Initially, patients develop numbness and/or weakness in the hands or feet.  Early on, this involves the fingers and toes, but can work its way up the limbs.  Patients experience burning pain in the extremities – most commonly involving the feet.

Treatment is centered on the underlying disease.  Pain therapy involves medication management centered on neuropathic pain medications. In some cases, Spinal Cord Stimulation can be an effective long-term therapy.

The treatment of neuropathic pain can be very difficult.  It is often necessary to conduct trials of multiple medications before finding the best regimen.  It is important to be patient as effective medications for one individual may be different than others.   These medications include:

Anti-epileptic (anti-seizure) medication – gabapentin, pregabalin, carbamazapine, etc.

Antidepressant medication  - tricyclics (e.g. amitriptyline), SSRIs (e.g. duloxetine)

Topicals – Local anesthetic preparations (creams, gels, patches), other compounded creams

Opiates

After amputation, patients often have phantom limb sensation.  They sense the feeling of the body part that is no longer there.  Normal sensation is generally not a problem, but occasionally these can be painful (Phantom Limb Pain).  Patients experience severe shooting and burning pain in the limb that was already amputated.

Treatment initially involves medication management centered on neuropathic pain medications.  Psychological / cognitive behavioral therapy is also very important.  Spinal Cord Stimulation has been shown to be a very effective long-term therapy.

In the neck, facet pain is reproduced when laterally flexing the neck (trying to touch your ear to your shoulder), as well as extending the neck (looking upwards).

Each individual joint has two nerves that supply it called medial branches.  These nerves are important in the treatment of facet-mediated pain.  This treatment involves medial branch nerve blocks and radiofrequency nerve ablation.

X-rays and MRIs can sometimes be helpful in diagnosing facet pain, but physical exam and diagnostic medial branch nerve blocks are most accurate.