One of the most common causes of peripheral neuropathy in the U. The most common type of peripheral neuropathy is diabetic neuropathy, caused by a high sugar level and resulting in nerve fiber damage in your legs and feet. Symptoms can range from tingling or numbness in a certain body part to more serious effects, such as burning pain or paralysis. Peripheral neuropathy is a type of damage to the nervous system. Specifically, it is a problem with your peripheral nervous system.
This is the network of nerves that sends information from your brain and spinal cord central nervous system to the rest of your body. Some people inherit the disorder from their parents. Others develop it because of an injury or another disorder. In many cases, a different type of problem, such as a kidney condition or a hormone imbalance, leads to peripheral neuropathy.
To help doctors classify them, they are often broken down into the following categories:. Motor neuropathy. This is damage to the nerves that control muscles and movement in the body, such as moving your hands and arms or talking. Sensory neuropathy.
Sensory nerves control what you feel, such as pain, temperature or a light touch. Sensory neuropathy affects these groups of nerves. Neuropathy is a broad term that covers different types of nerve damage. All neuropathies can be categorized by the number of nerves they affect — mononeuropathies affect just one nerve, while polyneuropathies affect multiple nerves. A board-certified neurologist and neuromuscular medicine specialist practicing at Neurology Consultants of Arizona , in Scottsdale, Dr.
Shayya specializes in diagnosing all types of neuropathy and providing targeted treatment solutions that deliver long-lasting relief. Neuropathy, also known as peripheral neuropathy, describes damage that affects any part of your peripheral nervous system, or the vast messaging network that transmits vital information from your brain and spine central nervous system to your body, and vice versa. Your peripheral nervous system plays an integral role in virtually all body processes, ranging from sensory input and voluntary motor actions like muscle movement to autonomic functions such as digestion, temperature regulation, heart rate, and blood pressure.
Many causes of damage include physical trauma, an underlying health condition, a vitamin deficiency, or exposure to toxic substances. These nerves may send improper signals, like static on a telephone line, or they may send distorted signals, like a wavy television picture.
Or, like a severed wire, they may stop signaling entirely. Nerve damage can develop quickly, as is often the case with injury-induced neuropathy, or it may emerge gradually and continue to progress over time, as is often the case with diabetic neuropathy. The symptoms depend on the type of nerve fibers affected and the type and severity of damage. Symptoms may develop over days, weeks, or years. In some cases, the symptoms improve on their own and may not require advance d care.
Unlike nerve cells in the central nervous system, peripheral nerve cells continue to grow throughout life. Some forms of neuropathy involve damage to only one nerve called mononeuropathy. Neuropathy affecting two or more nerves in different areas is called multiple mononeuropathy or mononeuropathy multiplex. More often, many or most of the nerves are affected called polyneuropathy.
Neuropathy is often misdiagnosed due to its complex array of symptoms. More than types of peripheral neuropathy have been identified, each with its own symptoms and prognosis. Symptoms vary depending on the type of nerves—motor, sensory, or autonomic—that are damaged. Most neuropathies affect all three types of nerve fibers to varying degrees; others primarily affect one or two types. Doctors use terms such as predominantly motor neuropathy, predominantly sensory neuropathy, sensory-motor neuropathy, or autonomic neuropathy to describe different conditions.
In severe cases, such neuropathies can spread upwards toward the central parts of the body. In non-length dependent polyneuropathies, the symptoms can start more toward the torso, or are patchy. Motor nerve damage is most commonly associated with muscle weakness.
Other symptoms include painful cramps, fasciculations uncontrolled muscle twitching visible under the skin and muscle shrinking. Sensory nerve damage causes various symptoms because sensory nerves have a broad range of functions. Autonomic nerve damage affects the axons in small-fiber neuropathies. Common symptoms include excess sweating, heat intolerance, inability to expand and contract the small blood vessels that regulate blood pressure, and gastrointestinal symptoms. Although rare, some people develop problems eating or swallowing if the nerves that control the esophagus are affected.
There are several types of peripheral neuropathies, the most common of which is linked to diabetes. Common types of focal located to just one part of the body mononeuropathy include carpal tunnel syndrome, which affects the hand and the wrist, and meralgia paresthetica, which causes numbness and tingling on one thigh.
Complex regional pain syndrome is a class of lingering neuropathies where small-fibers are mostly damaged. Acquired neuropathies are either symptomatic the result of another disorder or condition; see below or idiopathic meaning it has no known cause.
Genetically-caused polyneuropathies are rare. Genetic mutations can either be inherited or arise de novo , meaning they are completely new mutations to an individual and are not present in either parent.
Some genetic mutations lead to mild neuropathies with symptoms that begin in early adulthood and result in little, if any, significant impairment. More severe hereditary neuropathies often appear in infancy or childhood. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, also known as hereditary motor and sensory neuropathy, is one of the most common inherited neurological disorders. The small-fiber neuropathies that present with pain, itch, and autonomic symptoms also can be genetic.
Other tests may include a check of blood pressure and fluctuations in heart rate. The first step for people with any type is to bring blood sugars within a target range agreed with a doctor and manage high blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
Managing glucose levels will minimize the risk of diabetic neuropathy. A key part of treatment focuses on reducing pain and managing some of the symptoms. Certain medications and types of physical therapy can help to control the pain of diabetic neuropathy, alongside other treatments. However, they cannot repair the nerves.
People should also avoid or stop smoking and limit their alcohol intake to a maximum of one drink a day for women and two for men. A person with diabetic neuropathy might use other types of antidepressants, such as serotonin-norepinephrine inhibitors, to target other painful symptoms of diabetic neuropathy. Topical lotions, compound creams, and some supplements, such as ALA or topical capsaicin, may also provide relief. Capsaicin cream is available for purchase online.
Physical therapy, used in combination with medications, might help relieve pain and reduce the risk of dependency on opioids. Electrical nerve stimulation is a painless type of physical therapy that might help to reduce feelings of stiffness and enhance the healing of foot ulcers.
Gait training involves relearning how to walk. It helps to prevent and stabilize foot complications, such as ulcers and injury. This type of physical re-education is crucial for people using prosthesis after losing limbs if diabetic neuropathy leads to an amputation.
A good physical therapist will ensure that exercises for people with diabetic neuropathy do not hurt the feet, which can be sensitive. Other therapies include devices that a person can use to keep painful or sensitive extremities from touching the bed or chair. A chiropractor, massage therapist, or osteopath can carry out regular massages or manual therapy to stretch the muscles. Massage can inhibit muscle contractions, spasms, and atrophy due to poor blood supply. Specific exercises, such as swimming or aerobics, can help an individual develop and maintain muscle strength and reduce the loss of muscle mass.
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