Painfully Clear Illustartion by Andrea Ventura Painfully Clear Physicians and researchers have begun to identify the cause and develop treatments that may quench the agony of neuropathic pain. And while the pain of a bug bite fades as the skin heals, neuropathic pain persists and sometimes intensifies-even after healing is complete.
Hypersensitivity becomes the norm.
Worse, traditional painkillers, from aspirin to heavy-hitting opiates like morphine, offer little relief to patients. Neuropathic pain most commonly results from surgery, injuries and diseases such as cancer, diabetes, stroke, AIDS and shingles. For the millions of Americans who live with it, the pain can severely limit functioning. It leaves others confined in a cycle of pain and depression, doubting whether they will ever escape it. Just talking about the scores of cases of intractable pain he has seen during his more than 30 year career makes Ronald Katz, M.D., cringe.