Do you feel like even ordinary things are unbearable? Let's talk about this Hyperesthesia!

Imagine that you are holding a cup of tea , but the heat is too much for you to bear. Or even if someone just touches your hand, it feels like a huge pain. Have you ever had something like this that we don't usually notice, like a small touch, a sound, a light, a smell, that you couldn't bear? Then this is talking about something that could be very important to you.

What is Hyperesthesia?

Simply put, hyperesthesia is not a disease. It is a symptom . It is when your body senses, or feels, much more than normal. This is because your brain or nerves overreact to external signals.

Some people experience pain with this condition. For others, the sensation may be unbearable, too intense to ignore. For example, the heat of a cup of coffee may not burn your skin, but it may feel unbearable.

Most often, this hypersensitivity is felt to touch, but it can also affect our other senses.

Why is this happening? What are the reasons?

Doctors divide the causes of this into two main categories: whether the problem lies in our central nervous system (that is, the brain and spinal cord ) or in the peripheral nerves that run throughout the body.

Causes related to other nerves in the body (Peripheral Causes)

These are problems that affect the nerves throughout the body, outside the brain and spinal cord.

• Health conditions: Diabetes Mellitus, hypothyroidism, neurological diseases like Guillain-Barré syndrome, and some types of cancer.
• Viral infections : This condition can also occur after viral infections such as chickenpox, herpes, HIV, and COVID-19, which damage the nerves.
• Bacterial infections: Some bacterial infections such as Lyme disease and tuberculosis.
• Some medications: As a side effect of some antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, and cholesterol-lowering drugs such as statins.
• Physical problems: things like pinched or cut nerves in an accident, pain after surgery (e.g., pain after a breast removal), pinched nerves in the spine, etc.

Central Causes

These are problems that directly affect the brain or spinal cord.

• Health conditions: Multiple sclerosis, stroke, pain sensitivity caused by long-term use of opioids.
• Structural problems: Injuries to the spinal cord, compression of nerves by tumors in the brain or spinal cord.

What are the main symptoms of this?

The symptoms experienced by someone with hyperesthesia vary depending on the sense organ affected. Often, these symptoms begin suddenly and gradually increase over time.

Commonly seen symptoms are:

• It feels like being pricked by needles , like a burning sensation.
• Numbness or loss of feeling in a certain area.
• Feeling extremely painful or sensitive to touch.
• Muscle weakness.

In some rare cases, this condition can also be caused by a hypersensitivity reaction of the body's immune system, causing the nerves to swell, similar to an allergic reaction.

How does a doctor detect this?

Since there are so many possible causes, it can be a bit complicated to figure out exactly what the condition is. That's why it's very, very important to tell your doctor everything you need to know.

• What symptoms are you experiencing and how long have you had them?
• What medications are you currently taking?
• What surgeries have you had before?
• Do you have any other mental or physical illnesses?

With this information, the doctor may refer you for several tests.

• Blood Tests: To detect things like vitamin deficiencies and immune system problems.
• Electrodiagnostic Tests: Tests such as a nerve conduction study can measure the extent and severity of nerve damage.
• Neurological Exam: This tests your muscle strength, response to touch, and temperature.

What are the treatments for this?

When treating hyperesthesia, the doctor will first try to find the underlying cause and treat it. For example, if it is caused by diabetes, the main thing is to control the diabetes well.

There are various treatments available to control symptoms while treating the cause.

For this, you may need the help of various specialists, such as a physical therapist, a pain medicine specialist, or a neurologist.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Are Hyperesthesia and Allodynia two different things?

Yes. The two can be a bit confusing. Hyperesthesia is the feeling of a normal sensation (e.g. heat) that is too much to bear. It doesn't always have to be pain. But allodynia is the feeling of pain caused by something that normally doesn't cause pain (e.g. the touch of a feather).

Can this be cured completely?

There is no "cure" for hyperesthesia. However, by treating the underlying cause and managing your symptoms, you can live a largely normal life. For some people, symptoms will go away completely over time. For others, long-term treatment may be needed. The most important thing is to seek medical advice as soon as possible.

Hyperesthesia, nerve pain, hypersensitivity, numbness, inflammation, neuropathy, symptoms