Using Tramadol For for Neuropathic Pain Relief

Neuropathic pain ('neuralgia') is a pain that comes from problems with signals from the nerves. There are various causes. It is different to the common type of pain that is due to an injury, burn, pressure, etc. Traditional painkillers such as paracetamol, anti-inflammatories, codeine and morphine may help, but often do not help very much.

Nociceptive pain is where you suffer tissue damage and the nerves carry a warning signal to the brain about it. Neuropathic pain is frequently caused by damage to the peripheral nerves. Symptoms may include burning or shooting sensations, and abnormal sensitivity to normally non-painful stimuli.

Neuropathic pain is difficult to treat. The problem in treating neuropathic pain is that the patient often does not present with an obvious physical cause for the sensations.Anticonvulsants and antidepressants are frequently used but their use is limited by side effects. A recent research review concluded that tramadol in particular may be a good option for neuropathic pain in certain situations.

Clinical practice standards vary between countries and the treatment regimes differ depending on the diagnosis. Some classify the symptoms as presented with a greater balance in favour of psychological factors and shift the therapy towards drugs that treat depressive illnesses. Others focus on physical symptomology and favour anticonvulsants, muscle relaxants, etc. But the use of many of the primary drugs in these regimes is limited by their side-effects. Because Tramadol is an artificial opiate, it has a unique pain-killing quality.

Four randomised trials involving 338 patients compared Tramadol to other drugs and/or a placebo control. The placebo results show that dosages between 100-400mg offer effective relief from peripheral neuropathic pain. The two other research projects involved fewer than forty participants in comparing Tramadol to morphine and to Clomipramine respectively. These trials were inconclusive as to which of the drugs was the more effective.