Peripheral Neuropathy Symptoms in Hands & Fingers

Peripheral neuropathy is a debilitating disease that causes a severe impact on the quality of life of its sufferers.  Neuropathy refers to a disease of the nerves, and about one third of peripheral neuropathy cases are caused by the uncontrolled blood sugar levels of diabetes mellitus.

It takes a long period of time, usually years, for diabetes to cause nerve damage sufficient to produce the initial symptoms of peripheral neuropathy.  Neuropathy is a progressive disease that will spread to the rest of the body and become autonomic neuropathy if it’s underlying cause is not diagnosed and treated quickly and proficiently.

My personal experience with tingling, burning, prickling, and numbness in the hands and fingers.

The initial symptoms are a tingling or burning sensation in the extremities, usually the feet but in a lesser percentage of people it begins in the hands or fingers. In my personal experience with diabetic peripheral neuropathy, the symptoms first manifested themselves in my hands and not in my feet.

When I went to the doctor, they were initially unsuspecting of neuropathy because of my age and relatively normal weight, plus my lack of a history with diabetes and uncontrolled blood sugar levels.  They suspected that the pain was caused by over-exertion or strain of some kind although I intuitively knew that that was not the case.

It took several more weeks of persistent pain and trips to the hospital with the accompanying lab tests before it was determined that I had a blood sugar level that, while not extreme, fell in the diabetic range and was most likely causing the numbness and tingling in my hands.

I knew that I desperately did not want to live with this horrible pain, but the doctors were unable to assure me that it would ever go away.  Talk about a nerve-racking diagnosis that had me worried that my quality of life would never be the same.

I formed a new found dedication to proper nutrition and exercise, and was determined that if it was possible to reverse the symptoms of peripheral neuropathy in my hands, that I would do it.  I exercised almost every day and ate no sugar and only whole, unprocessed foods.

For the first two months, my symptoms did not abate and I was exceedingly worried that I would never see any relief.  But my prayers were answered after a few months when the tingling in my hands began to dissipate and eventually disappeared.  I was overjoyed.

I tell you this story to give you hope and a personal testament to the fact that peripheral neuropathy symptoms can in fact be healed in some cases.

Take your symptoms seriously, and there are prescription medications that can help

I urge you to heed your symptoms with the utmost seriousness and make lifestyle choices to undo the damage that has been done to your nerves.  If not, the symptoms will progress and become more painful and can lead to abscesses on the hands and fingers as well as loss of proper motor function.

Keep in mind, there are several prescription medications that can ease the symptoms.  Talk to your doctor about peripheral neuropathy creams, vitamin B supplements to your diet, and other options available to you.  They may significantly reduce your suffering while you attempt to get your diabetes and blood sugar levels under control.