Almost everyone knows toothaches, headaches, or pain in the abdomen, but there is another group of pain syndromes that are associated with damage to the nervous system, called neuropathic pains. So, neuropathic pain is widespread and is observed in 40% patients. It can disturb a person for a long period of time, and is painful, since a person is deprived of the possibility of a normal existence. Such a pain syndrome can occur spontaneously and be strong, and sometimes simply unbearable. In this case, numbness, burning and tingling in painful places of the body are observed.
It should be noted that neuropathic pain occurs with damage to the nervous system, both central and peripheral, for example, nerves, their roots and plexuses, as well as the spinal cord and brain, in particular, the thalamus and the trunk, and can exhibit positive and negative symptoms.
Positive symptoms:
1. Allodynia. Pain syndrome appears in the form of a reaction to a stimulus, and the stimulus may be insignificant, which does not cause pain under normal conditions. Pain can cause any touch and temperature.
2. Hyperalgesia. It occurs due to the slightest irritation of pain receptors, while there is a change in skin color, edema appears, often a person has increased anxiety.
3. Dysesthesia is a violation of the perception of pain irritation as a result of damage to nerve fibers.
4. Polysthesia. Pain sensations arise as a result of exposure to one irritant, while the person experiences the same sensations as with many irritants.
Negative symptoms:
1. Hypesthesia. This symptom manifests itself in a decrease in the intensity of sensations.
2. Hypalgesia - a decrease in pain sensitivity.
3. Analgesia is a complete lack of pain perception.
Thus, neuropathic pain can have several manifestations and appear due to the development of certain diseases or the presence of infection in the body.
With a herpes infection, pain occurs after the rash has passed, and lasts several months. In this case, pain occurs in the areas of rashes with a mechanical touch to them.
The occurrence of burning and stitching pain in the back and limbs as a result of spinal cord injury is associated with damage to nerves in these areas. In the back, neuropathic pain can occur with muscle tension or intervertebral hernias. In this case, acute pain occurs throughout the body.
Pain can be observed when touching the face, as the nerve is compressed, while the facial nerve hurts . This condition can persist for several years and cause not only discomfort, but also a loss of human performance.
Some people who have undergone surgery may experience pain, accompanied by tingling or burning in the joints.
We can say that the treatment of neuropathic pain is currently causing some difficulties. In the event that the treatment program is correctly completed, there is no one-hundred-percent guarantee that the pain will go away. Only 30% of patients indicate satisfactory treatment results.
In the treatment of this kind of pain, neurosurgical methods are used, as well as medications such as anesthetics, antidepressants, anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants and antiarrhythmic drugs.
Thus, the attending physician, in most cases, conducts a conversation with the patient about treatment forecasts. Perhaps in the near future, drugs will be developed that can affect specific nerve endings and, thus, eliminate pain.