I have clients ask me this concern all the time. You would believe that when a body is at rest there would be less pain. That holds true for the most part of physical discomfort. When you rest an uncomfortable body part the discomfort is decreased. However, with peripheral neuropathy, you have a natural condition that provides with physical pain.
Diabetic Neuropathy and Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy are referred to as comorbidities. Comorbidity is when you have a secondary health problem. When it comes to diabetic neuropathy, the diabetes is the primary illness. For the CIPN (Chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy) the cancer is the primary pathology. For alcoholic neuropathy, you can easily see where the neuropathy is coming from. In all pathologies mentioned there is an absence of blood flow to the extremities, the parts of the body furthest far from the heart.
The hands and feet are outermost away from your heart. We are all aware that muscles need blood circulation. The nerves likewise require blood flow too. When there is a decline in sufficient blood supply the arteries end up being frail and harder. The blood brings oxygen and nutrients to the legs and arms. Have you seen what a dried sponge looks like? Well, something similar can happen inside the walls of the arteries when there is an absence of blood circulation. Leading to the wall of the arteries solidifying. Jeopardized blood flow becomes more problematic for people with neuropathy adding to increase discomfort and an absence of sensitivity.
You should understand that the body heals when you sleep. Particular organs take over control of blood circulation not normally available throughout the day. An example would be the gall bladder takes over from 11:00 pm up until roughly 1:00 am. The liver cleanses the blood from 1:00 am up until 3:00 am. Have you ever observed the need to empty your bowels upon awakening? This is since the intestines get their blood flow quota from 5:00 am up until 7:00 am. Now, these are not all exact times however relatively close. This info is based on conventional Chinese organ body clock charts. So there is some science behind my description.
When you drift off to oversleep an immuno-compromised state the blood is not getting to your hands and feet. This is why discomfort is even worse at night for individuals with peripheral neuropathy. We recommend nightly use of near infra-red light therapy prior to going to sleep. This will help unwind the legs or hands by dilating the blood vessels through the increased production of nitric oxide. I hope this details is useful.