Stress Reduction Improves Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms
As a society, we are inundated with stress.
We’re surrounded by messages that tell us we aren’t doing enough. We aren’t skinny enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, fast enough, or work hard enough. When we’re at work, we think about what we’re not accomplishing at home. When we’re at home, we feel we’re losing our competitive edge at work. We get too little sleep, over-caffeinated to compensate, eat to fix the energy slump when we crash, and never fully relax. In short, our society is a hot mess. Some people claim they work better under stress. And while stress may drive us to do and accomplish more, constant stress is detrimental to our overall health. It lowers our immune systems, increases inflammation, makes sleep less effective at restoring our strength and energy, makes it harder to cope with daily difficulties, and increases pain levels. For people with peripheral neuropathy, this can be a recipe for disaster, but there are ways to mitigate stress and help our bodies return to homeostasis (a neutral, calm state). Stress reduction techniques have proven effective in lowering pain levels and increasing a person’s ability to cope with what remains. Here are some techniques to try to reduce stress and find relief from neuropathy pain.
