What Is Neuropathy?

Peripheral Neuropathy is a painful condition caused by damage to the nerves that radiate out of your spine to your arms and legs. This potentially disabling condition interferes with your body’s ability to deliver messages between your brain, muscles, joints, skin, or other organs. When the brain and nerves are not communicating properly, you may feel unusual and often painful sensations.  If ignored or not treated correctly, neuropathy can lead to irreversible damage and health conditions, including amputation in the most severe cases. Fortunately, with early detection and proper treatment, most cases of peripheral neuropathy progression may be stopped, or reversed and healed.

Neuropathy Symptoms

It is difficult to know if your symptoms are due to nerve damage unless you have a neuropathy evaluation by a qualified doctor. Symptoms can be very different from one person to the next. Due to the danger of leaving neuropathy untreated, we highly encourage you to not self-diagnose or self-medicate with over-the-counter pain relievers.

The following explanation of symptoms can help you determine if you are in need of a neuropathy evaluation and seek care that targets the cause of your condition.

There are three categories of nerve damage caused by neuropathy -- motor, sensory and autonomic. Severity of nerve damage will determine the severity and number of symptoms you experience.

Motor Nerve Damage

Motor nerves control voluntary movement -- movement you control by telling them what to do. Such as grabbing a pencil, talking, and walking.

Common symptoms of motor nerve damage include:

• muscle weakness
• twitching
• cramping
• muscle atrophy (significant shrinking of muscle size)
• decreased reflexes

Sensory Nerve Damage

Sensory nerves communicate information of feelings, like pain of a cut or heat from the sun.

Common symptoms of sensory nerve damage include:

• loss of feeling on the skin, such as touch or heat
• feeling of wearing gloves or socks, even when not
• loss of coordination, making it difficult to tie shoes or button a shirt
• loss of balance, making walking more difficult
• oversensitivity to pain
• oversensitivity to touch, causing people to lightly drape sheets over when sleeping
• loss of pain sensation, the most dangerous symptoms of them all and the leading cause of diabetic neuropathy patient amputation after not getting treatment because they could not feel their nerve damage so did not get treatment
• skin, hair, joints and bone may also be damaged over years of sensory nerve damage

Autonomic Nerve Damage

Autonomic nerves control your automatic body functions, like breathing and digesting food.

Common symptoms of autonomic nerve damage include:

• inability to control blood pressure
• loss of bladder control
• inability to sweat, which affects tolerance for heat
• sexual dysfunction
• digestion issues
• dry eyes
• changes in sweating
• changes in nails and skin
• dry mouth
• cold feet and hands

Common Causes of Neuropathy

PHYSICAL TRAUMA

Injuries

Nerves that are pinched, crushed, or cut from trauma such as in sports injuries, auto accidents and falls can become damaged and develop neuropathy. Broken bones and dislocated bones can put pressure on and damage surrounding nerves.

Repetitive Stress

Repetitive motion, especially experienced in sports, typing, and some jobs, over a long period of time causes ligaments, tendons and muscles to become inflamed and swollen. This then narrows the small tunnels where nerves pass, causing the nerves to be pinched and damaged. Ulnar neuropathy is an example of nerve damage trapped in the elbow, and carpal tunnel syndrome is an example of nerves trapped or compressed in the wrist.

DISEASES AND DISORDERS

Diabetes

Diabetes is the leading cause of peripheral neuropathy in the United States, with 60 to 70% of patients with diabetes having mild to severe neuropathy.

Cancer

Cancer can creep into nerves, causing damage. Surrounding cancerous tissue can grow and pinch compress nerves, causing damage. Toxicity of chemotherapy can cause neuropathy. As many as 30 to 40% of of people with cancer develop neuropathy symptoms and pain, and it is the main reason people electively stop chemotherapy.

Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases, where the body attacks itself, can lead to nerve damage. When tissues damaged by autoimmune diseases, such as joints, organs and connective tissues, become inflamed, the nerves around these areas may become compressed or pinched.

Kidney Disease

Kidney disease causes an excess of toxic substances in the blood that damages nerves.

Infections

Infections of virus and bacteria that can attack nerve tissue includes shingles, Epstein-Bar, West Nile (spread by mosquitoes), herpes, and cytomegalovirus. These can severally damage sensory nerves, causing sharp, electric pain. Lyme disease, the tick-born infection, causes extensive nerve peripheral nerve damage.

TOXIN EXPOSURE

Medications

Medications for heart and blood pressure can commonly cause neuropathy, as well as medications for cancer and to fight infections.

Environmental toxins

Environmental toxins, such as mercury, lead, and arsenic can cause neuropathy. Insecticides and solvents are also know to cause nerve damage.

Alcohol

Alcohol consumed in heavy amounts is a common cause of neuropathy. Nutritional deficiencies that develop as a result of alcohol consumption also further contributes to neuropathy.