Chronic stress can lead to neuropathy by damaging the nervous system. When the nervous system is damaged, it can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and other symptoms. The end result is pain, discomfort, or even worse.
The autonomic nervous system has a direct role in physical response to stress and is divided into the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS). When the body is stressed, the SNS contributes to what is known as the “fight or flight” response.
Emotional stress. Emotional stress can have a physical effect on the body. The hormones that get released as a result, the cortisone and other things can create irritations in the body that can create misalignments, that can create pinched nerves.
Damage to these nerves is typically associated with muscle weakness, painful cramps and uncontrollable muscle twitching. Sensory nerves. Because these nerves relay information about touch, temperature and pain, you may experience a variety of symptoms. These include numbness or tingling in the hands or feet.
Anxiety doesn't actually create peripheral neuropathy. While anxiety and stress have been thrown around as possible issues that lead to neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy is about nerve damage, not nerve symptoms, and since anxiety is unlikely to cause nerve damage, it can't technically be peripheral neuropathy.
While anxiety cannot lead to nerve damage that causes pain, it can actually intensify nerve pain caused by injury or accidental nerve damage.
Summary: Pathological anxiety and chronic stress lead to structural degeneration and impaired functioning of the hippocampus and the PFC, which may account for the increased risk of developing neuropsychiatric disorders, including depression and dementia.
A variety of blood tests may be performed to determine the cause of nerve damage. These tests may look for high blood glucose levels, diabetes onset, vitamin deficiencies, etc.
Does an MRI scan show nerve damage? A neurological examination can diagnose nerve damage, but an MRI scan can pinpoint it. It's crucial to get tested if symptoms worsen to avoid any permanent nerve damage.
Normally, the body returns to its resting state once the stress has passed, but prolonged stress exposes the cardiovascular system to higher levels of stress hormones that can take a toll over time. Chronic, lasting stress can increase a person's risk for problems such as high blood pressure, heart attack, or stroke.
CT or MRI scans can look for herniated disks, pinched (compressed) nerves, tumors or other abnormalities affecting the blood vessels and bones. Nerve function tests. Electromyography (EMG) records electrical activity in your muscles to detect nerve damage.
Peripheral neuropathy is the most common, impacting 7 in 10 diabetics, among others. PN is often mistaken for another common illness, multiple sclerosis (MS).
The test involves lightly and briefly (1-2 seconds) touching the tips of the first, third and fifth toes of both feet with the index finger to detect a loss in sensation, and can be performed by patients and relatives alike in the comfort of their own home.
Regeneration time depends on how seriously your nerve was injured and the type of injury that you sustained. If your nerve is bruised or traumatized but is not cut, it should recover over 6-12 weeks. A nerve that is cut will grow at 1mm per day, after about a 4 week period of 'rest' following your injury.
These injuries are often called traumatic brain injuries or traumatic spine injuries. Injured nerve cells in the central nervous system typically do not regenerate. However, this part of the nervous system can reorganize in response to an injury.
Anxiety Can Cause Neuropathy-Like Symptoms
A few of the most obvious symptoms of stress include numbness, burning, tingling, and pain or discomfort when moving. These symptoms are very similar to what you might feel with neuropathy. That's why it's very easy to think you have neuropathy when you actually don't.
Do neurologists treat mental health conditions? Neurologists treat nervous system conditions. This includes conditions that impact your brain, like concussions or seizures, but it doesn't include mental health conditions like depression.
Exposure to stress has long been suspected as a factor that can aggravate MS. There are many studies showing that among people diagnosed with MS, stressful life events are associated with a significant increase in risk of MS exacerbation in the weeks or months following onset of the stressor.
Neuropathic pain is associated with specific psychological factors: fear linked to the painful sensation and perceived danger associated with different activities may cause irritability and social withdrawal [10].
The overlap of anxiety, depression, and pain is particularly evident in chronic and sometimes disabling pain syndromes such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, low back pain, headaches, and nerve pain.