Neuropathic pain

Neu­ro­path­ic pain can indeed occur in any area of the body, as it results from dam­age or dys­func­tion in the ner­vous sys­tem. The most com­mon areas where neu­ro­path­ic pain is expe­ri­enced include:

1. Pos­ther­pet­ic neu­ral­gia (PHN): Occurs as a com­pli­ca­tion of shin­gles, which is caused by the reac­ti­va­tion of the vari­cel­la-zoster virus. The pain is typ­i­cal­ly local­ized to the area of the skin where the shin­gles rash appeared, often along a sin­gle nerve path, known as a der­matome.
2. Dia­bet­ic periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy: Affects indi­vid­u­als with dia­betes, pri­mar­i­ly in the feet and legs but some­times also in the hands and arms. Pain can be described as burn­ing, stab­bing, or tin­gling sen­sa­tions.
3. Trigem­i­nal neu­ral­gia: Affects the trigem­i­nal nerve, which pro­vides sen­sa­tion to the face. The pain is usu­al­ly one-sided and can be trig­gered by every­day activ­i­ties like talk­ing, eat­ing, or even expo­sure to wind.
4. Sci­at­i­ca: Involves the sci­at­ic nerve, which runs from the low­er back down the back of each leg. Pain can be felt in the low­er back, but­tocks, and legs, and is often described as sharp, shoot­ing, or burn­ing.
5. Com­plex region­al pain syn­drome (CRPS): Typ­i­cal­ly occurs after an injury or surgery, and affects one limb, either an arm or a leg. The pain is often described as a burn­ing or throb­bing sen­sa­tion, and the affect­ed area may become dis­col­ored, swollen, or hyper­sen­si­tive to touch and tem­per­a­ture.
6. Carpal tun­nel syn­drome: Affects the medi­an nerve as it pass­es through the wrist, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, and tin­gling in the hand and fin­gers.
7. Periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy: Can result from var­i­ous caus­es such as nerve injury, autoim­mune dis­eases, infec­tions, or expo­sure to tox­ins. Pain is usu­al­ly felt in the extrem­i­ties (hands, feet, arms, or legs) and can present as tin­gling, burn­ing, or stab­bing sen­sa­tions.
8. Chemother­a­py-induced periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy: A side effect of cer­tain chemother­a­py drugs, caus­ing nerve dam­age in the extrem­i­ties. Pain can man­i­fest as burn­ing, tin­gling, or numb­ness in the hands and feet.
9. Occip­i­tal neu­ral­gia: Involves the occip­i­tal nerves that run from the top of the spinal cord to the scalp, caus­ing intense, sharp, or throb­bing pain at the base of the skull or in the back of the head.
10. Phan­tom limb pain: A type of neu­ro­path­ic pain expe­ri­enced by amputees. The pain is often described as com­ing from the miss­ing limb and can present as burn­ing, stab­bing, or cramp­ing sen­sa­tions.
11. Inter­sti­tial cys­ti­tis (IC): Also known as painful blad­der syn­drome, IC is a chron­ic con­di­tion that caus­es pain and pres­sure in the blad­der area, along with increased uri­nary fre­quen­cy and urgency.
12. Post-mas­tec­to­my pain syn­drome (PMPS): Affects some women after breast surgery (mas­tec­to­my or lumpec­to­my), caus­ing pain and dis­com­fort in the chest, armpit, or arm on the same side as the surgery.
13. Post-stroke pain: Occurs in some indi­vid­u­als after suf­fer­ing a stroke. This type of neu­ro­path­ic pain can present as a burn­ing, aching, or sharp pain on the side of the body oppo­site to the loca­tion of the stroke.
14. Lum­bar radicu­lopa­thy: Involves com­pres­sion or irri­ta­tion of the nerve roots in the lum­bar spine, which can cause pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the low­er back, hips, and legs.
