Neuropathy is caused by damage to the peripheral nerves. The most common cause is diabetes, which harms nerves through long-term high blood sugar. Other major causes include alcohol misuse, vitamin deficiencies (especially B-12), autoimmune diseases, chemotherapy medications, and physical trauma or nerve compression.
We help people with:
Medical Conditions such as:
- Diabetes and prediabetes: High blood glucose harms the tiny blood vessels that feed your nerves.
- Autoimmune diseases: Conditions like lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, and Guillain-Barré syndrome cause the immune system to attack nerve tissue.
- Infections: Viruses and bacteria such as shingles, HIV, and Lyme disease can trigger nerve damage.
- Kidney or liver disease: Severe organ failure leads to a buildup of toxins in the blood that harm nerves.
Lifestyle and External Factors
- Alcohol use disorder: Long-term heavy drinking damages nerves directly and causes poor nutrition.
- Vitamin shortages: Lacking vital nutrients like vitamin B-1, B-6, B-12, or vitamin E stops nerves from working right.
- Toxins and poisons: Heavy metals like lead or mercury, and certain industrial chemicals, poison the nervous system.
- Medications: Certain drugs, particularly cancer-fighting chemotherapy, list nerve damage as a side effect. [1, 2]
Physical and Genetic Issues
- Trauma or injury: Car accidents, falls, sports injuries, or surgery can crush or tear nerves.
Classified by Function
- Sensory neuropathy: Affects nerves that feel pain, temperature, and touch, causing numbness, tingling, or burning.
- Motor neuropathy: Damages nerves that control voluntary muscles, leading to weakness, cramps, and loss of balance.
- Autonomic neuropathy: Disrupts involuntary body functions like heart rate, blood pressure, and digestion.
- Combination (Sensory-motor): Involves a mix of overlapping sensory and movement impairments.
Patients who we help include:
- Mononeuropathy (Focal): Damages a single nerve, such as in carpal tunnel syndrome or Bell’s palsy.
- Polyneuropathy: Affects multiple nerves simultaneously, typically starting symmetrically in the feet and hands.
- Proximal neuropathy: Causes pain and weakness in the hips, thighs, or buttocks, often linked to diabetes.
- Diabetic neuropathy: Nerve damage triggered by chronic high blood sugar.
- Inherited neuropathies: Genetic conditions like Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
