Neuropathy

Restoration of Greensboro

Pain Management Physicians located in Greensboro, NC

Neuropathy is a catchall term for a long list of conditions that can affect the peripheral nerves outside of your central nervous system. This damage to your peripheral nerves can cause debilitating pain and numbness. As a pain management specialist, Dr. Charles Plummer has extensive experience helping his patients at Restoration of Greensboro deal with the effects of neuropathy. If you’re in Greensboro, North Carolina, call or use the online scheduler to book an appointment.

Neuropathy Q & A

What is neuropathy?

Neuropathy casts an extremely wide net, given that your nerves reach almost every square inch of your body and damage to these nerves can occur almost anywhere.

Complicating matters further is the fact that your nerves are divided into three functions:

  • Sensory, allowing you to feel sensations
  • Motor, which controls muscle movement
  • Autonomic, which control your automatic functions, such as your heart rate or bladder control

Depending on which nerves are damaged, you may experience problems in any of these areas. In most cases, damage to your sensory nerves has the most impact since they’re able to cause pain and discomfort.

What are the symptoms of neuropathy?

Because of the complexity of peripheral neuropathy and the different roles your nerves play, symptoms vary widely. In most cases, when your sensory or motor nerves are involved, you may experience:

  • Pain
  • Numbness
  • Tingling
  • Extreme sensitivity
  • Loss of motor control
  • Weakness

Again, it’s difficult to pinpoint classic symptoms since your nerves are so diverse, but this list represents the most common.

What causes neuropathy?

Since neuropathy stems from nerve damage, the list of causes is long. To give you a better sense of the primary culprits, here are the most common:

  • Diabetes
  • Infection
  • Injury or trauma
  • Autoimmune diseases
  • Vitamin deficiencies

Again, there are many other conditions and diseases that can cause peripheral neuropathy. The only way to accurately diagnose the cause of your problem is to seek medical counsel.

How is neuropathy treated?

As a pain management specialist, Dr. Plummer’s goal is to help alleviate the symptoms of your neuropathy.

After thoroughly evaluating your situation, sometimes with the help of your other doctors, Dr. Plummer tailors a plan to help restore your quality of life.

The treatments he offers may include one or more of the following:

  • Medications, both opioid and nonopioid
  • Physical therapy
  • Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS)

With a TENS unit, you apply small electrodes to your skin that deliver different rates of electricity to interrupt the pain signals in your nerves.

If you’re dealing with persistent neuropathy, call Restoration of Greensboro for relief. Or use the online booking tool to schedule an appointment.