“It started out as a normal outing. My wife and I had to run to the grocery store. We were driving down the road casually going over our shopping list when the car ahead of me started to slow down anticipating the yellow light. I started to move my foot from the gas to the brake as any normal person would do when they see brake lights in front of them but I couldn’t. I couldn’t feel my foot. The car kept moving forward and I just couldn’t get my foot on the brake. And CRUNCH! I finally came to a stop when I hit the car in front of me.”
This story was shared with us by John S., a Tampa Bay area resident who has peripheral neuropathy. While no one was hurt in this accident, John S. had suffered almost everyday of his life with tingling and burning in his feet until numbness set it and he could no longer feel even the brake pedal beneath his foot.
“Typically, the first stage is pain.” shares Dr. Rebecca Gibbons of AAIM| Achieve Acupuncture & Integrative Medicine. “You feel burning, tingling, sharp pains, or you feel like you’re walking on tacks or marbles. This pain eventually subsides and the numbness sets in. Unfortunately the numbness brings with it a whole other host of problems. We see people have to become reliant on their spouse or family, which is really difficult for both.”
It is terribly common that peripheral neuropathy and its debilitating symptoms interfere with a person’s ability to live their life. John was now reliant on his wife to drive him around, What is even more common, John’s general practitioner and several specialists told him there was nothing they could do other than prescribe him pills that would ease the pain of his neuropathy.
That’s where Dr. Gibbons and her staff at AAIM come in. “About 75% of our current patients come to us suffering from the same condition as John,” tells Dr. Gibbons. “They’re in constant pain from neuropathy and it prevents them from not only living their lives but more importantly, it prevents them from enjoying it. Depending on the severity of their nerve damage, we typically see tremendous progress in 3-4 months of treatment. I like to say we’re in the business of making your golden years golden.”
“I can’t lie,” admits John “I was skeptical at first but I had run out of options. Nothing else was helping but after about four months into treatment, I was confidently able to drive myself to Publix and to my appointments. Dr. Gibbons gave me my life back.”
You can learn more about Dr. Gibbons and AAIM by visiting ACHIEVEACUIM.com. If you’re ready to schedule a consultation call (727) 272-3587.