Pain Overview: What is Neuropathic Pain?
Neuropathic pain can be defined as pain caused by a lesion or dysfunction, often due to disease, of the somatosensory system. The somatosensory system is responsible for the perception of pain, pressure, touch, temperature etc. When damaged, it may lead to altered transmissions of sensory signals to the spinal cord and brain which results in neuropathic pain. Neuropathic pain has multiple causes including injury, diabetes, shingles, HIV, amputation, peripheral nerve injury, radiculopathy and as a result from surgical procedures. While it can be acute, neuropathic pain is most often chronic.
Chronic neuropathic pain is experienced by 7-10% of the general population and is more common in older patients and women. It is usually felt in the lower back, lower and upper limbs or neck. Symptoms can be quite distinct; Patients may describe their pain as burning, pins & needles, numbness, electrical shocks or itching. They may also experience pain from non-painful stimuli, such as light touching.
Neuropathic pain can be a challenge to both manage and recognise. It’s important to take a holistic approach in managing neuropathic pain, as it heavily impacts multiple facets of patient’s lives, even more severely than patients suffering from non-neuropathic chronic pain. Difficulties with sleeping, anxiety and depression are common amongst these patients.
Neuropathic pain is usually managed with conservative therapies before resulting to interventional techniques, however there has been an increasing use of interventional therapies due to aging population, side effects of opioids and polypharmacy in older patients.
At Metro Pain Group, we have an experienced multidisciplinary team of doctors, nurses, physiotherapists, a psychologist and a rehabilitation coordinator to deal with the multifaceted aspects of neuropathic pain. As specialists, we regularly treat patients with neuropathic pain and offer advanced and evidence-based treatments, both conservative and interventional.
To refer your patients please download our referral form and forward to us by one of the following options:
Postal: Metro Pain Group, Monash House, Ground Floor, 271 Clayton Road, Clayton, VIC 3168
Fax: 03 9595 6110
For more information on our referral process click here.
Colloca, L., Ludman, T., Bouhassira, D., Baron, R., Dickenson, A. H., Yarnitsky, D., Freeman, R., Truini, A., Attal, N., Finnerup, N. B., Eccleston, C., Kalso, E., Bennett, D. L., Dworkin, R. H., & Raja, S. N. (2017). Neuropathic pain. Nature reviews. Disease primers, 3, 17002. https://doi.org/10.1038/nrdp.2017.2