Can you stop nerve damage from getting worse?

Surgery can help reconnect severed nerves and ease pain caused by trapped nerves. It can also cut or remove nerves that are damaged or malfunctioning to maintain their signals. Diabetic and Neuropathy Treatment near South Venice FL may be more successful for certain underlying causes. For example, ensuring that diabetes is well controlled can help improve neuropathy or, at least, prevent it from worsening. There are many different causes of peripheral neuropathy, some of which can be treated in different ways.

The surgeon can bypass a damaged section of the nerve by connecting a healthy nerve to restore function. If you have a serious nerve injury, surgery can restore critical muscle function by transferring tendons from one muscle to another. For many people, lifestyle changes and treatment are often successful in delaying the progression of neuropathy. Recovery is a slow process, and the most important thing you can do to regain nerve sensitivity and function is to move steadily.

You may feel tingling and, possibly, sensations similar to those of an electrical shock, which is a good sign that you have new, sensitive nerves. Regardless of how you feel during your trip, be sure to talk to your doctor about it during follow-up visits. Dr. Khosro Farhad, neurologist, general of Brigham masses.

Peripheral neuropathy usually can't be cured, but many things can be done to keep it from getting worse. If the cause is an underlying condition, such as diabetes, your healthcare provider will treat it first and then treat pain and other symptoms of neuropathy. The analogy isn't perfect and it's not original, but one way to quickly understand neuropathy is to think of the peripheral nervous system as a complicated system of connections to carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord. In the United States, diabetes tops a list that includes excessive alcohol consumption, nutritional deficiencies, drug side effects, exposure to toxic chemicals, and autoimmune disorders that cause erratic attacks in the nervous system.

Information obtained from these and other tests can help doctors determine if neuropathy is due to inflammation or damage to axons or myelin, which may shed some light on the underlying cause. And in extreme cases, surgery can be used to destroy nerves or repair injuries that cause pain and neuropathic symptoms. Healthcare providers often use the terms “neuropathy” and “polyneuropathy” (meaning “disease of many nerves”) interchangeably with “peripheral neuropathy.” Toxins and some drugs also tend to cause axonal damage and, especially if it occurs suddenly and in large doses, the predominant symptom may be pain, not numbness. And if the nerves of the autonomic nervous system are involved, basic functions, such as bladder and bowel control, can be affected and the consequences are even more serious.

The effects of peripheral neuropathy depend on the cause, the nerves it affects, your medical history, the treatments you receive, and other factors. Over time, nerve axons in other parts of the body may be affected, so symptoms are felt around the ribs and chest and sometimes on the top of the head. As the peripheral nervous system branches and the nerves become smaller and smaller, the axons of the smaller branches often lack myelin. Therefore, peripheral neuropathy is used to describe any situation involving damaged or altered nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.

This is damage to the nerves that control muscles and body movement, such as moving hands and arms or talking. Peripheral neuropathy is a general term for any condition, disease, or disorder affecting peripheral nerves, which are all the nerves found outside the spinal cord and brain. If your healthcare provider suspects nerve damage, he or she will take a comprehensive medical history and perform a series of neurological tests to determine the location and extent of nerve damage. It also includes the nerves that travel from the spinal cord and brain to irrigate the face and the rest of the body.

Peripheral nerves are the furthest from the central nervous system and often show the earliest and most serious effects of these conditions.