Acupuncture for Diabetic Neuropathy
What is Diabetic Neuropathy?
According to the Mayo Clinic, “diabetic neuropathy is a type of nerve damage that can happen with diabetes. Blood sugar, also called glucose, becomes high because of diabetes. Over time, high blood sugar can injure nerves throughout the body. Diabetic neuropathy most often damages nerves in the legs and feet.”
Diabetic neuropathy can include symptoms such as pain and numbness in the legs, feet and hands. It can also affect the digestive system, urinary tract, blood vessels and heart. Some may have only mild symptoms while others can experience a lot of pain that can be disabling.
Diabetic neuropathy affects up to half of diabetics. When blood sugar is well managed and healthy lifestyle is maintained, those with diabetes can prevent diabetic neuropathy and/or prevent it from getting worse.
If you’re diabetic be sure to look out for sores or wounds that get infected are not healing properly. Burning, tingling sensations, pain or weakness in the hands or feet that interfere with sleep or performing daily tasks. Changes in digestion, urination or sexual performance, dizziness and/or fainting. Such symptoms should be discussed with your medical doctor. (Mayo Clinic 2022)
Acupuncture and Diabetic Neuropathy
Acupuncture is known for its ability to relieve many different kinds of pain. Acupuncture has also been researched for its ability to manage blood sugar in those with diabetes mellitus. Cho and Kim (2021) conducted a narrative review that looked at ten human studies and five animal studies to learn more about how acupuncture can help with diabetic neuropathy. In all ten of the human studies, all patient related outcomes showed improvement overall. In the various studies the patients received acupuncture multiple times a week for more than one month. One study administered acupuncture only once per week for 15 weeks. Across the board, all studies showed marked improvement in relief from diabetic neuropathy. Additionally, the effects of the acupuncture was shown to work through certain molecules in the peripheral nerves and spinal cord. Animal studies showed that acupuncture can effect the dorsal root ganglion, improve vibration perception and nerve conductivity.
One study included in the review (Pan et. al 2019) administered electroacupuncture for 72 sessions in 12 weeks showed improvements in myelin sheath and nerve fiber damage.
A 2019 randomized control trial for painful diabetic neuropathy (Chao et. al 2019), concluded that acupuncture significantly reduced pain and improved quality of life for those who received acupuncture twice weekly for a minimum of 12 weeks.
Thought there is a lot of promising research data on how acupuncture can help with diabetic neuropathy it is important for those with diabetes to continue their medications and the treatment protocols prescribed by their medical doctor during acupuncture treatment. Those seeking acupuncture in addition to their current diabetes management should expect to have acupuncture at least twice weekly at a minimum to achieve significant results.
Written by Dr. Emily Siy on 6/30/25, posted on 7/21/25
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Sources
Chao, M. T., Schillinger, D., Nguyen, U., Santana, T., Liu, R., Gregorich, S., & Hecht, F. M. (2019). A randomized clinical trial of group acupuncture for painful diabetic neuropathy among diverse safety net patients. Pain Medicine, 20(11), 2292–2302
Cho, E., & Kim, W. (2021). Effect of acupuncture on diabetic neuropathy: A narrative review. International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 22(16), 8575.
Mayo Clinic. (2022, June 7). Diabetic neuropathy. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/diabetic-neuropathy/symptoms-causes/syc-20371580
Pan, H.; Huang, H.; Zhang, L.; Ma, S.; Yang, H.; Wang, H. (2019) “Adjusting internal organs and dredging channel” electroacupuncture treatment prevents the development of diabetic peripheral neuropathy by downregulating glucose-related protein 78 (grp78) and caspase-12 in streptozotocin-diabetic rats. Journal of Diabetes, 11, 928–937.