How to diagnose peripheral neuritis?

The main symptoms of peripheral neuritis include sensory block, motor block and autonomic nerve function block. When these three symptoms appear, everyone should be alert because it may mean that you have peripheral neuritis.

1. Feeling blocked:

In the early stage, it is often manifested by abnormal sensations such as burning, pain, numbness, etc. at the finger (or toe) tips, or sensory allergies, and gradually there is a decrease in sensation and even loss of sensation. The distribution of the block is felt to be glove- or sock-like. A small number of patients may have deep sensory block. There is often tenderness in the gastrocnemius muscle and other places.

2. Activity blockage :

The symptoms include decreased muscle strength, low muscle tone, weakened or lost tendon reflexes, and those caused by some causes (such as furazolidone) may have active reflexes. Muscle atrophy may occur after long-term illness.

3. Autonomic nerve function blockade:

The skin on the extremities of patients with peripheral neuritis becomes cool, pale, flushed or slightly cyanotic, and sometimes they may sweat a lot or a little. The skin of patients with peripheral neuritis becomes thinner, tender or rough, and the nails lose their normal luster and keratinization increases.

Because of different causes, the above three groups of symptoms may be different. For example, those caused by furazolidone poisoning, arsenic poisoning, etc., the pain is often more severe; those caused by diabetes sometimes have more obvious muscle atrophy. The severity of clinical manifestations varies. In mild cases, there may only be pain and numbness in the extremities without loss of sensation or movement blockage, while in severe cases, there may be limb paralysis. The prognosis is generally good. Recovery often starts from the distal end of the limb.