Peripheral Neuropathies

Columbia Neurology has a team of neuromuscular disease specialists who focus on the diagnosis and treatment of peripheral neuropathies.

Peripheral Neuropathies are a group of disorders resulting from damage to the nerves outside the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves).  These nerves are responsible for transmitting information between the brain, the spinal cord, and the rest of the body. More than a hundred types of peripheral neuropathy have been identified, each with a defining set of symptoms.

The symptoms depend on the type of nerve fiber affected. Damage to sensory nerves may cause numbness, tingling, and prickly sensations. Others develop an extreme sensitivity to touch. Severe symptoms can include burning pain, which is typically worse at night. Damage to motor fibers can cause weakness, often in the arms and legs. Damage to the autonomic nerves can affect the internal organs, such as low blood pressure when standing (orthostatic hypotension) or bladder, sexual, or gastrointestinal symptoms. 

If you have been previously diagnosed with peripheral neuropathy, our expert physicians can offer help. We offer comprehensive electrophysiological studies, including nerve conduction studies, electromyography, and autonomic testing, and advanced treatment options.

If the cause of your neuropathy can be identified and treated, the nerves may repair or regenerate. Your symptoms may improve with proper treatment. 

Conditions We Treat

• AL amyloid polyneuropathy
• Anti-MAG Neuropathy
• Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease
• Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy
• Chronic Inflammatory Demyelinating Polyneuropathy (CIDP)
• Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy
• Guillain-Barre syndrome/Acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (AIDP)
• Hereditary Transthyretin Amyloid Polyneuropathy
• Idiopathic polyneuropathy
• Neuropathy from prediabetes/metabolic syndrome
• Neuropathy from vitamin deficiencies
• POEMS syndrome (polyneuropathy, organomegaly, endocrinopathy, M protein, skin changes)