Neuralgia refers to acute paroxysmal pain radiating along the course of one or more nerves. Neuralgia is more common in older people, and has a huge impact on the patient's quality of life, as well as on the financial burden. Common neuralgias include postherpetic neuralgia (pain that continues after a bout of shingles), trigeminal neuralgia (stabbing or electric-shock-like pain in parts of the face), alcoholic neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, etc. Usually, demonstrable changes in the nerve structure can be hardly found in patients with neuralgia. The causes of neuralgia include chemical irritation, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, infections, and so on. However, in many cases, the cause is unknown. Patients with neuralgia may feel pain from any touch or pressure as increased sensitivity of the skin along the path of the damaged nerve. Also, weakness or complete paralysis of muscles supplied by the same nerve is common in patients with neuralgia. So far, there are no specific tests for neuralgia. Some tests such as blood tests to check blood sugar and magnetic resonance imaging may be done to find the cause of the pain. Sometimes, neuralgia may improve on its own or disappear with time, even when the cause is not found. However, attacks of pain may become more frequent in some people as time goes by. The treatments of neuralgias depend on the cause, location, and severity of the pain, including medicines, nerve blocks, physical therapy, procedures to reduce feeling in the nerve, surgery, alternative therapy, and so on. In some rare cases, complex procedures such as spinal cord stimulation, motor cortex stimulation, and intrathecal therapy may also be tried.
Currently, the therapy faces considerable challenges. One primary obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of neuralgia, which results in a lack of medical indexes to reveal disease progression and provide therapeutic targets. Thus, it is important to address advances that have been made in the pathogenesis of neuralgia, as well as new treatments and clinical trials. This Research Topic will highlight recent advancements in the pathophysiological understanding of various types of neuralgia and explore innovative treatments for neuralgia. We will focus on all progress and challenges in prevention, diagnosis, clinical therapy including new medicines and new operative procedures, and research related to neuralgia.
The theme of our Research Topic is "Pathophysiology of Neuralgias and Related Therapies". We welcome all types of articles providing new insights from experimental models and clinical studies concerning the disease mechanisms and various types of treatments for all types of neuralgia, especially those focusing on targets for pharmacological intervention and novel approaches, including but not limited to evaluation of new drugs, pharmacogenomics of drugs for neuralgia, implementation of new procedures. We hope these contributions will pave the way for translational approaches that can significantly improve the quality of life for individuals affected by neuralgia. Article types include, but are not limited to, original research, reviews, case series and literature reviews, and letters.
Keywords:
neuralgia, disease mechanisms, surgery, neuropharmacology, pharmacotherapy, pharmacogenomics
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
Neuralgia refers to acute paroxysmal pain radiating along the course of one or more nerves. Neuralgia is more common in older people, and has a huge impact on the patient's quality of life, as well as on the financial burden. Common neuralgias include postherpetic neuralgia (pain that continues after a bout of shingles), trigeminal neuralgia (stabbing or electric-shock-like pain in parts of the face), alcoholic neuropathy, peripheral neuropathy, etc. Usually, demonstrable changes in the nerve structure can be hardly found in patients with neuralgia. The causes of neuralgia include chemical irritation, chronic kidney disease, diabetes, infections, and so on. However, in many cases, the cause is unknown. Patients with neuralgia may feel pain from any touch or pressure as increased sensitivity of the skin along the path of the damaged nerve. Also, weakness or complete paralysis of muscles supplied by the same nerve is common in patients with neuralgia. So far, there are no specific tests for neuralgia. Some tests such as blood tests to check blood sugar and magnetic resonance imaging may be done to find the cause of the pain. Sometimes, neuralgia may improve on its own or disappear with time, even when the cause is not found. However, attacks of pain may become more frequent in some people as time goes by. The treatments of neuralgias depend on the cause, location, and severity of the pain, including medicines, nerve blocks, physical therapy, procedures to reduce feeling in the nerve, surgery, alternative therapy, and so on. In some rare cases, complex procedures such as spinal cord stimulation, motor cortex stimulation, and intrathecal therapy may also be tried.
Currently, the therapy faces considerable challenges. One primary obstacle is the incomplete understanding of the mechanisms of neuralgia, which results in a lack of medical indexes to reveal disease progression and provide therapeutic targets. Thus, it is important to address advances that have been made in the pathogenesis of neuralgia, as well as new treatments and clinical trials. This Research Topic will highlight recent advancements in the pathophysiological understanding of various types of neuralgia and explore innovative treatments for neuralgia. We will focus on all progress and challenges in prevention, diagnosis, clinical therapy including new medicines and new operative procedures, and research related to neuralgia.
The theme of our Research Topic is "Pathophysiology of Neuralgias and Related Therapies". We welcome all types of articles providing new insights from experimental models and clinical studies concerning the disease mechanisms and various types of treatments for all types of neuralgia, especially those focusing on targets for pharmacological intervention and novel approaches, including but not limited to evaluation of new drugs, pharmacogenomics of drugs for neuralgia, implementation of new procedures. We hope these contributions will pave the way for translational approaches that can significantly improve the quality of life for individuals affected by neuralgia. Article types include, but are not limited to, original research, reviews, case series and literature reviews, and letters.
Keywords:
neuralgia, disease mechanisms, surgery, neuropharmacology, pharmacotherapy, pharmacogenomics
Important Note:
All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.