11 Facts About Neuropathic pain

Neuropathic pain is pain caused by damage or disease affecting the somatosensory system.

Diagnosis of Neuropathic pain conditions relies on the character of the Neuropathic pain with a sharp stabbing character and the presence of particular features such as mechanical allodynia and cold allodynia.

Neuropathic pain can occur alone or in combination with other types of pain.

The identification of neuropathic pain components is important as different classes of analgesic are required.

Central neuropathic pain is found in spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis, and some strokes.

Neuropathic pain has profound physiological effects on the brain which can manifest as psychological disorders.

Neuropathic pain has important effects on social well-being that should not be ignored.

Notably the capsaicin used for the relief of neuropathic pain is a substantially higher concentration than capsaicin creams available over the counter, there is no evidence that over the counter capsaicin cream can improve neuropathic pain and topical capsaicin can itself induce pain.

The mechanistic basis of neuropathic pain remains controversial as do the relative contributions of each pathway.

Major hypothesis in the theory of Neuropathic pain perception is the gate control theory of Neuropathic pain, proposed by Wall and Melzack in 1965.

Neuropathic pain is associated with changes in sodium and calcium channel subunit expression resulting in functional changes.