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Neuropathy
Symptoms of neuropathy like numbness, burning, and muscle discoordination can last for weeks or even years without treatment.
At Peak Spine & Sports Medicine in Marlton, and Collingswood, New Jersey, pain management specialists Jill Kalariya, MD, and Milind Patel, MD, MBA, and their team diagnose the underlying causes of neuropathy and can help you manage your symptoms whether or not they find an answer.
Schedule your neuropathy evaluation by phone or online at Peak Spine & Sports Medicine today.
Neuropathy Q & A
What is neuropathy?
Neuropathy, also called peripheral neuropathy, happens due to nerve damage or dysfunction. Typically, it starts to affect the finer body parts like your fingers and toes first. As it gets more severe, other areas can experience the symptoms, too. If you have neuropathy, the areas it affects experience sensations like:
Numbness
Tingling
Sharp or burning pain
Touch sensitivity
Muscle spasms or cramps
Weakness or loss of muscle control
Sweating too much or too little
Sexual dysfunction
It’s called peripheral neuropathy because it affects your peripheral nerves, which are all nerves outside your central nervous system. Your peripheral nervous system includes sensory nerves, motor nerves, and autonomic nerves. Autonomic nerves are nerves that you don’t think about much because they control automatic functions like your heart rate and breathing.
What causes neuropathy?
By far, the leading cause of neuropathy is diabetes. When you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood for an extended period of time, it starts to damage various tissues of your body, including your nerves. Fortunately, managing your diabetes effectively can reduce or even eliminate symptoms of neuropathy.
Aside from diabetes, neuropathy can develop as the result of a number of other health conditions and events. You can develop neuropathy from:
Traumatic injuries
Cancer
A vitamin B12 deficiency
Hypothyroidism
Chemotherapy
Radiation therapy
Alcoholism
Vasculitis
Autoimmune disorders
Infections
Hormone imbalances
Peak Spine & Sports Medicine helps you explore the possible reasons why you’re experiencing numbness, tingling, pain, or weakness. In some cases, neuropathy develops without a known or identifiable cause. In any case, the Peak Spine & Sports Medicine team finds a relief strategy that targets your symptoms.
How can I manage my neuropathy?
To manage your neuropathy symptoms, the team at Peak Spine & Sports Medicine creates an individualized treatment plan. For cases of neuropathy that come from underlying conditions like diabetes, managing the underlying condition is usually the most successful way to reduce neuropathy symptoms.
Still, there are plenty of treatment options available to manage your discomfort and weakness or discoordination. Medications like antidepressants and antiseizure medications work within the brain to alter pain signals traveling from your peripheral nerves. Nutritional counseling at Peak Spine & Sports Medicine can help correct any nutritional imbalances contributing to your symptoms.
If more conservative measures don’t control your neuropathy symptoms, Peak Spine & Sports Medicine offers implanted spinal cord stimulators.
If you experience weakness or a loss of coordination from your neuropathy, Peak Spine & Sports Medicine might suggest taking part in physical therapy.
Neuropathy symptoms require individualized and strategic treatment. Schedule an appointment over the phone or online at Peak Spine & Sports Medicine today.