Cherie
I have experience with neuropathic pain from the perspective of an amputee, i also have a condition called reflex sympathetic dystrophy and i have neuropathic pain in relation to my MS i am also using my experience as an RN when i think about this issue.
The one thing i can tell you is that while there are elements of neuropathic pain that may seem a classic description, there are also a very broad spectrum of other feelings/sensations that are related to neuropathy. Just as MS varies greatly from one person to another but has common threads to the story- my experience of neuropathic pain/sensation is the same- there is a huge spectra of descriptions. Apart from out and out pain, there are altered sensations that can include feelings such as itchiness and feelings heat, tingling etc. or feelings such as ones hand is constantly clenched in a fist no matter what position it really is in!

I guess my thoughts that this was less likely to be an issue with contact to irritants such as detergents is that typically if an indivdual is having problems with contact irritants, they may experience itching, tingling, burning etc but as it these sesations are due to a physical irritation there is usually a physical observable reaction - even if it is only mild redness!- it is relatively easy to eliminate harsh detergents, soaps, perfumes etc to see if things improve though.


As for the questions about whether TENS units work or not. The simple answer is that they do for some individuals with some types of pain but there is no guarentee. For sometypes of pain they work by applying counter irritation. eg, the tingling sensation of the TENS unit is felt instead of the original pain.

The down side is that for some, the constant tingling is just as bad. I have looked after patients who have sworn by TENS units and others who have said they are worse than the pain! TENS units can be rented through Physical threapists at times to test whether they work for you or not. There are also Nerve stimulators that are implanted into the spine that work in a similar way but are definitely more effective when selected to the right client. These are used for some types of neuropathic pain