Pain arises from a disease, lesion, or injury affecting the sensory nerves.
It is much more common in adults than children due to complications of diabetes, stroke, and other conditions. Neuropathic pain is often described as burning pain or shooting. It is often chronic but can go away on its own. It often is the result of a malfunctioning nervous system or nerve damage.
How is Neuropathic Pain Treated?
Neuropathic pain is relieved when the underlying injury or illness is treated. Your child may receive one, or a combination of several treatments, including Exercise, Psychological counseling, Electrode nerve stimulation, Lifestyle changes like weight loss or activity modifications, Massage therapy, Acupuncture, Nerve blocks, and Surgery.
What are the Symptoms of Neuropathic Pain?
If you are experiencing neuropathic pain then you may complain of Chronic Pain that’s sharp, stabbing, or shooting. Even a light touch, such as that from sheets or clothing, may provoke pain.
How is Neuropathic Pain Diagnosed?
You should take a thorough medical history of your to determine the cause of his or her neuropathic pain. Doctors may order imaging tests like X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs to check for injuries, anatomical problems, and other conditions that could be affecting your child’s nerves. Your health care may also test your muscle strength and tone, ability to feel certain sensations, posture, and coordination. You may also order a nerve conduction test to measure signals from sensory nerves. If your doctor suspects an underlying autoimmune condition, metabolic disease, or connective tissue disorder then you may order additional blood tests and/or refer your child to a rheumatologist, endocrinologist, or geneticist.
How Can This Pain be managed?
Diabetes is a common cause of neuropathic pain. So, proper diabetes care includes a healthy diet and regular exercise that may eliminate or reduce neuropathic pain. If you take care of blood sugar levels then it can also prevent worsening pain and numbness. If your doctor is the underlying cause of the neuropathic pain, treating it may reduce and even eliminate the pain.
Multimodal Therapy – A multipronged approach works well to effectively manage the condition. A psychological treatment, a combination of medications, physical therapy, and even surgery or implants may be used to bring about the best results.
Over-the-counter Pain Medication – Generally, Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are sometimes used to treat neuropathic pain. Many people find these medicines are not effective for neuropathic pain because they do not target the source of the pain.
Prescription Medication – Topical pain relievers can be used; it may include capsaicin patches, prescription-strength ointments, and creams, lidocaine patches. Opioid pain medications reduce other types of pain but do not usually reduce neuropathic pain as well.
Anticonvulsants -Anticonvulsants and Anti-seizure medications are often used to treat neuropathic and Nociceptive Pain. Gabapentinoids are mainly prescribed to deal with neuropathic pain. Doctors believe the medications interfere with pain signals and stop faulty transmissions.
Antidepressant drugs – Antidepressant drugs have shown great promise in treating symptoms of neuropathic pain. There are two common types of antidepressant drugs prescribed to people with this condition tricyclic antidepressants and serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors. It may treat both the pain and symptoms of depression or anxiety caused by chronic pain.
