Neuropathy refers to damage or dysfunction of one or more nerves, typically resulting in symptoms such as: numbness, tingling (“pins and needles”), burning pain, weakness, and even loss of coordination
Damage to nerves can happen in the setting of diabetes, chemotherapy, alcoholism, vitamin deficiencies, or idiopathic (unknown) origins.
Symptoms of neuropathy are described as burning, tingling, and aching due to disruption of nerve fibers
Neuropathy can present in patients a variety of ways, such as:
Peripheral Neuropathy – Affects nerves outside the brain and spinal cord, commonly in hands and feet. These can include small fiber neuropathy or painful diabetic neuropathy.
Central Neuropathy – Affects nerves at the spinal level (ie, pinched nerve or “sciatica”).
Focal Neuropathy – Affects a single nerve or group of nerves, often suddenly such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
Autonomic Neuropathy – Affects nerves that control involuntary body functions (e.g., heart rate, digestion) such as POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome).
The first step to diagnose painful neuropathy is to perform a thorough physical examination and carefully consider your medical and family history. Diagnosing neuropathy typically utilizes clinical examination, nerve conduction studies, imaging, blood tests and possibly skin biopsies.
Depending on the specific diagnosis of the neuropathy, some of the treatments include: