Originally Posted by glenntaj

--a lot of neuros will label neruopathy "mild", "moderate" and "severe" in different ways than we would, based on degree of nerve damage.

Very often, to them "mild" neuropathy involves partial damage to the nerves, whereas "moderate" or "severe" involves actual nerve death. However, partial nerve damage often results in severe neural pain, especially in small-fiber syndromes, as the nerves are compromised but still alive enough to transmit signals, albeit erroneously, registering pain spontaneouysly even in the absence of painful stimuli (allodynia). They may also register a whole host of non-painful stimuli--tingling, shoots, presences of something on the skin in the absence of any actual presence--this is termed parastheses.

"Severe" neuropathy tends to involve nerve death; in many of those cases there is an absence of sensation at all, or numbness. While not everyone would agree, many would say that moment to moment the numbness is easier to tolerate symptomatically than nerve pain or parastheses. Of course, lack of sensation produces its own problems--we may have balance difficulties or lose our sense to pull away from truly dangerous stimuli, as we won't notice them.