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    Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Ebook89 pages28 minutes

    Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

    By Kenneth Kee

    4.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Neuropathic pain (neuralgia) is the medical symptom of sharp, shocking pain that follows the path of a nerve and is due to irritation or damage to the nerve.

    Causes of Neuropathic pain
    1. Pressure on a nerve (intervertebral disc or injury)
    2. Nerve inflammation by herpes zoster virus (shingles or herpes zoster)
    3. Unknown cause (trigeminal neuralgia or idiopathic)
    4. Chemical irritation
    5. Chronic renal insufficiency
    6. Diabetes neuropathy
    7. Infections, such as HIV, Lyme disease, herpes zoster (shingles), and syphilis
    8. Medications such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, or vincristine
    9. Porphyria
    10. Pressure on nerves by nearby bones, ligaments, blood vessels, or tumors
    11. Trauma (including surgery)
    In many cases, the cause is not known.
    Post-herpetic neuralgia and trigeminal neuralgia are the two most frequent types of neuropathic pain.
    A related but less frequent neuropathic pain involves the glossopharyngeal nerve, which gives feeling to the throat.
    Neuropathic pain is more frequent in elderly people, but it may happen at any age.

    Symptoms of Neuropathic pain
    1. Raised sensitivity of the skin along the path of the damaged nerve, so that any touch or pressure is sensed as pain
    2. Pain is along the course or distribution of a nerve.
    Pain is normally very severe and is:
    a. Constant and burning
    b. Sharp or stabbing or lancinating
    c. Irritating
    d. Aching
    e. Unpleasant
    f. Lightning like
    g. Perversion of other sensation such as tingling, needle pain
    h. Very frequently described as unlike other pain
    i. Happens in the same location
    j. Becomes worse when the area is moved
    k. Comes and goes (intermittent)
    3. It is frequently worse at night
    4. It is frequently made worse by pressure on the nerve and sparked off by minimal stimuli such as light touch along the pathway of the nerve.
    5. Weakness or complete paralysis of muscles provided by the same nerve

    1. Sciatica
    Sciatica is the pain in the back that radiates down the buttock and thigh down to the leg and foot frequently aggravated by sneezing or coughing.
    Sitting on the painful side of the buttock worsens it.
    Stooping or bending to get some objects also made it worse.
    Walking aggravates the pain intensity.
    Straight leg raising test is a definite positive sign for pain and confirms the sciatica.

    2. Herpes zoster
    Herpes zoster or shingles can give rise to severe pain down one nerve.
    It happens in link with blister like rashes along the path of the nerve.
    It is normally frequent in the elderly and in people whose body resistance is low.
    Because of the blister rashes, sometimes scarring happens over the skin rashes and there may be sensory loss.
    The pain in the nerve is not involved by the sensory loss and can be so severe that some patients may attempt suicide.
    Frequently the pain can continues for the rest of the patient's life.

    3. Trigeminal neuralgia
    Trigeminal neuralgia is another pain which involves the fifth nerve in the face and may very severe.
    I had one patient who could not stand the pain and had his nerve transected in order to obtain relief despite of the drooping of one side of the face after the surgery by an ENT surgeon.
    Despite of the operation, the nerve grew back by itself and the pain returns three years later
    I had to give injections of surgical spirit into the nerve before the pain finally stopped
    The pain is typically severe enough for the doctor to prescribe painkillers and special drugs like tegretol or gabapentin which decrease the inflammation of the nerve
    For some people the slightest touch or contact with clothing can produce unbearable pain

    Diagnosis:
    Trigger points for pain
    MRI of the skull and spine
    Nerve conduction

    Treatment:
    Painkillers
    Anti-convulsant e.g tegretol
    Antidepressant
    Injection anes

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKenneth Kee
    Release dateDec 31, 2017
    ISBN9781370854479
    Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions
    Author

    Kenneth Kee

    Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

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      Book preview

      Neuropathic Pain (Neuralgia), A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions - Kenneth Kee

      Neuropathic Pain

      (Neuralgia),

      A

      Simple

      Guide

      To

      The Condition,

      Diagnosis,

      Treatment

      And

      Related Conditions

      By

      Dr Kenneth Kee

      M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

      Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

      Copyright Kenneth Kee 2015 Smashwords Edition

      Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

      Dedication

      This book is dedicated

      To my wife Dorothy

      And my children

      Carolyn, Grace

      And Kelvin

      This book describes the Neuropathic Pain, Diagnosis, Treatment and Related Conditions or in vernacular terms

      (What You need to treat Neuropathic Pain)

      This eBook is licensed for the personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

      If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

      Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Introduction

      I have been writing medical articles for my blog http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Condition) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

      My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

      Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

      I then wrote an autobiolographical account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

      This autobiolographical account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Conditions into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://ken-med.com.

      From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

      Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

      For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

      The later books go into more details of medical conditions.

      The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

      Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

      As I tried to bring you the latest information about a condition or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

      Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

      I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

      I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

      I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

      Chapter 1

      Neuropathic pain

      What is Neuropathic pain?

      Neuropathic pain (neuralgia) is the medical symptom of sharp, shocking pain that follows the path of a nerve and is due to irritation or damage to the nerve.

      What are the causes of Neuropathic pain?

      1. Pressure on a nerve (intervertebral disc or injury)

      2. Nerve inflammation by herpes zoster virus (shingles or herpes zoster)

      3. Unknown cause (trigeminal neuralgia or idiopathic)

      4. Chemical irritation

      5. Chronic renal insufficiency

      6. Diabetes neuropathy

      7. Infections, such as HIV, Lyme disease, herpes zoster (shingles), and syphilis

      8. Medications such as cisplatin, paclitaxel, or vincristine

      9. Porphyria

      10. Pressure on nerves by nearby bones, ligaments, blood vessels, or tumors

      11. Trauma (including surgery)

      In many cases, the cause is not known.

      Post-herpetic neuralgia and trigeminal neuralgia are the two most frequent types of neuropathic pain.

      A related but less frequent neuropathic pain involves the glossopharyngeal nerve, which gives feeling to the throat.

      Neuropathic pain is more frequent in

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