The nerve conduction study showed that I had 'sensory' neuropathy. That means that the surface, or long nerves that are closer to the surface are the ones affected. I don't have sensory-motor neuropathy (think that's how they spell it), if the motor region of the nerves are affected, then the mechanics of movement are affected too. You might get drop-foot, where it drags, for instance. I guess you could say that mine is strictly a variety of pains and not technically a handicap in the classic sense. Problem is, one of the symptoms is swelling (edema) in the feet and legs which are due to circulation problems caused by the nerves not working to constrict the capillaries and push the blood through, so fluid is created. I had it going up into my knee, and causing great pain and handicapping me. I got that under control eventually with diuretics, which I don't use all the time because I don't need to.
My situation goes like this - I have numbness in my feet, have a little feeling in the arch area, but not much, the rest is pretty numb. I have stinging and burning, which I control with gabapentin (neurontin). One 300 mg pill lasts almost 4 hours. Then I feel the stinging and take another one. On and on.

I have shooting nerve pains (which kind of feels like you have a cramp in your foot and your toes lock up, that kind of stabbing pain), and my feet also ache all around, and when they start aching, I take tramadol or vicodin. Usually tramadol because I can function better during the day. The ache is caused because when I walk, I feel like I'M WALKING ON ROCKS IN MY BARE FEET-LIKE AT THE BEACH, even though I have shoes on. There are no bumps on my feet, they're completely normal looking. I have discovered shoes with a spring on the heel called Z-COIL, look it up, I think people like nurses wear them because they work all day on their feet. So, the 'walking on rocks' phenomenon, while it has no structural defects that contribute to it, mimics a handicap anyway. That's why you can't just say 'it's a pain', because until you experience the VARIETY of symptoms, and the fact that they're not organic in origin, and don't go away, you will have a whole new category other than 'handicap' and 'just pain'. It's a whole new world. I could never have understood it until it happened to me. Hope this helps. And every day is different - you'll probably experience a different variety of pains, even though the stinging and burning usually become a constant.