em ankle pumps. - [Bob] Ah, ankle pumps. - [Brad] Up and down, up and down. - I thought flipping was fun. - Yeah, flippers. You know, 'cause we're obviously referring to peripheral neuropathy below the knees, which is the vast majority.
- Right. And you do when you wake up in bed, you can do it throughout the day. - I'm getting tired, Bob. - All right.
- Can I stop? - We'll go on to number two. All right, the second one is
also proven by research, Brad. - Sure. - And we found out that
massage will not only help with the pain levels, but it will help you sleep. - I'm all for that.
- All right. - Plus it feels good. - Right. So, you know, obviously, I would like to get somebody
like a partner to do this. - Right. - But if you can't, you could
do it yourself manually. - [Brad] Yeah, maybe you could
get a professional masseuse to come over, but most of us couldn't--
- Good luck with that. - Afford that. But yeah, I like to work all
the way up under the forefoot, down into the arch. And again, the only problem is, my thumbs are starting to get tired. - Right, so a second option, is actually to use a foot massager. We just happen to have to
have a Bob and Brad machine. It's a very good machine. It'll knead, it'll massage. - It compresses. - Compresses that's
what I was looking for. - And it heats up. - Right. So you can put your feet in. It runs for 15 minutes. If you want another session, you can go ahead and put
your feet in it again, and keep going. - How long do you normally do yours? - Well, I could go most of the night. (both laughing) - Sleep with it, maybe? - But our office manager-- - Yep. - Has P.N.-- - Yep. - And she tried this and
she thought it helped. - Yep, so-- - For the pain. - And if your feet are
bigger than like size 14? - Right, forget it. - Then it probably won't work. - I'm size 12 and I just fit. - Okay, that's nice to know. - All right. - All right, next one. - All right, the next one, Brad, it's called gabapentin. I've seen many of my patients on this. - Yep. - I would say it's mixed whether it helps. - Right. - But what I want is all of you
out there who have tried it, to let us know. - Right, what their experience is. - Right, did it work for you? Did it not work? Were there side effects? - Right. - Were they bad? - So people watching can
look and compare, you know, what the effect is with other people, so you have an idea.
- Right. Help each other out. - Yep. - I've seen it a lot with chronic pain. - Mm hmm. - All right The next one is amitriptyline.
- Mm hmm. - This is actually a
anti-anxiety anti-depressant. But I've seen it a lot
with people who have P.N. - Right, peripheral neuropathy. And so again, we-- - Again, we need, yeah. - Yeah, get your feedback-- - In the comments below. - Yeah, if you've used it, let us know if you had good results, poor results and-- - Side effects. - Yep. - All right, so the next
one is capsaicin cream. This is not gonna cure it, but it'll help calm down the pain. - So it's a topical cream
you just rub on your skin, to give you some temporary
relief while it's on, or even thereafter. - So again, be our advisors. - Yep, let us know if you've tried it, and what your results were, if good, bad or indifferent. - All right, Brad, we got two more to talk about. This one is lidocaine patches. My patients, I thought they liked it. I mean-- - Yeah, it's a medicated patch
that sticks on to the skin, and you just leave it there, and it's easy to deal with. I've had pretty good results
with a lot of my patients, not only with this diagnosis, but with other pain. - Right, exactly. - But again, give us your opinion. - Right. - All right, the last one
that we're gonna talk about, is TENS unit. - Oh.
- T-E-N-S. - That's a mouthful. - Transcutaneous electrical
nerve stimulation. - Right. - So it comes in a little unit, a little box that has a lead
that goes down two pads. - Right. - And you get a little
bit of electric current. - Right, so it's like pins and needles. You can adjust the intensity very easily. They've been around for 30, 40 years. - Yeah. - And have been very
effective for pain management. Particularly if you
wanna avoid medications, this can be a go-to option. - I would say maybe 50%
of my patients it helped. - Yeah, I would say so too. Yeah, somewhere in there. So, some people just love it, and they just are really
happy to have that option. And other ones, just not so. - Right, it's called iReliev. - Right, that's the
manufacturer of what we like. They have a good unit. It's easy to work with.
- Right. - And you know, you'll be happy with it. - There are seven interventions. Let us know what, again, what works for you. - Right, everyone's gonna
help each other out. See what's going on in
other people's life, with peripheral neuropathy. Take care. - Good luck.
