Neuropathy

What is Peripheral Neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy is a very serious condition that has the potential to take independence away from its suffers, causing pain and discomfort that can ruin any chance of a normal life. Range of motion may be reduced in addition to the enjoyment of life. Let’s dive in and explore neuropathy in more detail.

What Causes Peripheral Neuropathy?

Peripheral neuropathy comes about from damage to your peripheral nerves, which are responsible for sending signals between your brain (via the spinal cord) and the rest of your body such as your hands, feet, and so on. Damage to your peripheral nerves can come from injury, infections, or even exposure to toxins. Your nerves may become damaged, forcing them to send erroneous signals to your brain.

We’ve talked about what neuropathy is, but what exactly causes it? The causes of neuropathy are just as widely varied as it’s symptoms. Some of the most common causes of neuropathy stem from nerve trauma, surgery, broken bones, or stress.

Nerve Trauma

Nerve trauma is often the result of injuries. Even if you think an injury you’ve sustained isn’t worth the trip to the hospital, it’s crucial to speak to be assessed by a physician after a car accident, a fall from a great height, or an injury from sports or exercise.

Surgery

In addition to trauma from injury, it’s also likely that a surgery could be the catalyst of your peripheral neuropathy. If you have recently undergone surgery, an operation may have long-lasting effects on the nerves in the surrounding area. If your nerves are compressed crushed, stretched, or simply cut, they may be unable to heal themselves and cause sensations of pain that seemingly have no end in sight.

Broken Bones

Never assume that your injuries are behind you once they appear to have healed. In fact, they can come back and cause even more trouble if you’re not vigilant. If you’ve broken a bone, it can put pressure on the nerves surrounding the fracture, affecting the signals travelling up and down your body. This can cause discomfort and pain well after your injuries have healed, all because of what your nerves are perceiving.

Stress

If you haven’t recently undergone surgery or experienced a serious injury, bearing repeated stress on your muscles or joints could be the cause behind your peripheral neuropathy. You will find this in repetitive tasks at work or around the home; this strain can accumulate and cause stress and damage to your nerves. Carpal tunnel syndrome is a common form of neuropathy that can leave a lasting and serious affect on your life if left untreated for a long time.

Many of these causes have one thing in common: pressure applied to the nerve. When your nerves are physically stressed, it can severely affect their function and disrupt signals from passing through the body as they’re supposed to.

What Are The Symptoms of Peripheral Neuropathy?

You may experience numbness, unending jabbing sensations, and extreme sensitivity with every touch. Neuropathic symptoms vary from person to person, so some may feel only numbness in their body whereas others may experience excruciating pain. No matter the severity, it is a progressive condition, meaning your neuropathy can get worse if left unmanaged.

Neuropathy typically concerns pain and other sensations—or lack thereof—that originate in the peripheral nervous system. These include:

• Motor nerves: muscles
• Sensory nerves: sensations of touch
• Autonomic nerves: heart rate, breathing, and body temperature

Therefore, pain experienced from these nerves will fall under the umbrella of neuropathic pain. Of course, pain isn’t the only sensation that people with neuropathy experience; many people report sensations of numbness, tingling, restless legs, or even cramping.

What Can You Do About Peripheral Neuropathy?

There is no single cure to eradicate neuropathy, but a doctor is able to help you relieve pain, minimize the symptoms, and also recommend lifestyle changes that can help you live with your neuropathy better. If you suspect that your pain is due to peripheral neuropathy, don’t delay in talking to a specialist about peripheral neuropathy, where we can help you relieve your symptoms.

Unfortunately, there is not a single pill or operation that can completely end and reverse all neuropathy. The most common medications prescribed for neuropathy are actually anti-seizure medications that don’t actually treat neuropathy; instead, they cover up the symptoms and offer up a load of serious side effects including loss of balance, depression, and memory loss.

However, there are other ways to successfully treat the symptoms of neuropathy without these conventional methods. Instead of building treatment plans that include drugs, side effects, or surgery, Maragal Medical focuses on conservative treatment methods.

We take our time during your visit with us to learn more about you, perform a detailed history, computerized balance test, and examine how your neuropathy has affected you. During this assessment, we determine if you are a candidate for our treatment programs.

Each person has unique health needs, medical history and symptoms, but doctors estimate that neuropathic conditions caught within three years of its onset have a higher rate of relief success. Your physician will always aim to relieve as much pain as possible. This is why an early visit to the doctor is crucial—it’s far easier and more effective to relieve mild pain than severe symptoms.