15. Tho­racic out­let syn­drome: Occurs when the nerves or blood ves­sels between the col­lar­bone and the first rib become com­pressed, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, and weak­ness in the shoul­der, arm, and hand.
16. Glos­sopha­ryn­geal neu­ral­gia: Affects the glos­sopha­ryn­geal nerve, which con­trols sen­sa­tion in the throat, ton­sils, and tongue. Pain is typ­i­cal­ly expe­ri­enced in the throat, ton­sil area, or the base of the tongue, and may be trig­gered by swal­low­ing, speak­ing, or cough­ing.
17. Mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS): A neu­ro­log­i­cal con­di­tion that affects the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem. MS can cause neu­ro­path­ic pain in dif­fer­ent areas of the body, includ­ing the limbs, face, and trunk, with sen­sa­tions like burn­ing, tin­gling, or stab­bing.
18. Guil­lain-Bar­ré syn­drome (GBS): An autoim­mune dis­or­der affect­ing the periph­er­al nerves, which can result in neu­ro­path­ic pain, typ­i­cal­ly in the hands, feet, and limbs, accom­pa­nied by weak­ness and numb­ness.
19. Cer­vi­cal radicu­lopa­thy: Occurs when nerve roots in the cer­vi­cal spine are com­pressed, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or weak­ness in the neck, shoul­ders, arms, and hands.
20. Brachial plexus injury: Dam­age to the net­work of nerves that send sig­nals from the spinal cord to the shoul­der, arm, and hand, which can cause neu­ro­path­ic pain, weak­ness, and numb­ness in the affect­ed areas.
21. Ulnar neu­ropa­thy: Involves the ulnar nerve, which runs from the neck to the hand. Com­pres­sion or irri­ta­tion of this nerve can cause pain, numb­ness, and tin­gling in the arm, hand, and fin­gers, par­tic­u­lar­ly the ring and lit­tle fin­gers.
22. Mor­ton’s neu­ro­ma: A benign growth or thick­en­ing of the tis­sue around the nerves lead­ing to the toes, caus­ing burn­ing, tin­gling, or sharp pain in the ball of the foot, often radi­at­ing to the toes.
23. Tarsal tun­nel syn­drome: Sim­i­lar to carpal tun­nel syn­drome, but affects the pos­te­ri­or tib­ial nerve as it pass­es through the tarsal tun­nel near the ankle, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the foot and ankle.
24. HIV-asso­ci­at­ed neu­ropa­thy: Periph­er­al nerve dam­age caused by the human immun­od­e­fi­cien­cy virus (HIV), lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, usu­al­ly in the hands and feet, pre­sent­ing as burn­ing, tin­gling, or shoot­ing sen­sa­tions.
25. Char­cot-Marie-Tooth dis­ease: A hered­i­tary motor and sen­so­ry neu­ropa­thy affect­ing periph­er­al nerves, which can cause mus­cle weak­ness, foot defor­mi­ties, and neu­ro­path­ic pain in the extrem­i­ties.
26. Cen­tral pain syn­drome: A neu­ro­log­i­cal con­di­tion caused by dam­age to the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem (brain, brain­stem, or spinal cord) that can result in chron­ic neu­ro­path­ic pain, affect­ing var­i­ous areas of the body and pre­sent­ing as burn­ing, aching, or sharp pain.
27. Post-sur­gi­cal neu­ro­path­ic pain: Pain that occurs after surgery due to nerve dam­age or irri­ta­tion dur­ing the pro­ce­dure, which can affect var­i­ous body areas, depend­ing on the site of the surgery.
28. Hered­i­tary sen­so­ry and auto­nom­ic neu­ropathies (HSAN): A group of inher­it­ed dis­or­ders that affect the periph­er­al nerves, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, numb­ness, and oth­er sen­so­ry abnor­mal­i­ties in var­i­ous body areas.
