Peripheral Neuropathy

It’s estimated that over 20 million Americans suffer from peripheral neuropathy. In fact, many believe it’s significantly higher than that because the condition often goes undiagnosed and untreated. The condition can range from mild to severe and affect a person’s hands, feet, arms, or legs. When severe, peripheral neuropathy can be severely debilitating. Although there’s no cure, per se, there are ways to treat peripheral neuropathy and manage the symptoms effectively to provide long-term pain relief.

What Is Peripheral Neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is a nerve disorder in which the peripheral nerves become damaged or malfunction. This damage or malfunction can be caused by various factors, including disease, injury, metabolic or nutritional problems, toxins, and the side effects of certain medications. The condition often causes numbness, tingling, burning pain, and extreme sensitivity in the affected areas. It can also cause muscle weakness, balance problems, impaired reflexes, and poor coordination.

Where Is The Peripheral Nervous System Located?

The peripheral nervous system is located outside of your brain and spinal cord. It consists of nerves that run throughout your body, connecting it to your brain and spinal cord. These nerves are responsible for sending information back and forth between the different parts of your body. When the peripheral nervous system is damaged, it can cause problems with sensation, movement, and coordination.

Types Of Peripheral Nerves

The peripheral nervous system consists of three main types of peripheral nerves. Any of these nerves can be affected by peripheral neuropathy. With that in mind, the three kinds of peripheral nerves include:

• Autonomic Nerves: These nerves control involuntary functions such as heart rate, digestion, and blood pressure.
  
• Sensory Nerves: These nerves carry information from the skin to the brain, such as pain and temperature.
  
• Motor Nerves: These nerves control movement in the body, such as controlling the muscles in your arms and legs.

Main Types Of Peripheral Neuropathy

There are actually two main types of peripheral neuropathy:

• Demyelinating Neuropathy: This type of peripheral neuropathy occurs when the protective covering of the nerves, called myelin, becomes damaged. This damage can cause the nerve to be unable to transmit signals effectively, resulting in numbness and tingling.
  
• Axonal Degeneration: This type of peripheral neuropathy occurs when the axon, which is a part of the nerve cell, is damaged due to trauma or disease. This damage can cause the nerve to become less responsive, impairing sensation and movement.

What Happens When You Have Peripheral Neuropathy

When a peripheral nerve becomes damaged, it can cause various symptoms. One common symptom is mild to severe pain, which can be described as burning, stabbing, or aching. Other symptoms include numbness, tingling, weakness, balance problems, impaired reflexes, and a lack of coordination. 

In some cases, peripheral neuropathy can end up leading to more severe complications such as muscle wasting, weakened bones, bladder and bowel problems, and even paralysis. Therefore, seeing a doctor for diagnosis and treatment is critical if you experience any of these symptoms.

Risk Factors 

Because there are so many types of conditions and causes that can lead to peripheral neuropathy, there are also various risk factors. These include:

• High Blood Sugar Levels: One of the reasons why people who have diabetes are at an increased risk for developing peripheral neuropathy is because high blood sugar levels can potentially damage the nerves over time.
  
• Alcohol Abuse: Long-term alcohol abuse can damage your nerves because alcohol can interfere with the nerves’ ability to send signals. 
• Unhealthy Diets: Poor nutrition can lead to a lack of essential vitamins and minerals, which can cause damage to your nerves.
  
• Autoimmune Disease: Certain autoimmune diseases can cause an abnormal immune response that affects the nerves.
  
• Kidney, Liver, or Thyroid Disorders: These illnesses can interfere with the proper functioning of nerves because they affect the body’s ability to absorb or use certain nutrients needed to maintain healthy nerves.
  
• Toxin Exposure: Environmental toxins and heavy metals, such as lead or arsenic, can lead to nerve damage over time.
  
• Repetitive Motions: The peripheral nerves can be damaged by repetitive motions or strain, such as typing for long periods without taking breaks or playing an instrument without proper hand and wrist positioning.
  
• Genetics and Family History: Some people may be more likely to develop peripheral neuropathy if they have a family history of the condition.

Complications 

Because peripheral neuropathy can affect the muscles’ ability to move and sense feeling, some potential complications can arise. These include:

• Falls: Nerve damage can cause weak muscles, poor balance, and a lack of coordination, increasing the risk of falls.
  
• Burns and Skin Injuries: Damage to the nerves can reduce sensation in the affected areas, leading to an increased risk for burns and skin injuries.
  
• Infections: Reduced sensation in the feet can make recognizing signs of infection difficult, such as redness and swelling.

Diagnosis For Peripheral Neuropathy

Before you begin treatment, your doctor will do a physical exam to look for potential signs of nerve damage. They will also likely order blood tests and imaging scans (such as MRIs and CT scans) to rule out different possible underlying causes causing the symptoms. Other diagnostic tests a doctor may order include:

• Electromyography (EMG): An EMG test measures the electrical activity in your muscles to help diagnose nerve damage.
  
