What is peripheral neuropathy?
Peripheral neuropathy is a disorder that occurs when nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body, damage or destroyed. This disturbs the normal functioning of nerves and affects the body.
Types
There are two types of peripheral neuropathy. Damage to a single nerve called mononeuropathy usually results from injury or repetitive stress and involvement of multiple nerves called polyneuropathy is far more common. This can be caused by diabetes, systemic diseases, infections, or exposure to toxic substances.
Causes
People who have a family history of peripheral neuropathy are more likely to develop the disorder. Nerve damage caused by diabetes, kidney disorder, any injury, consumption of alcohol or toxins, infections, and certain medications increases the risk of this disorder.
Symptoms
There are three types of nerves present in our body, motor nerves, sensory nerves, and autonomic nerves.
One or all the three types of nerves may be affected and symptoms are specific to each damage to sensory nerves, characteristics of diabetes can lead to numbness in your hand and feet with diminished ability to detect temperature, insensitivity, or oversensitivity to pain. This disorder may also cause damage to our motor nerves which can result in muscle weakness, twitching, and pain and the common signs of autonomic nerves damage include intolerance to heat, loss of bladder control, and impairment of breathing and heart rate.
Treatment
Treatment of peripheral neuropathy is aimed at treating the underlying cause and providing symptomatic relief. If you have mononeuropathy, you may receive pain relief medication, physical therapy to maintain muscle strength or surgery to reduce compressed or entrapped nerves. If you have polyneuropathy, your doctor will treat the underlying disease to prevent further damage to the nerve. The doctor may recommend pain medications to be your symptoms.
Treatment at home
Treatment of peripheral neuropathy depends on the cause. There are some natural treatments that can help in reducing the symptoms and the disorder. A deficiency of Vitamins can cause neuropathy pain, so taking a supplement of Vitamin B and D can reduce the symptoms. Also quitting smoking, taking warm baths, regular exercising, applying essential oils to the affected area, meditation and acupuncture can promote natural healing of the body.
When to see a doctor?
Early diagnosis and treatment for peripheral neuropathy offer the best chance for controlling the symptoms and reducing the risk of increment of further damage. Seek medical care right away, if you observe unusual tingling, weakness, and pain in muscles of hand and feet. For this, you may be referred to a Neurologist who is trained for nervous system disorders.