Peripheral Neuropathy Relief in the Feet & Legs - Ask Doctor Jo

Peripheral neuropathy can be caused from diabetes, medications, or even chemotherapy, as well as many other things. Having good flexibility and strength in these areas will help.

The first stretch will be a calf stretch. Sit on the ground with your legs straight out in front of you. You can bend the leg you are not stretching towards you. Put a belt, towel, or dog leash around the ball of your foot. Keep your back and knee straight, and relax your ankle. Pull your foot towards you with the strap until you feel a stretch. Hold this for 30 seconds, and do it three times on each side.

Next are ankle pumps. With your legs straight out in front of you, place a roll just under your ankle so your heel can move freely. Trying to keep your leg straight and moving only at your ankle, pull your foot up towards you, and then push it down like you are pushing on a peddle. Then you will do ankle circles. Again, try not to move your whole leg. Keep the movement at the ankle. Do ten one direction, and then reverse it and do ten the other direction.

Now you will do a simple straight leg raise (SLR). You want to squeeze your muscles tight to lock out the knee and pull your toes towards your head to keep the whole leg straight. This will work your hip flexor muscles when you lift your leg off the ground. Use slow controlled movements to make sure you are using the muscles and not momentum. Start off with ten, and work your way up.

Then, you are going to lie on your side. The top leg is going to stay straight and pull your toes up towards you. Keep your body in a straight line as well. This is going to work your hip abductor muscles. Then you are going to work the bottom leg working your hip adductor muscles. Same as above, keep the leg straight. Start with ten of each of these, and do both sides.

In standing, you will do a heel/toe raise off the ground. Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart, come up on your toes as high as you can. Try not to lean forward, but bring your body straight up and slowly come back down. Push off as much as you can so your heel leaves the ground. Then lift your toes off the ground, alternating back and forth. Start off with ten and work your way up to 20-25.

The last exercise will be a balance series. Stand on one foot, but hold onto something sturdy. Try to balance for 30 seconds to a minute. When that becomes easy, just use one finger one each side. Then just one finger for balance, and finally try balancing without holding on at all.

Related Videos:

Calf Exercises for Strengthening:

3 Best Stretches for Knee Pain:

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Doctor Jo is a Doctor of Physical Therapy.

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Peripheral Neuropathy Relief in the Feet & Legs:

DISCLAIMER: This content (the video, description, links, and comments) is not medical advice or a treatment plan and is intended for general education and demonstration purposes only. This content should not be used to self-diagnose or self-treat any health, medical, or physical condition. Don’t use this content to avoid going to your own healthcare professional or to replace the advice they give you. Consult with your healthcare professional before doing anything contained in this content. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Ask Doctor Jo, LLC and its officers for any and all losses, injuries, or damages resulting from any and all claims that arise from your use or misuse of this content. Ask Doctor Jo, LLC makes no representations about the accuracy or suitability of this content. Use of this content is at your sole risk.

[AskDoctorJo]

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[whydidwedothat]

I was diagnosed with PN 3 months ago and I’m nearly going out of my mind with the burning, numbness and tingling sensation. The pain is relentless and debilitating. I’m going to try your routine, please pray for me.

[BarbieLovesGod]

In 2014 I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. For the past four years life has been very challenging, being only 22, not settled in a place for more than 5 months at a time, living with abusive family and not being able to afford medical for my condition. I have been living insulin free for over a year, but complications kicked in, i struggle to walk, i fall when i try, i cannot jump or lift heavy things or i fall. My legs are dying fast. I tried these exercises this morning and gave it about two hours and tried again, the results are very very amazing. It did not fix the problem but it gave me the ability to stretch and walk around for a bit without falling. I feel the more i do this, the better it is going to get! Thank you for teaching me something that 8 Specialists ive been seeing these last 4 years wasnt able to teach me. Its awfully sad how the medical business now days is more about the money than it is about the Patient.

[mikegonzalez]

Just reading all these comments shows how much people are suffering. Wow, I’m praying for you all. I get sharp pins and needles pain and numbness on left thigh when I get up each day but it goes away for the most part when I stay active throughout the day. I will even do like 50 continuous squats throughout the day to pump thigh muscles and it works.

[ladokedurotoye]

I started doing these activities only five days ago, and I am amazed by the huge positive effect that it has caused on my feet. More than 80% of the tingling and burning sensations that I used to feel, has gone.
Thank you Dr Jo.

[ivetahromjakova]

This genuinely worked !! I’ve had tingling and extreme pain for two days. It started escalating from my feet to my whole legs and after doing those stretches the tingling feeling has gone !! Highly recommend!!!

