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JORDAN PYSZ / iFoundMyDoctor.com
RealWave neuropathy treatments worked so well for Joe that after 19 days he stopped taking the pain medications he’d previously been prescribed.
Many a cancer survivor will tell you that the treatment is worse than the disease. That was the case with Joe McFarland, a 70-year-old retired nurse who suffered greatly after a battery of chemotherapy treatments helped rid him of testicular cancer.
“My doctor told me my chemo regimen would be really bad, and it was,” Joe laments. “It devastated my body.”
It especially devastated Joe’s left foot. Following the chemotherapy treatments, the foot turned black, and Joe eventually lost three toes to amputation. His torment didn’t end there, though.
As it is with nearly 40 percent of patients who receive neurotoxic chemotherapy, Joe later began to experience aggravatingly painful and often debilitating symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.
A condition that affects about 30 million Americans, peripheral neuropathy typically causes symptoms such as tingling, numbness and pain in the legs, feet, hands and arms, but chemotherapy is hardly the sole instigator.
Diabetes is the most common cause, and there are hundreds more, including kidney disease, radiation treatment, genetic diseases, alcohol use, postoperative complications, autoimmune disorders and excessive exposure to toxins such as pesticides. Anyone who smokes or is obese is more susceptible to the condition as well.
Catch the Wave
The good news is that peripheral neuropathy can be treated, and one of the most advanced therapies is called RealWave®, a safe approach that uses a specially tuned ultrasound device to deliver focused energy directly to the affected areas.
This advanced treatment is available only at RealWave Neuropathy Treatment Centers, which recently added Seminole and Dunedin to five established locations in the Detroit area and four others in north Georgia.
RealWave’s ultrasound stimulates specific cells in the peripheral nerves to produce a local immune response, which promotes nerve damage clean-up. It also triggers regeneration in the axon, the portion of the nerve that carries electrical impulses, and the myelin sheath, the protective sleeve wrapped around each axon.
The ultrasound also increases blood flow to the targeted area, improving the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to further support nerve healing. This allows the nerves to function more normally, which relieves neuropathy symptoms.
At RealWave, treatment plans are personalized depending on the symptoms and type of neuropathy, with sessions typically scheduled twice a week for 12 weeks to achieve the best results. As part of each treatment cycle, RealWave regularly monitors progress by measuring blood flow and nerve conductivity in affected areas.
Outcomes vary depending on the cause of the neuropathy and symptoms, but the practice reports that 89 percent of treated patients see improvement within 12 weeks. RealWave further reports that half of its patients experience at least a 50 percent reduction in symptoms while one-third realize more than a 90 percent decrease.
For patients seeking quicker results, RealWave can schedule daily appointments for the first two weeks. RealWave also offers occasional maintenance sessions to ensure ongoing relief. Treatments are covered by Medicare and many other insurance plans.
Painless and Effective
Joe’s battle with neuropathy began nearly 20 years ago, and like many, he first tried treating it with Neurontin (gabapentin), which is commonly prescribed to manage neuropathic pain. After six years, though, the medication’s effects began to wane. That’s when Joe’s pain reached its zenith.
“I had all the symptoms of neuropathy,” Joe reveals. “I had sharp pain and sudden feelings of cold and hot. I also had that buzzing or tingling sensation, like your foot has gone to sleep. I had it all, the whole thing, but mostly it was incredibly bad pain.”
-Joe
Joe says the incessant pain eventually forced him to retire and made it almost impossible to live a normal life. But that all changed last summer after he learned about RealWave and visited one of the RealWave Neuropathy Treatment Centers.
During Joe’s initial appointment, a nurse practitioner administered diagnostic tests to assess the nerve conductivity and blood circulation in Joe’s feet. He was then placed on a treatment plan featuring RealWave ultrasound.
The plan called for Joe to receive three half-hour ultrasound sessions each week for 12 weeks. During each treatment, a nurse practitioner spread a gel across his feet and treated them by making circular motions on the feet with an ultrasound wand.
Joe described the treatments as painless and, best of all, effective.
“After four sessions, I had no pain at all,” Joe enthuses. “The treatments worked so well that after those first four sessions I stopped taking my morning narcotics to see how well the treatment was actually working, and even after that, I still had no pain at all.
“That was miraculous, because it used to be that if I missed my morning meds my foot would be killing me by 1 o’clock in the afternoon. But after four RealWave sessions, nothing like that happened.
“The only thing that did happen was I had some problems with withdrawal because I wasn’t taking the pain medication anymore. But that had nothing to do with my neuropathy issues. Then, on Day 19 of my Real Wave treatments, I stopped taking my evening meds, too.”
Joe’s positive response to the RealWave treatments allowed him to resume the active lifestyle he was nearly forced to abandon almost a decade ago. He says he can run again and can more comfortably ride his bike and play with his dog and grandchildren.
“I could do all that before, but it’s a lot easier now,” Joe enthuses. “I ride 20 to 30 miles a day five days a week now and walk my dog an hour every day. But the biggest thing is, I’m off all the pain medications I was taking before because I’m happy to report that I have no pain whatsoever.
“And I have to admit that, at first, I was a bit skeptical about all of this because I had been through a lot of different things trying to get my pain under better control. But now, I’m a believer because this worked great.
“In fact, even during the treatments, I could actually feel that it was working, and it didn’t hurt at all. Most times I didn’t even feel it, so I would absolutely recommend RealWave treatments. I talk it up a lot because the people there are all very personal and helpful.”
Personalized Solutions for Peripheral Neuropathy: RealWave's Approach
About 30 million Americans suffer from an often aggravating and sometimes debilitating condition called peripheral neuropathy. Typical symptoms are tingling, numbness and pain in the legs, feet, hands and arms,…
The Real Thing For Peripheral Neuropathy
About 30 million Americans suffer from an often aggravating and sometimes debilitating condition called peripheral neuropathy. Typical symptoms are tingling, numbness and pain in the legs, feet, hands and arms,…
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