29. Fab­ry dis­ease: A rare genet­ic dis­or­der that can cause small-fiber neu­ropa­thy, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, espe­cial­ly in the hands and feet, often trig­gered by phys­i­cal exer­tion, fever, or tem­per­a­ture changes.
30. Sjö­gren’s syn­drome: An autoim­mune dis­ease that pri­mar­i­ly affects the sali­vary and tear glands but can also cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in the hands, feet, or oth­er body areas.
31. Vas­culitic neu­ropa­thy: Inflam­ma­tion and dam­age to the blood ves­sels sup­ply­ing the periph­er­al nerves, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, weak­ness, and numb­ness in the affect­ed limbs.
32. Lep­rosy: An infec­tious dis­ease caused by Mycobac­teri­um lep­rae that pri­mar­i­ly affects the skin, periph­er­al nerves, and mucos­al sur­faces, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, sen­so­ry loss, and defor­mi­ties.
33. Lyme dis­ease: An infec­tious dis­ease caused by the bac­teri­um Bor­re­lia burgdor­feri, trans­mit­ted through the bite of infect­ed black-legged ticks. In some cas­es, it can cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in affect­ed areas.
34. Spinal cord injury: Dam­age to the spinal cord can dis­rupt nerve path­ways and cause neu­ro­path­ic pain below the lev­el of injury, often described as burn­ing, stab­bing, or elec­tric shock-like sen­sa­tions.
35. Para­ne­o­plas­tic syn­dromes: A group of dis­or­ders caused by an immune response to can­cer­ous tumors, which can some­times lead to neu­ro­path­ic pain due to periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy.
36. Nutri­tion­al defi­cien­cies: Cer­tain vit­a­min defi­cien­cies, par­tic­u­lar­ly vit­a­min B12, B6, B1, and E, can cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in var­i­ous parts of the body.
37. Alco­hol-induced neu­ropa­thy: Chron­ic alco­hol abuse can result in nerve dam­age, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain in the extrem­i­ties, often pre­sent­ing as burn­ing, tin­gling, or stab­bing sen­sa­tions.
38. Med­ica­tion-induced neu­ropa­thy: Some med­ica­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly those used to treat can­cer, HIV, and tuber­cu­lo­sis, can cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy as a side effect, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain.
39. Radi­a­tion-induced neu­ropa­thy: Radi­a­tion ther­a­py for can­cer can some­times cause nerve dam­age, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain in the irra­di­at­ed areas.
40. Pir­i­formis syn­drome: A neu­ro­mus­cu­lar con­di­tion in which the pir­i­formis mus­cle irri­tates the sci­at­ic nerve, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, and tin­gling in the but­tocks and along the path of the sci­at­ic nerve down the leg.
41. Nerve entrap­ment syn­dromes: Var­i­ous nerves in the body can become com­pressed or entrapped, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the affect­ed areas. Exam­ples include cubital tun­nel syn­drome (ulnar nerve entrap­ment at the elbow) and per­oneal nerve entrap­ment (at the knee).
42. Sar­coido­sis: An inflam­ma­to­ry dis­ease that can cause gran­u­lo­mas to form in var­i­ous organs, includ­ing the ner­vous sys­tem, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain.
43. Syringomyelia: A dis­or­der in which a cyst (syrinx) forms with­in the spinal cord, caus­ing nerve dam­age and poten­tial­ly lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, typ­i­cal­ly in the neck, arms, and hands.
44. Arach­noidi­tis: An inflam­ma­tion of the arach­noid lin­ing of the spinal cord, which can cause scar tis­sue, nerve dam­age, and chron­ic neu­ro­path­ic pain in the low­er back, legs, or oth­er affect­ed areas.
45. Tarlov cysts: Flu­id-filled sacs that can form at nerve roots in the sacral region of the spine, caus­ing pres­sure on the nerves and lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain in the low­er back, but­tocks, and legs.
