Peripheral neuropathy means damage to the peripheral nervous system (PNS). The PNS is a huge part of your nervous system that transmits information from the brain and spinal cord (the central nervous system) to every other part of the body—and back again. It's a two-way street. Peripheral neuropathy interferes with the normal communication back and forth.
Because there are many kinds of peripheral nerves—each with a highly specialized function—damage to peripheral nerves can cause many different symptoms: numbness, tingling, prickling, burning, pins-and-needles, sensitivity to touch, sensitivity to cold or heat, weakness--even paralysis.
But here's the really bad part about peripheral neuropathy, the part that confuses most doctors and prolongs your misery...
Just because you feel symptoms in your feet doesn't mean that's where the problem is. The problem could be the nerves in your feet, but it could also be anywhere along the path from the feet to the parietal lobe in the brain.
The parietal lobe is where all of the sensory information from your peripheral nerves is processed.
Simply put, if the parietal lobe becomes weak you're going to feel symptoms such as tingling, burning, pain, numbness. These symptoms feel and look like peripheral neuropathy but they're actually caused by a weak parietal lobe.
To make things worse, the real cause of your symptoms may be that your immune system is attacking your peripheral nerves and damaging them (autoimmune attack).
Most people suffering with symptoms of peripheral neuropathy have a complex combination of causes. Taking a medication like Neurontin® and crossing your fingers and hoping it's going to get better is not going to work.
