How do you get neuropathy

Weak over-the-counter formulations also are available. Lidocaine or longer acting bupivicaine are sometimes given using implanted pumps that deliver tiny quantities to the fluid that bathes the spinal cord, where they can quiet excess firing of pain cells without affecting the rest of the body. Other drugs treat chronic painful neuropathies by calming excess signaling. Because pain relievers that contain opioids can lead to dependence and addiction, their use must be closely monitored by a physician.

One of the newest drugs approved for treating diabetic neuropathy is tapentadol, which has both opioid activity and norepinephrine-reuptake inhibition activity of an antidepressant. Surgery is the recommended treatment for some types of neuropathies.

Trigeminal neuralgia on the face is also often treated with neurosurgical decompression. Injuries to a single nerve mononeuropathy caused by compression, entrapment, or rarely tumors or infections may require surgery to release the nerve compression. Polyneuropathies that involve more diffuse nerve damage, such as diabetic neuropathy, are not helped by surgical intervention. More sophisticated and less damaging procedures such as electrically stimulating remaining peripheral nerve fibers or pain-processing areas of the spinal cord or brain have largely replaced these surgeries.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation TENS is a noninvasive intervention used for pain relief in a range of conditions.

TENS involves attaching electrodes to the skin at the site of pain or near associated nerves and then administering a gentle electrical current.

Although data from controlled clinical trials are not available to broadly establish its efficacy for peripheral neuropathies, in some studies TENS has been shown to improve neuropathic symptoms associated with diabetes.

The best treatment is prevention, and strategies for reducing injuries are highly effective and well tested. Since medical procedures ranging from casting fractures to injuries from needles and surgery are another cause, unnecessary procedures should be avoided. The new adjuvanted vaccine against shingles prevents more than 95 percent of cases and is widely recommended for people over 50, including those who have had previous shingles or vaccination with the older, less effective vaccine.

Diabetes and some other diseases are common preventable causes of neuropathy. People with neuropathy should ask their doctors to minimize use of medications that are known to cause or worsen neuropathy where alternatives exist. Some families with very severe genetic neuropathies use in vitro fertilization to prevent transmission to future generations.

The mission of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke NINDS is to seek knowledge about the brain and nervous system and to use that knowledge to reduce the burden of neurological disease. NINDS-funded research ranges from clinical studies of the genetics and the natural history of hereditary neuropathies to discoveries of new cause and treatments for neuropathy, to basic science investigations of the biological mechanisms responsible for chronic neuropathic pain.

Together, these diverse research areas will advance the development of new therapeutic and preventive strategies for peripheral neuropathies. Understanding the causes of neuropathy provides the foundation for finding effective prevention and treatment strategies.

Genetic mutations have been identified in more than 80 distinct hereditary neuropathies. NINDS supports studies to understand the disease mechanisms of these conditions and to identify other genetic defects that may play roles in causing or modifying the course of disease. The Inherited Neuropathies Consortium INC —a group of academic medical centers, patient support organizations, and clinical research resources dedicated to conducting clinical research in Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease and improving the care of people with the disease—seeks to better characterize the natural history of several different forms of neuropathy and to identify genes that modify clinical features in these disorders.

Knowing which genes are mutated, and what their normal function is, permits precise diagnosis and leads to new therapies that prevent or reduce nerve damage. INC is also developing and testing biomarkers signs that can indicate the diagnosis or progression of a disease and clinical outcome measures that will be needed in future clinical trials to determine whether individuals respond to candidate treatments.

Rapid communication between the peripheral nervous system and the central nervous system often depends on myelination, a process through which special cells called Schwann cells create an insulating coating around axons.

Several NINDS-funded studies focus on understanding how myelin protein and membrane production and maintenance in Schwann cells is regulated and how mutations in genes involved in these processes cause peripheral neuropathies.

Schwann cells play a critical role in the regeneration of nerve cell axons in the peripheral nervous system. By better understanding myelination and Schwann cell function, researchers hope to find targets for new therapies to treat or prevent nerve damage associated with neuropathy.

Other efforts focus on immune system peripheral nerve damage. NINDS-supported researchers hope to better understand how antibodies to cell membrane components cause peripheral nerve damage and how the effects of these antibodies can be blocked.

NINDS research has helped discover that some types of small-fiber polyneuropathy appear to be immune-caused, particularly in women and children. NINDS-supported researchers are also exploring the use of tissue engineered from the cells of humans with peripheral neuropathy as models to identify specific defects in the transport of cellular components along axons and the interactions of nerves with muscles.

Such tissue engineering approaches may eventually lead to new therapeutics for peripheral neuropathies. In addition to efforts to treat or prevent underlying nerve damage, other NINDS-supported studies are informing new strategies for relieving neuropathic pain, fatigue, and other neuropathy symptoms.

Researchers are investigating the pathways that carry pain signals to the brain and are working to identify substances that will block this signaling.

Box Bethesda, MD Autonomic nerve neuropathy. Autonomic nerves control functions that you are not conscious of, such as breathing and heartbeat. Damage to these nerves can be serious. Combination neuropathies. You may have a mix of 2 or 3 of these other types of neuropathies, such as a sensory-motor neuropathy. The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy vary based on the type that you have and what part of the body is affected. Symptoms can range from tingling or numbness in a certain body part to more serious effects such as burning pain or paralysis.

Loss of balance or other functions as a side effect of the loss of feeling in the legs, arms, or other body parts. Loss of pain or sensation that can put you at risk, such as not feeling an impending heart attack or limb pain. Diarrhea, constipation, or incontinence related to nerve damage in the intestines or digestive tract.

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may look like other conditions or medical problems. Always see your healthcare provider for a diagnosis. The symptoms and body parts affected by peripheral neuropathy are so varied that it may be hard to make a diagnosis. If your healthcare provider suspects nerve damage, he or she will take an extensive medical history and do a number of neurological tests to determine the location and extent of your nerve damage.

These may include:. Depending on what basic tests reveal, your healthcare provider may want to do more in-depth scanning and other tests to get a better look at your nerve damage. Tests may include:. If an underlying condition like diabetes is at fault, your healthcare provider will treat that first and then treat the pain and other symptoms of neuropathy.

In some cases, over-the-counter pain relievers can help. Other times, prescription medicines are needed. More Information Types of diabetic neuropathy.

Request an Appointment at Mayo Clinic. Share on: Facebook Twitter. Show references Ferri FF. Diabetic polyneuropathy. In: Ferri's Clinical Advisor Elsevier; Accessed Jan. Diabetic neuropathy. American Diabetes Association. Standards of medical care in diabetes — Diabetes Care. Peripheral neuropathy adult. Mayo Clinic; Feldman EL, et al. Management of diabetic neuropathy.

Diabetes and foot problems. Daroff RB, et al. Disorders of peripheral nerves. In: Bradley's Neurological Clinical Practice. Saunders Elsevier; Natural medicines in the clinical management of pain.

Natural Medicines.