What are the symptoms of neuropathic pain

Neuropathic pain is pain caused by damage to the nervous system. Clinically, there are many types of neuropathic pain, so the symptoms of neuropathic pain are also classified in the later stage. The symptoms in different parts are also different, and patients may experience sudden pain.

(1) The pain characteristics of patients are not all the same, with burning or fire-like pain, electric shock-like pain, needle-like pain, and tearing pain being the most common;

(2) Spontaneous (sudden) pain may occur locally or regionally without any trauma or damaging stimulation;

(3) The pain may be aggravated by slight touch, such as contact with clothing or bed sheets;

(4) The patient does not have any impairment of motor skills and lacks obvious external signs. Unlike arthritis, which has signs of redness, swelling, and heat, neuralgia cannot be seen from the outside unless it is combined with other diseases, such as muscle atrophy. It is difficult for others to understand the pain of neuralgia patients.

(5) Neuralgia not only causes persistent discomfort, but also affects daily life and sleep. Patients often lament that “it is so painful that life would be worse than death”. This pathological neuralgia can be seen in various types of neurological diseases, such as cerebral stroke, spinal cord injury, peripheral neuropathy, especially peripheral neuropathy caused by diabetes, uremia and chemotherapy.

(6) Trigeminal neuralgia is a stubborn pathological neurological disease. The disease is manifested by sudden, short-term severe pain in the trigeminal nerve branches on the face, without any neurological dysfunction such as sensory loss. It involves facial neuralgia in the forehead, scalp, eyes, nose, lips, cheeks, maxilla, and mandible, and is known as "the most painful disease in the world." There are characteristic "trigger points" that can induce severe pain when touched at any time.