Role of Integrative Health on Neuropathic Pain


Author: Maya Kandah1, Candy Wilson2, Julie G Pilitsis3

Affiliation: <sup>1</sup> Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, Florida Atlantic University, 777 Glades Road, BC 71, Room 235, Boca Raton, FL, 33431, USA.

<sup>2</sup> Christine E. Lynn, College of Nursing, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, FL, USA.

<sup>3</sup> Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Florida Atlantic Univeristy, Boca Raton, FL, USA. jpilitsis@yahoo.com.
Conference/Journal: Curr Pain Headache Rep
Date published: 2023 Mar 2
Other:
  Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s11916-023-01102-9.   ,  Word Count: 199  
    Purpose of review:

Patients diagnosed with neuropathic pain experience continuous or intermittent spontaneous pain throughout their lives. Pharmacological treatments often provide limited relief; therefore, a multidisciplinary approach should be utilized to manage neuropathic pain. This review examines the current literature on integrative health modalities (anti-inflammatory diets, functional movement, acupuncture, meditation, and transcutaneous therapy) for treating patients with neuropathic pain.



Recent findings:

The use of an anti-inflammatory diet, functional movement, acupuncture, meditation, and transcutaneous therapy in treating neuropathic pain has been investigated in prior literature with positive outcomes. However, there remains a large void in evidence-based knowledge and clinical applicability for these interventions. Overall, integrative health offers a cost-efficient and harmless way of creating a multidisciplinary approach to managing neuropathic pain. There are many complementary approaches to treating neuropathic pain as part of an integrative medicine approach. Research is needed to explore other herbs and spices not yet reported in the peer-review literature. Additionally, follow-on research is needed to understand the clinical applicability of the proposed interventions as well as the dose and timing of the interventions to predict response and duration.



Keywords: Acupuncture; Anti-inflammatory diet; Exercise; Integrative health; Meditation; Neuropathic pain; Transcutaneous therapy.



PMID: 36862302 DOI: 10.1007/s11916-023-01102-9