Understanding Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy causes weakness, pain, and numbness in the hands and feet. Peripheral nerves send messages from your brain and spinal cord to the rest of your body. When those nerves are damaged, messages that control pain, temperature, and reflexes are interrupted.

Common causes include:

• diabetes mellitus
• traumatic injury
• alcoholism
• infection

Symptoms can appear suddenly or develop slowly. The peripheral nervous system links the central nervous system to arms, hands, feet, legs, internal organs, mouth, and face. When nerves malfunction, they may send pain signals without a cause or fail to signal real harm.

How peripheral neuropathy affects your body

The disorder can stem from injury, systemic illness, infection, or inherited conditions. Treatment helps many people, but first you need to know if an underlying condition is causing the nerve damage.

Types of peripheral neuropathy

More than 100 types exist. They’re grouped by how many nerves are affected and which nerve functions are damaged. Mononeuropathy affects a single nerve. Polyneuropathy affects multiple nerves and is the more common pattern.

Symptoms by nerve type

Motor nerves

Motor nerves control movement. If they’re damaged you may notice:

• muscle weakness or atrophy
• difficulty moving arms or legs
• muscle spasms or twitching
• reduced reflexes

Sensory nerves

Sensory nerves report touch, temperature, and pain. Damage can cause:

• tingling or numbness
• heightened sensitivity to touch
• reduced sensation
• inability to sense temperature changes or pain
• loss of coordination and reflexes

Autonomic nerves

Autonomic nerves control involuntary functions like blood pressure, heart rate, bladder, and sweating. Symptoms include:

• nausea
• vomiting
• dizziness while standing or changing position
• excessive sweating
• loss of bowel or bladder control
• irregular heartbeat
• difficulty swallowing

The right treatment depends on the cause and which nerves are damaged. If you have new or worsening symptoms, see a clinician to test for an underlying disease and discuss treatment options.