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What is Peripheral Neuropathy?
Peripheral neuropathy is not a single disease. It’s a general term for a series of disorders that result from damage to the body’s peripheral nervous system which are the nerves in the arms, hands, legs, and feet. A person can feel it as numbness, burning sensation, pins and needles sensation, an increase in hot or cold sensation, or as pain in your hands and feet. Peripheral neuropathy often effects balance, causing a person to stumble or fall. Peripheral neuropathy may develop as a result of chronic disease processes such as diabetes, or as a side effect to treatments such as chemotherapy, antibiotics, anti seizure medicines, infections such as shingles, or auto immune disorders like Rheumatoid arthiritis, Lupus, or Multiple Sclerosis. Some people develop peripheral neuropathy for no identifiable reason at all.
What is the peripheral nervous system?
The body’s nervous system is made up of two parts. The central nervous system (CNS) includes the brain and the spinal cord. The peripheral nervous system (PNS) connects the nerves running from the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body…the arms and hands, legs and feet, internal organs, joints and even the mouth, eyes, ears, nose, and skin.
Peripheral neuropathy occurs when nerves are damaged or destroyed and can’t send messages from the brain and spinal cord to the muscles, skin and other parts of the body.
Peripheral nerves go from the brain and spinal cord to the arms, hands, legs, and feet. When damage occurs, numbness and pain in these areas may occur.
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