The people reading this blog are going to fall squarely in two categories: those who will raise an eyebrow and a “huh?”, and those who will really pay attention. I don’t often blog about lesser known medical topics, but after a couple recent patient encounters, thought it would be worthwhile this time.

Guillan-Barre is an acute auto-immune peripheral nerve disease, usually post-viral. It can cause profound, severe and rapid loss of motor function in the limbs, face, spine, as well as profound loss of sensation and tingling. While most patients eventually recover, some continue to have persistent weakness in limb or face, and commonly continued neuropathy in the hands and feet, for years after the acute illness. Beyond the initial medical treatment with immunoglobulins, and rehab, patients do not have a lot of medical options for the residuals.

Acupuncture and chiropractic combined, along with an anti-inflammatory diet and some target supplementation, can make a big difference in the residual symptoms of Guillan-Barre. All of us field practitioners would like to see more published large scale studies, but til then, here is a nice case study

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2095754817302272