DEAR DR. DONOHUE: Will you please address the condition of neuropathy, nondiabetic in particular? I am an 81-year-old female who developed this curse in December 2005. The burning, stinging, stabbing sensations are painful and never stop. They make sleep problematic. My doctors say it could be due to spinal stenosis, but they offer no suggestions for relief. – M.T.

ANSWER: Neuropathy is nerve damage. Nerves are the body’s telephone cables. They relay information to the brain in the form of sensations – heat, cold, pain, touch, pressure, itch, pleasure and more. They bring information from the brain to muscles, telling the muscles how to move. Neuropathy disrupts these transmissions. Most often it happens to nerves in the “periphery” – the body’s outer limits – and most often it’s the legs and feet.

The result is burning, stabbing or stinging pain. Or it can be numbness or peculiar sensations. Neuropathy of this sort happens to “sensory” nerves, the ones dealing with sensations.

The result also can be muscle weakness or paralysis. Affected nerves in this case are motor nerves, the ones bringing instructions to muscles.

Or it can be a combination of the two.

Causes are many. Compression of nerves due to a narrowing of the spinal canal – spinal stenosis – is one cause. There are solutions for spinal-stenosis-induced neuropathy: enlarging the spinal canal or cortisone injections to reduce inflammation. Other causes are artery inflammation, B-12 deficiency and inherited conditions. Diabetes is a huge cause. A large category is idiopathic, meaning “cause not known.”

Medicines can sometimes quiet the pain. Two antidepressants, Elavil and Cymbalta, have met with some success in reducing neuropathic pain. Tramadol is another helpful medicine. So is the seizure-control medicine Neurontin. Relief is never immediate. People should give medicine a full month’s trial before rejecting it.

I can’t mention neuropathy without mentioning The Neuropathy Association, which provides people with timely information on the illness and its treatment. Its toll-free number is 800-247-6968, and its Web site is www.neuropathy.org.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a hammertoe on my left foot. After removing the callus, it became much better, but I have a sharp pain at the end of that toe, which wakens me in the early-morning hours. Are there any alternatives to surgery? – J.M.

ANSWER: The second toe, the one next to the big toe, is the toe that most often becomes a hammertoe. Its middle joint is permanently bent so that the end of the toe turns down, and the entire toe looks like a hammer, sort of.

Calluses form on the tip of the toe, because it rubs against the sole of the shoe, and on the bent knuckle, which rubs on the top of the shoe. Pain results. If you have a callus on the tip of your toe, it might be the source of the night pain. Soaking it in warm water and buffing the callus with a pumice stone can alleviate the pain. You have to pad your toe at those pressure points to keep new calluses from forming. A shoe insert might redistribute pressure points from your toe and give you relief.

DEAR DR. DONOHUE: I have a red rash on both legs from my knees to my ankles. The dermatologist calls it Schamberg’s disease. He says it might fade in time or it might last forever. Can you give me information on its cause and what I can do to get rid of it? – P.J.

ANSWER: There’s not much information on Schamberg’s disease. Its cause isn’t known. It happens on the lower legs. Thumb-sized, purplish blotches break out. They’re aggregates of dark red or brown deposits no bigger than pinheads. Those deposits are remnants of red blood cells that have leaked out of blood vessels and of the pigment that is inside red blood cells. The Schamberg rash might itch. If it does, cortisone creams are prescribed. Trental, a circulation medicine, is reported to have helped a few Schamberg’s patients.

Your doctor is right. The rash might leave on its own.

Dr. Donohue regrets that he is unable to answer individual letters, but he will incorporate them in his column whenever possible. Readers may write him or request an order form of available health newsletters at P.O. Box 536475, Orlando, FL 32853-6475. Readers may also order health newsletters from www.rbmamall.com