Neuropathic Pain

Neuropathic Pain is often described as a shooting or burning pain that can either be intermittent with improvement over a short period of time or constant which can become unrelenting and a severely chronic occurrence. In many cases, it is the result of nerve damage that can change nerve function both at the site of injury and in areas and other nerves within proximity.

One classic example of Neuropathic Pain is called Phantom Limb Syndrome. This rare condition occurs when an arm or a leg has been removed because of illness or injury, but the brain still gets pain messages from the nerves that originally carried impulses from the missing limb. A phantom limb is a sensation that an amputated or missing limb is still attached. A small percentage of patients with an amputation experience painful phantom sensations in their amputated limb caused by nerve misfiring and abnormal signals from nerve bundles.  

Other causes of Neuropathic Pain include Diabetes, Chemotherapy, Multiple Sclerosis, Shingles, Thyroid Dysfunction, Spine Surgery, and Nerve or Spinal Cord compression from herniated discs or arthritis in the spine.  The latter being a common cause of low back pain associated with tingling, shooting, and burning pain in an extremity.