“Neuropathic pain is a complex, chronic pain state that usually is accompanied by tissue injury. With neuropathic pain, the nerve fibers themselves may be damaged, dysfunctional, or injured. These damaged nerve fibers send incorrect signals to other pain centers. Chronic neuropathic pain affects 3% of the population—about a million Canadians. However, its prevalence is increasing as our population ages since some of the common causes of neuropathic pain occur most often in the elderly” quoted from WebMd
The symptoms of neuropathic pain are different from those of other kinds of pain. Neuropathic pain can cause numbness, a burning sensation, sensitivity to touch, tingling, shooting pain and a feeling of being electrically
shocked. Sometimes the skin becomes discoloured or swelling may occur. There are many types of medications that can help relieve neuropathic pain, but no single answer: different pains may respond differently to various medications. Most often, a doctor will start treatment with either a kind of antidepressant called a tricyclic antidepressant or a drug used to prevent seizures, called an anticonvulsant. Phizer PDF
Sadly these are not with side effects and many patients are searching for other non conventional treatment, without the negative side effects of pharmaceuticals. Luckily there is good news for neuropathic pain patients looking for non conventional treatments to ease their suffering…
Watch this Informational video featuring Nathan Wei MD, discussing the studies showing promising results for using Medicinal Cannabis as a treatment for Neuropathic Pain.
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