46. Adhe­sive arach­noidi­tis: A rare, pro­gres­sive neu­ro­log­i­cal dis­or­der that involves inflam­ma­tion and scar­ring of the arach­noid mem­brane, which can cause severe, chron­ic neu­ro­path­ic pain in var­i­ous parts of the body.
47. Por­phyr­ia: A group of genet­ic dis­or­ders that can affect the ner­vous sys­tem, some­times lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, often in the extrem­i­ties.
48. Amy­loi­do­sis: A rare dis­or­der in which amy­loid pro­teins build up in organs and tis­sues, poten­tial­ly caus­ing periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in affect­ed areas.
49. Inher­it­ed ery­throme­lal­gia: A rare genet­ic dis­or­der that affects the small nerves in the skin, caus­ing episodes of burn­ing pain, warmth, and red­ness in the extrem­i­ties, often trig­gered by heat or phys­i­cal activ­i­ty.
50. Stiff per­son syn­drome: A rare neu­ro­log­i­cal dis­or­der char­ac­ter­ized by mus­cle stiff­ness and spasms, which can some­times cause neu­ro­path­ic pain.

| Inter­sti­tial cys­ti­tis (IC) | Also known as painful blad­der syn­drome, a chron­ic con­di­tion caus­ing pain and pres­sure in the blad­der area, along with increased uri­nary fre­quen­cy and urgency. | | Lep­rosy | An infec­tious dis­ease affect­ing the skin, periph­er­al nerves, and mucos­al sur­faces, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, sen­so­ry loss, and defor­mi­ties. | | Lum­bar radicu­lopa­thy | Involves com­pres­sion or irri­ta­tion of the nerve roots in the lum­bar spine, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the low­er back, hips, and legs. | | Lyme dis­ease | An infec­tious dis­ease caus­ing periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in affect­ed areas, trans­mit­ted through the bite of infect­ed black-legged ticks. | | Med­ica­tion-induced neu­ropa­thy | Some med­ica­tions, par­tic­u­lar­ly those used to treat can­cer, HIV, and tuber­cu­lo­sis, can cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy as a side effect, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain. | | Mor­ton’s neu­ro­ma | A benign growth or thick­en­ing of the tis­sue around the nerves lead­ing to the toes, caus­ing burn­ing, tin­gling, or sharp pain in the ball of the foot, often radi­at­ing to the toes. | | Mul­ti­ple scle­ro­sis (MS) | A neu­ro­log­i­cal con­di­tion affect­ing the cen­tral ner­vous sys­tem, caus­ing neu­ro­path­ic pain in dif­fer­ent areas of the body, includ­ing the limbs, face, and trunk, with sen­sa­tions like burn­ing, tin­gling, or stab­bing. | | Nutri­tion­al defi­cien­cies | Cer­tain vit­a­min defi­cien­cies, par­tic­u­lar­ly vit­a­min B12, B6, B1, and E, can cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in var­i­ous parts of the body. | | Occip­i­tal neu­ral­gia | Involves the occip­i­tal nerves that run from the top of the spinal cord to the scalp, caus­ing intense, sharp, or throb­bing pain at the base of the skull or in the back of the head. | | Para­ne­o­plas­tic syn­dromes | A group of dis­or­ders caused by an immune response to can­cer­ous tumors, which can some­times lead to neu­ro­path­ic pain due to periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy. | | Per­oneal nerve entrap­ment | Com­pres­sion or entrap­ment of the per­oneal nerve at the knee, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the low­er leg and foot. | | Phan­tom limb pain | A type of neu­ro­path­ic pain expe­ri­enced by amputees, described as com­ing from the miss­ing limb and pre­sent­ing as burn­ing, stab­bing, or cramp­ing sen­sa­tions. | | Pir­i­formis syn­drome | A neu­ro­mus­cu­lar con­di­tion in which the pir­i­formis mus­cle