Overview of neuropathic pain
Neuropathic pain is an unpredictable and ceaseless pain that that mostly occurs in connection to tissue damage or injury. It may result from a broken, damaged or dysfunctional nerve strands.
Such nerve strands (strings) may therefore send incorrect signals as a result or fail to completely send any signals as required to the different pain centers.
Usually, the effect of nerve fiber damage may involve a change in the way of function of the nerve itself or the site in which the damage has occurred.
This therefore will mean that the signals sent to the pain centers are either not relevant or sometimes no signal is traceable from the same site due to the injury.
This condition, nerve pain, can also be described as group of conditions that influence the nerves from outside of the cerebrum and spinal cord (the fringe nerves).
A relevant circumstance that can illustrate a case of neuropathic pain is known as phantom limb disorder or syndrome.
This uncommon condition happens when an arm or a leg has been evacuated in light of sickness or damage, yet the mind or the brain still gets pains signals or messages coming from the nerves that initially conveyed impulses from the non-existing limb.
These nerves will therefore fail hence causing some form of pain to the individual. The nervous or sensory system interfaces the nerves from your brain and spinal cord, or focal sensory system, to other parts of the body. This may include these other parts as:
- The arms
- The hands
- The legs
- The inside organs
- The feet
- The face
- The mouth
Symptoms of neuropathic pain
In relation to the fact that there are different types of neuropathic pains, the symptoms may vary depending on each type. These symptoms too may grow either slowly or quickly depending on the different types of neuropath pains too.
The main types of neuropathic pain
There are different types of neuropathic pain that differentiates the intensity of pain and to some extent who it might affect. These are the main types of neuropathy:
1- Sensory neuropathy – This type of neuropathy mainly causes harm to the nerves that convey messages of touch, temperature, torment or pain and also on different sensations to the cerebrum.
The symptoms of sensory neuropathy may include the following:
- Prickling and shivering sensation in the influenced body part (sticks and needles)
- Deadness or feeling of numbness and less of a capacity to feel the pain or changes in temperature, especially in your feet.
- A blazing or sharp agony, mostly felt in the feet.
- Feeling torment from something that ought not to be painful at all or by any stretch of the imagination. For example, a very light touch (also known as allodynia)
- Loss of parity or balance and co-ordination brought on by less capacity to tell the position of the feet or hands (also known as tactile or sensory ataxia)
2- Motor neuropathy – This type of neuropathy includes damage or harm to the nerves that control development or movement of people
The symptoms of motor neuropathy include the following:
- Jerking or twitching and felling of muscle cramps.
- Weakness of muscles or loss of motion influencing one or more muscles of the body.
- Diminishing (thinning) of muscles.
- Foot drop – trouble lifting up the front portion of your foot and toes, especially observable when strolling or trying to walk.
3- Autonomic neuropathy – This type of neuropathy involves harm to the nerves that control automatic substantial procedures, of the body, such as, food digestion, bladder functions and control of the circulatory pressure or otherwise the blood pressure.
The symptoms of autonomic neuropathy include the following:
- Constipation, obstruction or diarrhea, especially during the night.
- Feeling unwell or sickly, bloating and burping.
- Low circulatory pressure or blood pressure (postural or orthostatic hypotension), which can make you feel weak, dizzy or generally worn out when standing up.
- Fast pulse or heartbeat (tachycardia).
- Exorbitant sweating or an absence of sweating.
- Issues with sexual capacity, for example, erectile brokenness in men.
- Trouble completely purging your bladder of urine.
- Bowel incontinence (loss of bowel control).
4- Mononeuropathy – This type of neuropathy causes harm to a solitary nerve outside of the focal sensory system.
The following symptoms are traceable in mononeuropathy:
- Loss of sensation
- Shivering and smoldering
- Absence of feeling, deadness or numbness
- Absence of coordination
- Loss of reflexes
- Muscle jerking, issues, or fits
- Shortcomings or weaknesses
- Pain
- Muscle squandering or wasting
- Trouble moving
- Loss of motion or paralysis
Conclusion
Usually, each nerve in your fringe system has a particular capacity or function to do. Therefore, symptoms or signs will depend on which type of nerve is affected. As such, nerves are therefore classified or ordered into the following:
- Sensory nerves which get sensation, for example, of temperature, agony, vibration or touch, from the skin.
- Motor nerves that control muscle development or movement.
- Autonomic nerves that control capacities, for example, pulse, heart rate, processing and bladder.
- Mononeuropathic nerves which portrays a condition in which just a solitary nerve or nerve group is harmed. This condition adversely influences the part of the body connected with that nerve or nerve bunch, bringing about lost sensation, movement, or capacity in that part of the body. Mononeuropathy, in essence, can influence any part of the body.
General symptoms of neuropathy therefore include the following:
- Progressive onset of numbness, prickling or shivering in your feet or hands, which can spread upward into your legs and arms.
- Sharp, punching, throbbing, solidifying or smoldering pain.
- Compelling affectability to touch.
- Absence of coordination and falling.
- Muscle shortcoming or loss of motion if motor nerves are influenced.
In the event that autonomic nerves are influenced, signs and symptoms may include the following:
- Heat intolerance and adjusted sweating
- Problems of the bowel, bladder or digestive issues
- Changes in circulatory pressure, bringing on dazedness or dizziness.
Therefore, it means that neuropathy can influence one nerve (mononeuropathy), two or more nerves in various ranges (different mononeuropathy) or numerous nerves (polyneuropathy).
