Damage to the peripheral nerves in your body can cause chronic pain, numbness, and weakness in your hands and feet. Alena Polesin, MD and Philip Rubinfeld, MD, at New Jersey Pain Management in Morristown, Bridgewater, and Rockaway, New Jersey, are available to help diagnose and manage your peripheral neuropathy pain, so you can enjoy life pain-free. Call or book an appointment online today for more information.
Peripheral neuropathy presents itself as weakness, numbness, and pain that typically occurs in your hands and feet after the peripheral nerve has been damaged. The peripheral nerve itself connects the spinal cord and brain to the body’s most important internal organs, muscles, and skin, so any damage can impair muscle movement.
More than half of people with diabetes suffer from diabetic neuropathy in their hands and feet.
Vitamin deficiencies are prevalent in patients suffering from alcoholism, which can lead to nerve damage over time.
Several autoimmune diseases, including lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren's syndrome, and Guillain-Barre syndrome can cause nerve damage.
Sports injuries, accidents, and major falls can damage peripheral nerves and lead to peripheral neuropathy.
Chemotherapy and other medications used to treat cancer can cause peripheral neuropathy, as can malignant tumors and benign growths in the body.
The symptoms you experience from peripheral neuropathy depend on which nerves have been affected, such as motor, sensory, or autonomic nerve damage.
If you are suffering from motor nerve damage, you may experience:
If you are suffering from sensory nerve damage, you may experience:
If you are suffering from autonomic nerve damage, you may experience:
Any of these peripheral neuropathy symptoms are cause for concern, so it’s important to contact your doctor right away if you experience one or more for an extended period of time.
There are several ways to treat peripheral neuropathy, depending on your symptoms. Some of the most common treatments include:
Over-the-counter pain medications and anti-inflammatory drugs are recommended to relieve peripheral neuropathy pain. Other medications that your doctor may prescribe include anti-seizure medications, such as gabapentin (Gralise, Neurontin) and pregabalin (Lyrica), to combat dizziness, and antidepressants, which relieve pain in some patients.
Topical treatments such as capsaicin cream have been shown to relieve pain in peripheral neuropathy patients.
A TENS device is placed on the skin for approximately 30 minutes a day to deliver electric currents throughout the body.
Physical therapy can help improve muscle strength, while surgery is only recommended if your peripheral neuropathy is caused by a mass, such as a tumor.
For more information on peripheral neuropathy, call New Jersey Pain Management or book an appointment online today.
