Evaluation and management of the dysesthetic patient.

Abstract

Dysesthesia is symptomatology that includes but is not limited to sensations of pain, burning, crawling, biting, numbness, piercing, pulling, cold, shock-like, pulling, wetness, and heat. These sensations can cause significant emotional distress and functional impairment in affected individuals. Although some cases of dysesthesia are secondary to organic etiologies, most cases exist without an identifiable infectious, inflammatory, autoimmune, metabolic, or neoplastic process. Ongoing vigilance is required for concurrent or evolving processes, including paraneoplastic presentations. Elusive etiologies, unclear treatment regimens, and stigma leave patients and clinicians with a difficult path forward marked by "doctor shopping," lack of treatment, and significant psychosocial distress. We address this symptomatology and the psychosocial burden that often comes with it. Although notoriously labeled as "difficult to treat," dysesthesia patients can be effectively managed, making life-changing relief possible for patients.