• Nerve Conduction Study: This test measures how quickly electrical signals travel through the nerves.
  
• Quantitative Sensory Testing (QST): This type of skin test evaluates temperature and vibration sensation in different parts of your body.
  
• Biopsy: In some cases, a doctor may perform a nerve biopsy to look for tissue abnormalities that may indicate nerve damage.

What Can Be Mistaken For Peripheral Neuropathy

An accurate diagnosis is critical to ensuring your condition is effectively treated. Unfortunately, peripheral neuropathy causes similar symptoms to a variety of other conditions. The following are the potential conditions that can be mistaken for peripheral neuropathy if improperly diagnosed:

• Multiple Sclerosis (MS): MS is an autoimmune disorder affecting the central nervous system and causes many symptoms, including numbness in the extremities, difficulty walking, and vision problems.
  
• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Carpal tunnel syndrome tends to develop when the median nerve in the wrist is compressed, leading to numbness, pain, and tingling in the hand.
  
• Fibromyalgia: Fibromyalgia can lead to widespread muscle pain, fatigue, and sleep disturbances.
  
• Pinched Nerves: Pinched nerves occur when a nerve is compressed or irritated, leading to symptoms similar to peripheral neuropathy.
  
• Arthritis: Arthritis can lead to inflammation in the joints, thereby causing pain, stiffness, and numbness.

How To Live With Peripheral Neuropathy

Living with peripheral neuropathy can be challenging due to the nature of the symptoms. Not only can the symptoms themselves be distressing, but they can also lead to other health issues that might have otherwise been avoided. As such, peripheral neuropathy can impact your quality of life in the following ways:

• You may not realize you’ve experienced an injury or wound if you suffer from numbness due to peripheral neuropathy. If you cannot sense these issues, they can worsen due to a lack of treatment. In severe cases, these problems can lead to gangrene and the need for amputations.
  
• Damage to your autonomic nerves can make regulating your body temperature or sweating challenging, which can be dangerous in certain situations. It can also lead to cardiovascular autonomic neuropathy, resulting in an irregular heartbeat that may increase your risk of heart attack.
  
• Autonomic nerve damage can also cause digestive issues, such as constipation and bloating. Additionally, these digestive problems can worsen due to the side effects of various medications used to treat peripheral neuropathy.
  
• The autonomic and motor nerves are crucial to the function of the urinary system. As such, damage to these nerves could lead to bladder control problems.

How Peripheral Neuropathy Affects Loved Ones

Peripheral neuropathy can take an emotional and physical toll on the sufferer and their loved ones. The physical severity of peripheral neuropathy symptoms can be taxing on the person’s overall health and well-being, leading to long-term physical limitations. This can be difficult for a loved one to witness, especially if the sufferer cannot do activities they once enjoyed.

The emotional strain of managing a chronic condition can also be overwhelming for the person with peripheral neuropathy and their loved ones. The sufferer may struggle to come to terms with their condition and the limitations it places on them. At the same time, those close to them may feel helpless when it comes to providing support.

Additionally, many people’s lack of understanding about peripheral neuropathy may cause feelings of isolation and frustration in the sufferer, which can be difficult for their loved ones to witness and manage. However, those close to the sufferer need to remember that peripheral neuropathy is a real medical condition, and the sufferer should not be judged or feel embarrassed by their symptoms.

A better understanding of peripheral neuropathy can help loved ones better support the sufferer. Researching and discussing the condition with healthcare professionals is a great place to start. Additionally, providing emotional support and a listening ear can help sufferers feel understood and loved despite their medical condition.

Is Peripheral Neuropathy Treatable? 

When treating peripheral neuropathy, you’ll find that there are lots of ways to address the symptoms. However, there is no single treatment solution that is a cure-all. Additionally, your condition’s underlying causes must be treated. This is the only way to address peripheral neuropathy and potentially find long-term relief. Unfortunately, many conventional treatment solutions traditional doctors recommend are merely short-term solutions to offer temporary pain relief. 

Fortunately, there are other options than these solutions. You can treat peripheral neuropathy in a way that is safe and effective for your long-term health and well-being. For example, this can be done using a Neurofunctional Pain Management approach.

Get Relief From Peripheral Neuropathy

At Neuragenex, we strive to be the first thought, first choice, and the first step for those seeking relief from peripheral neuropathy. Our goal is to give our patients compassionate, personalized care and cutting-edge treatments to help them experience lasting relief from their symptoms. We focus on treating the whole person by combining traditional methods with innovative therapies to ensure our patients get the best possible care. We are committed to helping those with peripheral neuropathy find relief and reclaim their quality of life.