How to Identify and Treat Neuropathy

The word neuropathy means nerve damage or dysfunction. While it’s often referred to as a disease, it is not one condition but rather an umbrella term encompassing a variety of conditions.

Neuropathy might come in different forms and with a broad range of symptoms, so understanding them is crucial to identify and treat the issue.

In this article, you will learn about different forms of neuropathy, their symptoms, causes, and possible treatment options.

What is neuropathy?

The nervous system is a network inside our body that allows us to control bodily functions. It consists of different nerves and cells that transfer messages throughout the system, divided into two main areas. The central nervous system includes the spinal cord and the brain, while all the rest are part of the peripheral nervous system.

When these nerves get damaged, irritated, or disturbed in some other way, we call that neuropathy.

Types of neuropathy

Neuropathy is a broad term referring to all sorts of nerve problems. Depending on symptoms, underlying causes, and the affected area, we can identify four types of neuropathy.

Cranial neuropathy

Cranial neuropathy occurs when the nerves in the brain or brainstem are subject to damage, trauma, or irritation.

There are 12 pairs of cranial nerves in this area, and they help us process sensory information and control movement.

Cranial neuropathy often affects our vision, taste, hearing, or facial muscles. It’s possible to suffer damage to more than one of these nerves, in which case doctors might diagnose multiple cranial neuropathies.

Cranial neuropathy symptoms

People may experience different symptoms depending on which nerves are affected. The following are some common symptoms of cranial neuropathies:

• Tingling sensation or numbness
• Increased sensitivity to touch
• Muscle weakness or paralysis
• Obscured vision
• Neuropathic pain

Most of these symptoms occur in the facial area, like a sudden weakness of facial muscles, drooling, or difficulty controlling eye movement.

Peripheral neuropathy

The peripheral nervous system weaves through our entire body, breaching out from the brain and the spinal cord. It connects the central nervous system to other areas, like the limbs, organs, etc.

When any of these nerves suffer damage, it falls under the broad category of peripheral neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy is the most common among all types of neuropathies, so people might often refer to it simply as neuropathy.

Peripheral neuropathy symptoms

Considering how enormous and complex this system is, peripheral neuropathy may encompass a wide range of medical conditions. These conditions might come with varying symptoms, sometimes unique to the affected nerves and their functions. Some common symptoms across multiple of these conditions might include:

• Sharp pain
• Increased, unpleasant sensitivity of the skin
• Decreased ability to coordinate movements
• Muscle weakness or paralysis
• Numbness or tingling in the limbs

Peripheral neuropathy might often affect the limbs, causing sensations of pain, sensitivity, or numbness. Another common sign of peripheral neuropathy conditions might be problems with movements and motor functions.

Focal neuropathy

Focal neuropathy conditions affect a single nerve in the body. The issue is often related to muscles or other tissues pressing on or irritating the nerve, causing various uncomfortable sensations.

The underlying causes might vary. The nerves might get irritated by swollen muscles or tissues due to inflammation or overuse, physical pressure resulting from bone spurs or other deformities, nerve damage from diabetes, or a herniated disc.

Common areas affected by focal neuropathy might be the feet, the legs, the torso, and the hands. But it might also occur in any other area of the body.

Focal neuropathy symptoms

A telltale sign of focal neuropathy might be that, most of the time, it only affects a limited area. So the common symptoms listed below usually become apparent only locally.

• Numbness or tingling
• Muscle weakness
• Painful sensation
• Inflammation in the area

One of the most well-known focal neuropathies is carpal tunnel syndrome, where the swollen tendons of the wrist press on the median nerve, causing numbness, tingling, and pain in the wrist and the thumb side of the hand.

Autonomic neuropathy

The autonomic nervous system is a part of our peripheral nervous system, responsible for regulating automatic body functions like breathing, digestion, and heart functions.

Autonomic neuropathy occurs when there’s damage or dysfunction in this system. These dysfunctions can lead to various problems like an unregulated heartbeat or blood pressure, digestive problems, and bladder issues.

Autonomic neuropathy symptoms

The symptoms of autonomic neuropathy might be quite different, depending on which bodily functions are affected. Below, we will look at the most commonly affected autonomic systems and list some typical symptoms for each.

Heart regulation

When the nerves controlling your heart functions are damaged, your body might have issues regulating your heartbeat and blood pressure. This might lead to irregular heartbeat, fainting when you stand up, or during physical activity, and it can prevent you from feeling pain during other heart problems like a heart attack.

Bladder regulation

Damage to the nerves regulating your bladder functions can cause leaking and the loss of the ability to hold urine. Additionally, holding urine for too long might lead to bladder infections.

Digestive system

When autonomic neuropathy occurs in the nerves of the digestive system, it can lead to nausea, bloating, diarrhea, constipation, vomiting, or problems swallowing.

Eyes

Autonomic neuropathy might affect our pupils, hindering our reaction time to light changes and making driving a car or navigating in darker places harder.

Sweat glands

Autonomic neuropathy of the nerves controlling the sweat glands might lead to extensive sweating in some areas or dryness in others. This might affect our body’s ability to regulate its temperature.

Reproductive organs

Damage to nerves in the genitalia might cause erectile dysfunction or ejaculation problems in men and loss of sensitivity or decreased arousal fluids in women.

Neuropathy treatments

As we can see, neuropathy can refer to a broad range of issues throughout our nervous system, each with unique symptoms and treatment options.

So, before starting any treatment, doctors would have to identify the source of the problem and any underlying issues. Only then can a course of treatment be set.

Treatments for neuropathies can be as simple as rest, or they might require long-term treatment with drugs, and in some cases, surgery might be the only option.