Diabetic Neuropathy Pain Management Specialists: Peripheral, Focal, Autonomic and Proximal
Living with diabetic peripheral neuropathy can be challenging, but finding the right treatment makes all the difference. Diabetic neuropathic pain results from damaged nerves and can feel like sharp pain, burning, tingling, or numbness in the hands, arms, legs and feet. It’s caused by prolonged exposure to high blood glucose levels, resulting in nerve damage.
At Nura, our doctors offer tailored treatment plans for all types of diabetic neuropathy, including peripheral, focal, autonomic and proximal. Learn more about each type and how we can help.
Types and Symptoms of Diabetic Neuropathy
Peripheral Neuropathy
Peripheral neuropathy is the most common form of diabetic neuropathy, often affecting the feet and legs first. Symptoms can include:
- Numbness
- Tingling and burning sensations that may be worse at night
- Decreased ability to feel pain in the feet, causing unnoticed injury that can progress to infections and ulcers, causing deformity and bone and joint pain
- Pain with movement
- Allodynia or pain to light touch
- Weakness
Mononeuropathy, also called Focal Neuropathy
Mononeuropathy, or focal neuropathy, is a type of peripheral neuropathy affecting a single nerve or specific group of nerves in the diabetics that face it.
More common in older adults, symptoms from this condition can occur suddenly but tend to improve and resolve over a period of weeks to months. Common causes of mononeuropathy include trauma, compression, inflammation or ischemia (reduced blood flow) to the affected nerve. Symptoms can include:
- Double vision, difficulty focusing, pain in one eye
- Paralysis on one side of the face (Bell’s palsy)
- Pain in specific areas of the leg, thigh or foot
- Chest or abdominal pain that can sometimes be mistaken for a heart attack or appendicitis
Autonomic Neuropathy
The autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling your heart, lungs, stomach, intestines, bladder, eyes and sex organs. Poorly controlled diabetes can affect the nerves in these areas, causing a variety of pain symptoms depending on which systems are involved:
- Inability to adjust blood pressure leading to blackouts or lightheadedness upon standing from a sitting position (orthostatic hypotension)
- Bloating due to slow stomach emptying (gastroparesis) leading to nausea and vomiting
- Heartburn
- Diarrhea, constipation, or a combination of the two
- Increased or decreased sweating due to inability to regulate body temperature
- Bladder problems such as frequent urination, incontinence and infections
- Erectile dysfunction in men and vaginal dryness in women
- Vision problems
Diabetic Proximal Neuropathy
Diabetic proximal neuropathy, also known as radiculoplexus neuropathy, diabetic amyotrophy, or femoral neuropathy, is a type of diabetic neuropathy that affects the proximal nerves — causing pain, weakness, and muscle wasting in the hips, thighs or buttocks.
Unlike peripheral neuropathy, which primarily affects the extremities, diabetic proximal neuropathy tends to be more localized and may affect one side of the body more than the other. It is commonly seen in older adults and individuals with type 2 diabetes. Symptoms of diabetic proximal neuropathy may include:
- Pain in the hip, thigh, or buttock region
- Weakness in the affected muscles, making it difficult to stand up from a sitting position
- Atrophy of the thigh and hip muscles
- Weight loss
Diagnosis of Diabetic Neuropathy
Whether you’re facing peripheral, focal, autonomic, or proximal diabetic neuropathy, evaluation from one of our doctors will be necessary. Our tests consider your pain symptoms and medical history alongside a physical exam by one of Nura’s neuropathic pain specialists. Things that are tested for during this exam include:
- Muscle strength
- Muscle tone
- Sensitivity to touch
- Deep tendon reflexes
- Temperature
- Vibration sensation
Nura Treatment Options for Diabetic Neuropathy
While there is no cure for the condition, early diagnosis by a specialist and pain management treatments for diabetic neuropathy — peripheral or otherwise — offers the best chance for controlling diabetic neuropathic pain. Some things you can do to help slow nerve damage include keeping blood pressure and glucose levels under control, maintaining a healthy diet and weight, getting plenty of physical activity, and avoiding alcohol and smoking.
There are a few diabetic neuropathic pain management treatment options performed by a pain specialist that may help reduce or eliminate the symptoms you may experience:
- Medication
- Physical Therapy
- Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS)
- Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS)
Don’t let diabetic neuropathy pain control your life. Take the first step toward relief by scheduling a consultation with our experienced team.
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