Neuropathy

What is neuropathy?

Your peripheral nervous system is the largest nervous system in your body. It includes all the nerves except your brain and spinal cord. Peripheral neuropathy typically affects your hands and feet, causing numbness, tingling, and pain. Neuropathy may also cause you to have trouble walking or grasping things with your hands.

Traumatic injuries, infections, or heredity can all result in nerve damage. Diabetes is also a contributing cause of damage to your peripheral nerves if left untreated.

What are the symptoms of neuropathy?

The painful symptoms of neuropathy vary from mild to severe and depend on which nerves are affected. Some common symptoms include:

• Numbness, prickling, or tingling in hands or feet
  
• Sharp, jabbing, stabbing pain
  
• Burning sensation in your fingers or toes
  
• Extreme sensitivity to touch
  
• Muscle weakness
  
• Trouble walking, lack of coordination
  

When your autonomic nerves are affected by neuropathy symptoms, you may have trouble with automatic bodily functions such as bladder, bowel, or digestive issues, or an intolerance to heat and uncontrollable sweating.

How is neuropathy treated?

After a complete clinical evaluation, Dr. Boatwright and his medical team recommend the most effective treatment options with the goal of relieving your symptoms. They may perform a nerve biopsy, which removes a tiny segment of your nerve for further evaluation. It is most often taken from a nerve in your ankle, forearm, or along a rib.

Treatments that successfully provide pain relief for neuropathy sufferers include nerve conduction velocity/electromyography, spinal cord stimulation, lidocaine infusions, and medication management.

Nerve conduction velocity/electromyography measures how fast an electrical impulse moves through your nerve. This test helps Dr. Boatwright identify the extent of your nerve damage.

Spinal cord stimulation delivers mild electrical stimulation to nerves on your spinal column. The electrical stimulation helps block nerve activity as a way to minimize the sensation of pain signals being sent to your brain.

Lidocaine infusions are typically delivered intravenously to help ease pain. Lidocaine is a local anesthetic that produces a numbing effect. When administered as an infusion, It blocks pain receptors in the brain and spinal cord helping to decrease chronic pain. Lidocaine infusions work especially well for men and women with neuropathy.

To learn more about the latest neuropathy treatment options offered by a caring and compassionate medical team, call or schedule an appointment online at Palmetto Spine and Pain Care Consultants in Myrtle Beach.