What Are the Best Treatment Options for Neuropathy?

Dr. Helen Koselka, an internal medicine specialist from TriHealth's Good Samaritan Hospital Faculty Medical Center and Queen City Medical Group – Clifton, discusses neuropathy and the best way to treat it.

“Neuropathy is the doctor’s term for nerve damage,” Dr. Koselka tells Local 12’s Liz Bonis.

Early symptoms typically include tingling in the hands and feet, and can be caused by a variety of conditions.

Typically, medications are prescribed to treat neuropathy. Because neuropathy tends to be a common problem in people with diabetes, many of these medications balance blood sugar levels.

There are also medications available for people experiencing pain, which includes a lot of the antidepressant medications. “We actually now use anti-seizure medications to help with pain,” Dr. Koselka explains. “We do things like topical medication [including] Capsaicin, Lidocaine patches – things like that.”

Aside from pain, people may experience numbness, which is risky because “If you’re going around barefoot, you might step on a splinter, nail or injure yourself in some way, and don’t even know that you’ve had it,” she points out.

The onset of neuropathy can be caused by several different factors, including:

Learn more about different types of neuropathy in the TriHealth.com Health Library: