How to Test for Peripheral Neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition in which the nerves are damaged. It can occur due to many factors, such as diabetes. (Blood sugar levels that are out of control can cause nerve damage.) However, a patient who is diabetic and has peripheral neuropathy can also have another condition that is causing the neuropathy. So it is important to have exclusionary tests run just in case you have a previously undiagnosed condition. Common symptoms of peripheral neuropathy include a burning, stinging, tingling, or "pins and needles" sensation along your legs, feet, arms and hands. You may also experience numbness.

Instructions

• 1

  Schedule a physical examination with your doctor and inform her of all of your symptoms. Your doctor will also evaluate your medical history, family medical history and ask whether you've had problems such as nausea, dizziness, light-headedness, sexual dysfunction or loss of bladder control. These can all be symptoms of neuropathy.

• 2

  Get your blood drawn and tested. Sometimes peripheral neuropathy is associated with diabetes, low vitamin B levels, lyme disease, hepatitis C and B and the dysfunction of the thyroid, kidneys or liver.

• 3

  Consider having a nerve biopsy done, which can check for the degeneration of the myelin sheath (that wraps around the nerve), and for axonal degeneration. This is an outpatient procedure and your doctor will use a local anesthetic.

• 4

  Ask your doctor about having an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging). Although this cannot pinpoint neuropathy, it can rule out other conditions that may lead you to experience the same symptoms.

• 5

  Get a nerve conduction velocity test performed. This will measure your nerves' electrical impulses and may help to determine the exact nature of your condition, which in turn may help with treatment plans.