irri­tates the sci­at­ic nerve, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, and tin­gling in the but­tocks and along the path of the sci­at­ic nerve down the leg. | | Post-mas­tec­to­my pain syn­drome (PMPS) | Affects some women after breast surgery (mas­tec­to­my or lumpec­to­my), caus­ing pain and dis­com­fort in the chest, armpit, or arm on the same side as the surgery. | | Post-sur­gi­cal neu­ro­path­ic pain | Pain occur­ring after surgery due to nerve dam­age or irri­ta­tion dur­ing the pro­ce­dure, affect­ing var­i­ous body areas depend­ing on the site of the surgery. | | Post-stroke pain | Occurs in some indi­vid­u­als after suf­fer­ing a stroke, pre­sent­ing as a burn­ing, aching, or sharp pain on the side of the body oppo­site the loca­tion of the stroke. | | Radi­a­tion-induced neu­ropa­thy | Radi­a­tion ther­a­py for can­cer can some­times cause nerve dam­age, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain in the irra­di­at­ed areas. | | Sar­coido­sis | An inflam­ma­to­ry dis­ease caus­ing gran­u­lo­mas to form in var­i­ous organs, includ­ing the ner­vous sys­tem, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain. | | Sjö­gren’s syn­drome || An autoim­mune dis­ease pri­mar­i­ly affect­ing the sali­vary and tear glands but can also cause periph­er­al neu­ropa­thy and neu­ro­path­ic pain in the hands, feet, or oth­er body areas. | | Spinal cord injury | Dam­age to the spinal cord dis­rupt­ing nerve path­ways and caus­ing neu­ro­path­ic pain below the lev­el of injury, often described as burn­ing, stab­bing, or elec­tric shock-like sen­sa­tions. | | Spinal steno­sis | Nar­row­ing of the spinal canal, caus­ing com­pres­sion of the spinal cord or nerve roots, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, numb­ness, or weak­ness in the back, but­tocks, and legs. | | Stiff per­son syn­drome | A rare neu­ro­log­i­cal dis­or­der char­ac­ter­ized by mus­cle stiff­ness and spasms, which can some­times cause neu­ro­path­ic pain. | | Syringomyelia | A dis­or­der where a cyst (syrinx) forms with­in the spinal cord, caus­ing nerve dam­age and poten­tial­ly lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, typ­i­cal­ly in the neck, arms, and hands. | | Tarlov cysts | Flu­id-filled sacs that form at nerve roots in the sacral region of the spine, caus­ing pres­sure on the nerves and lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain in the low­er back, but­tocks, and legs. | | Tho­racic out­let syn­drome (TOS) | Com­pres­sion of the nerves or blood ves­sels between the col­lar­bone and the first rib, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the shoul­der, arm, and hand. | | Trigem­i­nal neu­ral­gia | Involves the trigem­i­nal nerve, caus­ing sud­den, severe facial pain, often trig­gered by every­day activ­i­ties like talk­ing, chew­ing, or touch­ing the face. | | Tarsal tun­nel syn­drome | Affects the pos­te­ri­or tib­ial nerve as it pass­es through the tarsal tun­nel near the ankle, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the foot and ankle. | | Ulnar neu­ropa­thy | Affects the ulnar nerve, caus­ing pain, numb­ness, or tin­gling in the fore­arm, hand, and ring and lit­tle fin­gers, poten­tial­ly caused by injury, com­pres­sion, or entrap­ment. | | Vas­culitic neu­ropa­thy | Inflam­ma­tion and dam­age to the blood ves­sels sup­ply­ing the periph­er­al nerves, lead­ing to neu­ro­path­ic pain, weak­ness, and numb­ness in the affect­ed limbs. | | Zoster-asso­ci­at­ed pain (pos­ther­pet­ic neu­ral­gia) | A com­pli­ca­tion of shin­gles, caused by the vari­cel­la-zoster virus, lead­ing to per­sis­tent nerve pain after the rash has resolved. |