[ofrapeters]

It somewhat comforts me to know I am not alone with my chronic pain . I was diagnosed with M.S 30 years ago, and 5 years ago with neuropathy and trigeminal neuralgia . I should be in a wheel chair by now, but what helped me to stay on my feel and still be able to walk ( not very good but walking) is doing inner work and healing traumas and learning to connect with myself . I still have a lot of pain, and even though it’s also physical, there is always an emotional and mental connection to every physical condition . So my work is not done, but I have seen improvement throughout the years as a result of my spiritual and inner work . I know it works because I also work with others for 30 years . So I hope someone will take something from what I wrote and it helps that person ❤️

[TheMazreggae]

OMG - I used to be super athletic, playing soccer, basketball, biking, softball but PN has stopped from enjoying that and these exercises are exactly what I need to start doing to get back a sense of balance. Thank you so much.

[margaretokon]

I'm suffering from peripheral neuropathy as a result of overdosed chemotherapy, it's so serve that it got me scared. But I pray God move through these exercises to bring relief. Thank you

[shamimali]

Thank you so much Dr.Jo. I was having pin and needle pain on my left side(arms, legs and till my toe) I started this exercise following your videos and instructions, now I feel relief from my pain. No words to express my words of thanks to you. God bless you.

[GorFrag]

holy wow! thank you so much!!! i pain isnt gone, but its so much less already. you have made my life better. please know that!!!

[lajeanmaker]

This exercise already took my pain away. I hope it keeps working

[MikiDoodleMom]

Not only was the nerve pain painful, but probably worse was the stress it caused me. I of course googled every linked disease, EVEN THOUGH I suspected the issue was stemming from my back and down my legs.

Stretching made ALL the difference in the world! Thanks for the video, that redirected me, into the direction I knew. Feels great to not have the pain! If I sense it coming on I just take time to stretch. Usually it first hurts in my left foot, so I stretch the right side of my back and hip! 😁

[eileendobell]

My feet legs have been burning and painful especially at night but during this heat wave during the day. I tried some of your exercises in the middle of the night and got such relief that I was able to fall asleep again without pain. Many thanks.

[kozilla]

My legs are numb and tired, every move feels wrong but after following this video the discomfort has gone, thank you dr joe!

[brucestewart]

My case is absolutely excruciating. Exercises like this, and I’ve done them before, seem to help the body as a whole, but in the affected areas, it causes a great deal of lingering pain. I go to physical therapy for the expressed purpose of avoiding foot amputation. I’m not diabetic, I’m idiopathic. My veins are starting to pop out and give me another excruciating symptom. Watching for circulation problems and discoloration on and by the veins. The pain progresses over the years. I’ve had it for 12. I wish everyone the best. Keep exercising but listen to your body and don’t overdo it, that has consequences. And always keep in mind that exercising in the pool works, especially for severe cases like mine. Keep up the good work, doc. The neuropathy community needs help! Bruce

[markrunyon]

I have, charcot marie tooth disease and pre diabetic, my feet are alway"s numb.These exercises are a big help!I now have more feeling and sensation in my feet than I"ve had in years, THANK YOU!I see a podiatrist once a week and a neurologist every 3 months.Nothing like this was ever suggested to me, it was basically-live with it., your beyond physical therapy helping you.The lesson for me is don"t ever give up! THANK YOU SO MUCH!

[richsvideojournal]

Yes Excersize helps. The more I walk my Service K 9 during the day the less pain I have especially at night. That is when the pains in my feet are the worse. Keep moving step by step. I have to keep something that is comfortable on my feet at all times other wise the pain increases. Wear something on feet even when in bed; keeps pains undercontrol. I don't take pain meds and won't do pain meds.

[sarahvetoe]

My PN has come on very rapidly. I’ve been sort of being treated for it. By that, I mean I’ve seen my doctor several times over the past 9 months and finally got a referral to a specialist as we can’t seem to work out what is causing it to continue to get worse. These stretches have given me the best relief I’ve had in all that time. So simple and easy, but the returns are a godsend. Thank you for this. There are so many of us living with this and we all know how life altering it is both mentally and physically. It certainly didn’t help my mental state as I was staying pretty tightly isolated during this pandemic. That’s an awful lot of time to be alone with nothing, but a wall of constant pain. I had my wonderful family with me on our bubble and they’ve been very patient and understanding, but you still feel very alone in that pain. I wish everyone who finds this the very best of luck. Hopefully, a cure can be found and we won’t just be in mitigation mode. Again, thank you very much for these stretches.

[fuzzzy]

I have been suffering with Neuropathy since AUG 2020 after a really bad covid fight that almost killed me and got me diagnosed with diabetes. I have been trying all kinds of things and honestly, while I get some minor temporary relief, I can clearly tell I am not actively combating the pain, just making it hurt less for a few hours.

I have struggled to find any clear and honest assistance, either paid for while in Dr offices or searching online on my own. Just lots of gimmicks for sale or snake oil procedures.

This morning I am trying your stretch routine. I am going to stick with it religiously for the next 2 weeks and come back here with my results.

If nothing else, thank you creating honest helpful content in a sea of get rich schemes for this condition. It's such a frustrating thing to live with and demoralizing when searching for results and all you see are get rich predators. So, thank you for this.

See you in 2 weeks.