Who will get peripheral neuritis?

Peripheral neuritis is a disease of multiple peripheral nerve damage caused by many reasons. When peripheral neuritis occurs, it will cause patients to have movement disorders and sensory disorders. If the disease is allowed to continue to worsen, it will cause patients to develop autonomic neuritis complications, which will have a great impact on patients' lives. If you are unfortunately suffering from peripheral neuritis, you must not ignore it. Timely treatment is very important.

Who will get peripheral neuritis?

1. Sensory disturbance: In the early stage, the symptoms are often abnormal sensations such as burning pain, numbness or hyperesthesia at the finger (or toe) tips, and gradually the sensation decreases or even disappears. The distribution of sensory disturbance is glove or sock-like. A few patients may have deep sensory disturbance, and there is often tenderness in the gastrocnemius muscle.

2. Movement disorders: manifested as decreased muscle strength, low muscle tone, weakened or disappeared tendon reflexes. In some cases (such as furazolidone), the reflexes may be active, and muscle atrophy may occur after a long illness.

3. Autonomic dysfunction: cool, pale, flushed or mildly cyanotic skin on extremities, little or excessive sweating, dry, tender or rough skin, loss of normal luster of nails and increased keratinization, etc.

Peripheral neuritis symptoms

When suffering from peripheral neuritis, the main symptoms of the patient are symmetrical sensory, motor and autonomic dysfunction in the distal limbs.

1. Symmetrical sensation in the distal extremities

Paresthesias (pain, numbness, allergy, reduction) are often in the form of gloves or stockings.

2. Movement disorders

There is muscle weakness, low muscle tone, weakened or absent tendon reflexes, and in the late stage there is muscle atrophy mainly in the distal limbs.

3. Autonomic dysfunction

The patients mainly show symptoms of cool, pale and cyanotic skin on the extremities, or sweating disorders, and the skin becomes rough and thin.

Peripheral neuritis examination

1. The white blood cell count may increase slightly, causing nutritional anemia and increased blood and urine sugar in diabetics.

2. Electrophysiological examination, MCV (motor nerve conduction velocity) and SCV (sensory nerve conduction velocity) may slow down or disappear, and EMG (electromyography) shows denervation changes.

Differential Diagnosis

1. Erythromelalgia

A disease caused by paroxysmal dilation of small blood vessels in the extremities due to vasomotor dysfunction, more common in the lower limbs, manifested by severe pain in the extremities, increased local skin temperature, redness, sweating or mild pitting edema. During an attack, immersing the affected limb in cold water can reduce or relieve the pain. Vasodilation after heat can aggravate the symptoms.

Most common in the lower limbs, manifested as severe pain in the extremities 2. Raynaud's disease

The disease is caused by local ischemia due to intermittent contraction or spasm of small blood vessels in the extremities. It is more common in the upper limbs and manifests as pale, cold, numbness and burning sensation of both fingers. It may also turn bluish purple due to secondary capillary dilation. In the late stage, it may cause cyanosis and ulceration. The symptoms may be aggravated by vasoconstriction in cold weather.

3. Hysterical limb numbness

It is often caused by mental factors, with varying degrees and duration of limb numbness, and other hysterical symptoms. Tendon reflexes are often active, and the range of sheath sensory impairment often exceeds the elbows and knee joints, or the boundaries change erratically.