Neuropathy

Neuropathy affects your nerves, causing pain, weakness, numbness, and unpleasant sensations like burning and prickling. If you develop neuropathy, visit Balcones Pain Consultants at their offices in Austin, Cedar Park, or Marble Falls, Texas. The compassionate physicians specialize in treating complex pain disorders like neuropathy by using the latest, most effective methods. Call Balcones Pain Consultants today or book a consultation online to benefit from expert neuropathy treatment.

What is neuropathy?

Neuropathy describes pain and other unpleasant sensations coming from the nerves. It’s caused by abnormal nerve functioning, where the nerve signals fire in the absence of painful stimuli. Neuropathic pain is often sharp, shooting, or like an electric shock.

Nerves extend to almost every part of your body. They originate in your spinal cord and travel into your organs and limbs. These nerves send signals to your brain that tell it when you’re hot or cold and when something feels pleasant or painful.

Nerves also receive messages from the brain that instruct them to perform functions like moving your muscles. Neuropathy can affect the function of any nerve, so you might experience:

• Numbness
• Weakness
• Tingling
• Prickliness
• Burning sensations
• “Pins-and-needles”
• Loss of function

These symptoms often extend along the route of the affected nerves. You might also experience hyperalgesia (heightened pain responses) or allodynia, where you feel pain at the slightest touch.

What causes neuropathy?

Neuropathy has many causes. These include:

• Shingles (postherpetic neuralgia)
• Diabetes (diabetic peripheral neuropathy)
• Herniated discs
• Nerve compression
• Crush injuries  
• Nutritional deficiencies
• Exposure to toxins
• Viral or bacterial infections
• Inherited disorders like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
• Cancerous and noncancerous growths
• Bone marrow disorders like myeloma and amyloidosis
• Kidney and liver disease
• Connective tissue disorders
• Chemotherapy cancer treatment
• Excessive alcohol consumption

Autoimmune disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren’s syndrome, lupus, and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), also increase your risk of neuropathy.

How is neuropathy treated?

Balcones Pain Consultants provides comprehensive neuropathy treatment that includes:

Addressing underlying conditions

If you have diabetes, shingles, or other diseases that cause neuropathy, it’s vital to optimize their treatment.

Medications

Pain medicines can help with neuropathy but don’t resolve its cause. Other drugs that can treat neuropathy include tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline and anti-seizure medications like gabapentin. 

Topical medicines like lidocaine cream (a local anesthetic) and capsaicin cream, which eases allodynia, are also helpful.

Physical therapy

You might benefit from physical therapy to keep your muscles and joints moving and stop your condition from worsening. Some people might find improvement from passive physical therapies like electrical stimulation and therapeutic ultrasound.

Lifestyle changes

Improving your diet, reducing stress, and exercising regularly all help you manage your neuropathy. Quitting smoking and drinking alcohol can prove invaluable.

Balcones Pain Consultants also offers advanced treatments such as dorsal root ganglion nerve blocks, steroid injections, and biologic injections like platelet-rich plasma (PRP) to help patients with neuropathy.

For an effective, personalized neuropathy treatment plan, call Balcones Pain Consultants today or book an appointment online.