Essential facts

The International Association for the Study of Pain defines neuropathic pain as ‘pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system’. A review of the epidemiology of chronic pain, carried out in 2012, found that there is still no accurate data available for its prevalence. However, postal surveys carried out in France and the UK have led to estimations that between 6 and 8 per cent of people could be affected.

Pain can have a significant impact on quality of life, including general and psychological health plus social and economic wellbeing. There is evidence that people with neuropathic pain experience poorer physical and mental health than people with other forms of pain.