By: Madison Rosenberg

For how many people are afflicted with neuropathy, there are few answers and fewer patients who know what they’re dealing with and how they can get help. To help bridge this gap, South Jersey Physical Therapy hosted a neuropathy workshop on October 24, led by Dr. Ken Cheng and Dr. Dante Venuto. Their presentations educated their community on understanding neuropathy, recognizing its symptoms, and exploring effective approaches to managing and improving nerve health. 

The presentation began with brief introductions of the clinicians, which included Cheng, owner and CEO of South Jersey Physical Therapy, Venuto, who is a physical therapist, and Collin Dittmar, movement specialist and regenerative technology specialist. 

Cheng continued by describing the struggle that many attendees were already familiar with: Symptoms that just don’t seem to get better, talks of surgery, and endless doctors appointments that end in a shrug and a new prescription that may or may not work. 

Then, Cheng answered the question that everyone who came to the workshop wanted to know: What does South Jersey Physical Therapy do differently to address neuropathy? The answer goes deeper than doing a few exercises, although increasing physical activity is highly recommended to improve overall health. At South Jersey Physical Therapy, the clinicians examine and practice functional medicine. 

“Functional Medicine looks at what’s called your root cause,” said Cheng. “Is it your diet, your sleep, is it your overall environment, is it a trauma or injury?”

South Jersey Physical Therapy combines Eastern, Western, and Functional Medicine and principles to get a deeper understanding of the root causes of pain, discomfort, or mobility problems, according to Cheng. He continued on, saying that nutrition was especially important in functional medicine. Cheng revealed that most people unknowingly ingest toxins daily, whether it be in their food, drink, or the air they breathe. These toxins, Cheng said, can cause bodily reactions that can contribute to the severity of neuropathy symptoms by affecting people’s neurological system.

Attendees shared their stories of feeling hopeless with a lack of answers from their primary providers, being told that their symptoms are an unpreventable byproduct of other conditions such as diabetes, or simply not knowing what their body is experiencing.

“My podiatrist has nothing to say, and my endocrinologist has nothing to say,” said an attendee. “I’m frustrated.”

Dr. Dante Venuto explained that neuropathy symptoms come from damage or dysfunction from the peripheral nerve, which happens when there’s “…insult to communication between our CNS, central nervous system, and our peripheral nervous system,” said Venuto. “Burning, numbness, tingling… this is how the nerve tells us: ‘Hey, something’s wrong.’” 

Venuto continued to emphasize nutritional deficits and how a surplus of glucose or deficit of essential nutrients or vitamins can make some neuropathy symptoms seem worse. He stated that his patients who started taking a vitamin B12 supplement saw 50% improvement in their neuropathy symptoms over time. 

Venuto delved into chronic pain and how it damages quality of life, from small changes like trouble sleeping to risk of depression. Many patients at South Jersey Physical Therapy deal with chronic pain and turn to the clinicians like Venuto, Dittmar, and Dr. Gina Bischof who help them relieve pain and create habits that ease the struggles of having chronic pain. 

“Our treatment style, it allows for better changes in the body,” said Venuto. “Functional movement aspires to recover mobility deficits, balance, and decrease risk of falls.” He continued, stating that the number one cause of injury over age 65 is falling. Broken bones have less chance of recovery, but Venuto says it’s ridiculous to be told “Just to live with it.” 

However, since most therapy offices don’t have the resources or knowledge to deal with neuropathy symptoms, said Venuto, dismissal can be common simply because neuropathy is not well understood. 

Rebooting nerves, building neuroplasticity, and using an analytical approach to neuropathy is what separates South Jersey Physical Therapy from other physical therapy offices. That is why technology and regenerative medicine is used “…to re establish normal body function,” said Venuto. The difference between typical medication and the medicinal values of regenerative technology is that the technology used at South Jersey Physical Therapy aims to return the body to its original state, rather than just suppress symptoms. 

Technologies like Shockwave Therapy and Stimpod Therapy create an environment where the body is allowed to heal and return to homeostasis. Attendees were then shown the stimpod therapy device, and a demonstration was performed with the Stimpod device, showing its benefits and what it does during the procedure. Stimpod Therapy uses electromagnetic pulses to stimulate and target damaged nerves. Stimpod Therapy is one of seven regenerative therapies that South Jersey Physical Therapy offers. 

Reducing environmental toxin exposure from everyday products/your surroundings & the very food that we eat, increasing intake of nutrient-dense whole foods, at large decreasing the highly palatable inflammatory foods and finding the root causes of issues rather than only treating the symptoms is the approach South Jersey Physical Therapy takes not only to treating neuropathy, but any problem that a patient comes with. Combining proper nutrition along with exercises specifically tailored to each patient as well as utilizing regenerative therapies to promote full-body healing is what sets apart the treatment patients receive at South Jersey Physical Therapy from any other office.