Neuropathies can be both painful and debilitating for patients. This team should include physicians, specialists, specialty-trained nurses, and, when necessary, pharmacists, all working collaboratively to achieve optimal patient care and outcomes. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is also an option as a noninvasive intervention for pain relief.Ī wide range of disease processes can lead to peripheral neuropathies, which routinely require an interprofessional team approach to diagnosis and treatment. Instead, effective treatment for pain associated with peripheral neuropathies can be with membrane stabilizers, certain anti-epileptics, and tricyclic antidepressants. Ī referral to a pain specialist can be beneficial for those patients who are suffering from neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain, particularly in those suffering from small-fiber neuropathies, does not typically respond to simple analgesics. Chronic inflammatory demyelinating neuropathy is treated using corticosteroids initially but can also be treated using intravenous immunoglobulin, plasma exchange, and some immunosuppressant drugs. Physical therapy and occupational therapy can be initiated to aid in the improvement of a patient's overall strength and function. Unfortunately, not all peripheral neuropathies are reversible. Nutritional deficiencies can have therapy with supplementation of the depleted vitamins or minerals. For example, glucose control in diabetic neuropathy and alcohol cessation in alcoholic neuropathy. Treatment of peripheral neuropathies should focus on the treatment of the underlying disease process. Peripheral neuropathies have a broad range of severity and clinical manifestations, as they can affect motor, sensory, and autonomic fibers. Peripheral neuropathies usually develop over months to years, while some may develop more rapidly and be progressive in nature. The most frequently encountered symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include numbness and paresthesias pain, weakness, and loss of deep tendon reflexes may accompany these symptoms.

Further subclassifications can be made by separating peripheral neuropathies as axonal, demyelinating, or mixed, which is essential for treatment and management purposes. There are several methods used to classify peripheral neuropathies, including categorizing them as mono-neuropathies, multifocal neuropathies, and polyneuropathies. These nerves include cranial nerves, spinal nerve roots & ganglia, nerve trunks & division, along with nerves of the autonomic nervous system.

Peripheral neuropathies encompass disorders of peripheral nerve cells and fibers, which manifest secondary to a wide range of pathologies.

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