Learn about peripheral neuropathy, a nerve disease that causes tingling and pain in the hands and feet.

Do you sometimes feel tingling, burning, or prickling sensations in your hands and feet? Or a sharp pain that you feel when you stand still? We often ignore these as normal. However, sometimes this can be a sign of a problem in our body's nervous system. Today we are talking about ' Peripheral Neuropathy ', a common but poorly understood condition that causes symptoms like these.

Simply put, what is Peripheral Neuropathy?

Imagine that our brain and spinal cord are like a big 'head office'. From this head office, there is a 'telephone system' that carries messages to every other part of our body, including our arms, legs, skin, and internal organs. That system of wires is what we call 'peripheral nerves'.

Peripheral Neuropathy is the name given to the 'telephone wiring system', meaning our nerves are damaged in some way. This damage disrupts communication between the head office (the brain) and the rest of the body. This results in symptoms such as weakness , numbness , tingling , and pain in the limbs. This can affect not only the limbs, but also our digestive system, blood pressure control, and more.

What are the main types of this neuropathy condition?

There are over 100 types of peripheral neuropathy . Each has different causes and symptoms. Doctors classify them in different ways. Let's take a look at the types we hear about most often.

1. Mononeuropathy

This is damage to a single peripheral nerve. Think of it like a single telephone wire being cut. The main cause of this is an injury from an accident, or prolonged compression of a nerve in the same place.

• Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: This is the most common type of condition. It is caused by compression of a nerve that runs through our wrist. People who spend a lot of time typing on a computer or doing repetitive tasks are at higher risk.
• Ulnar nerve palsy: Tingling in the little finger and ring finger due to compression of the nerve near the elbow.
• Peroneal Nerve Palsy: Compression of a nerve at the back of the knee can cause a condition called 'foot drop', which makes it difficult to lift the foot.

2. Polyneuropathy

Most people with peripheral neuropathy have this type. 'Poly' means 'many'. So what happens in this is that many nerves throughout the body become dysfunctional at the same time. It's like many telephone wires going bad at once.

There can be many reasons for this. Toxic substances, excessive alcohol consumption, nutritional deficiencies such as vitamin B12, cancer, kidney disease, and diabetes are the main causes. People with poorly controlled diabetes are at a higher risk of developing this condition.

This can also be classified according to the effect.

This is further divided into categories depending on what function the nerves perform when they are damaged.

• Motor Neuropathy: This is damage to the nerves that control our movements. That is, the nerves that control our conscious actions, such as walking, grasping, and speaking. This causes muscle weakness.
• Sensory Neuropathy: This affects the nerves that carry our sensations (pain, touch, heat, cold) to the brain. This is why it feels like pins and needles or electric shocks. Sometimes, there can be a complete loss of sensation. This can be dangerous because you may not feel any burning or cutting sensation.
• Autonomic Neuropathy: This is damage to the nerves that control our body's automatic functions (breathing, heartbeat, sweating, blood pressure control). This condition is also common in people with diabetes.

What are the causes of Peripheral Neuropathy?

The reasons for this can be divided into three main categories. I will show it to you in a table like this to make it easier to understand.

Can some medications also cause this?

Yes. Peripheral Neuropathy can also occur as a side effect of some medications. That means that those medications can damage the nerves.

• Some anti-cancer drugs (Chemotherapy drugs)
• Some medications for heart disease
• Some medications for HIV/AIDS
• Some antibiotics
• Some medications for seizures

What complications can occur due to this condition?

Peripheral Neuropathy can lead to some complications if not treated and managed properly.

• Muscle weakness and atrophy: When nerves don't send messages, the muscles involved can gradually weaken and shrink. This can make it difficult to walk or hold onto something.
• Foot ulcers: This is especially dangerous for diabetics. Because the feet have reduced sensation, even a small cut or scrape can go unnoticed. Diabetes also slows down the healing process. This ignorance can cause a small wound to become a large, non-healing wound, become infected, and sometimes even require amputation.
• Falls: Muscle weakness, loss of balance, and dizziness caused by changes in blood pressure can make it easier to fall.
• Other problems: If the autonomic nerves are affected, problems such as constipation or diarrhea, difficulty controlling urine, and sudden changes in heart rate and blood pressure may also occur.

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