Peripheral neuropathy usually starts with numbness, prickling or tingling in the toes or fingers. It may spread up to the feet or hands and cause burning, freezing, throbbing and/or shooting pain that is often worse at night. The pain can be either constant or periodic, but usually the pain is felt equally on both sides of the body-in both hands or in both feet. Some types of peripheral neuropathy develop suddenly, while others progress more slowly over many years.

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy often include:

• A sensation of wearing an invisible “glove” or “sock”
• Burning sensation or freezing pain
• Sharp, jabbing or electric-like pain
• Extreme sensitivity to touch
• Difficulty sleeping because of feet and leg pain
• Loss of balance and coordination
• Muscle weakness
• Difficulty walking or moving the arms
• Unusual sweating
• Abnormalities in blood pressure or pulse

The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy may depend on which of the three types of peripheral nerves (motor, sensory and autonomic) have been damaged. Some neuropathies affect all three types of nerves, while others involve only one or two.

Motor nerves send impulses from the brain and spinal cord to all of the muscles in the body. This permits people to do activities like walking, catching a baseball, or moving the fingers to pick something up. Motor nerve damage can lead to muscle weakness, difficulty walking or moving the arms, cramps, and spasms.

Sensory nerves send messages in the other direction-from the muscles back to the spinal cord and the brain. Special sensors in the skin and deep inside the body help people identify if an object is sharp, rough, or smooth, if it’s hot or cold, or if a body part is still or in motion. Sensory nerve damage often results in tingling, numbness, pain, and extreme sensitivity to touch.

Autonomic nerves control involuntary or semi-voluntary functions, such as heart rate, blood pressure, digestion, and sweating. When the autonomic nerves are damaged, a person’s heart may beat faster or slower. He or she may get dizzy when standing up, sweat excessively, or have difficulty sweating at all. In addition, autonomic nerve damage may result in difficulty swallowing, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, problems with urination, abnormal pupil size, and sexual dysfunction..

Source: Peripheral Neuropathy Center

Peripheral neuropathy can affect multiple nerves (polyneuropathy) or only one nerve or nerve group (mononeuropathy) at a time.

Mononeuropathy is usually the result of damage to a single nerve or nerve group by trauma, injury, local compression, prolonged pressure, or inflammation. Examples include:

• Carpal tunnel syndrome (a painful wrist and hand disorder often associated with repetitive tasks on a computer keyboard)
• Bell’s palsy (a facial nerve disorder)

The majority of people, however, suffer from polyneuropathy, an umbrella term for damage involving many nerves at the same time.

Source: Peripheral Neuropathy Center

Celiac disease, a digestive disease that damages the small intestine and interferes with absorption of nutrients from food, can be associated with peripheral neuropathy, along with other disorders. People with celiac disease cannot tolerate a protein called gluten, which is found in wheat, rye and barley. It is an inherited condition that is believed to be significantly under-diagnosed in the United States.

For people who are genetically susceptible to celiac disease, gluten can trigger an autoimmune reaction in the intestines, which causes a variety of gastrointestinal symptoms and prevents the proper absorption of food and nutrients. A recent study found that some people with celiac disease had neuropathic symptoms before the gastrointestinal symptoms of celiac disease appeared.

Source: Peripheral Neuropathy Center

It is well-known that diabetic patients frequently develop peripheral neuropathy. Today, doctors are exploring a link between peripheral neuropathy and pre-diabetes (also known as impaired glucose tolerance or IGT). An estimated 20 million people in the US have what is being called “pre-diabetes” or “borderline diabetes” — a condition where the body has higher than normal blood sugar levels, but not high enough to be diagnosed as true diabetes. If left untreated, people with pre-diabetes are at risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and nerve damage (which could result in peripheral neuropathy.)

People with pre-diabetes often have no symptoms. People who actually have diabetes-and who therefore are at greater risk of developing peripheral neuropathy-often don’t realize it because the symptoms of diabetes (frequent urination, constant thirst, blurred vision, fatigue, cuts and bruises that heal slowly, and tingling or numbness in the hands or feet) come on so gradually. You might want to consider being screened for pre-diabetes if you are over the age of 45, overweight and not physically active, have a family history of diabetes, and belong to an ‘at-risk’ ethnic or minority group.

The good news is that studies show that with modest weight loss (5 – 10% of total body weight) and increased moderate physical activity, such as walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, you can reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%

Source: Peripheral Neuropathy Center