--it is very possible to have major painful damage to the small fibers that subsume pain and temperature and still come out normal on nerve conduction studies, which only measure the larger, myelinated nerves. The technology is not yet there for those electrical studies to measure smaller nerves, so other measures would have to be taken, which might include quantitaive sensory testing, sudomotor axon reflex testing, and skin and/or nerve biopsy.

Many neuros are not familiar with small-fiber neuropathies, and start to look at you askance when you have neural pain symptoms but your standard tests are normal. I have given such doctors copies of the following two papers (both can be found in the Useful Sites):

http://www.thecni.org/reviews/13-2-p07-treihaft.htm

http://www.dcmsonline.org/jax-medici...uropathies.htm