Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage - An Insight

What Are the Types of Nerves in the Body?

Nerves are of three types. These include:

• Motor Nerves: These nerves control actions and movements by passing the information to the brain and spinal cord to the muscles.

• Autonomic Nerve: These nerves control id partially voluntary and involuntary activities of the body, such as blood pressure, heart rate, temperature regulation, and digestion.

• Sensory Nerve: These nerves relay the information from the muscles and skin back to the spinal cord and brain. This information gets processed, and the person feels the pain and other sensations.

Since these nerves play an important role in body functioning, nerve pain, and nerve damage can affect the person’s quality of life.

What Are the Types of Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage?

Nerve pain, neuropathic pain, or neuralgia occurs when any medical health condition affects the sensory nerves of the brain. The feeling of nerve pain and nerve damage differs from any other type of pain in the body. Nerve pain can affect any nerve in the body, but some nerves are more affected than others.

These include:

• Trigeminal Pain - This pain is felt in the jaw and cheeks.

• Pudendal Pain - This causes pain between the legs or in the saddle area.

• Post-Herpetic Pain - This pain is usually felt after herpes zoster infection or shingles and causes pain in the area of the shingles rash.

• Occipital Pain - This pain occurs in the base of the skull and spreads to the back of the head.

What Are the Causes of Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage?

Nerve pain usually occurs due to any injury, trauma, or disease that affects the brain and spinal cord (central nervous system) or the body's nerves that run to muscles and organs.

Common causes of nerve pain and nerve damage include

• Poor blood supply to the nerves.

• Injury to nerves, brain, or spinal cord.

• Pain after amputation.

• Some medications.

• Vitamin B1 (thiamine) or vitamin B12 deficiency.

• Heavy use of alcohol.

Disease-related nerve pain and nerve damage include:

• Diabetes.

• Stroke.

• Multiple sclerosis.

• Infectious diseases, such as shingles, HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), or AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).

• Carpel tunnel syndrome, or trapped nerves. This syndrome mainly affects the wrist and hands and is caused by the pressure on the median nerve that extends from the forearm into the hands.

• Cancer and its treatment, including medicine, chemotherapy, or surgery.

Other related conditions include

• Peripheral neuropathy or damage to the peripheral nerves that connect the brain and spinal cord to the rest of the body. This condition is mainly caused due to autoimmune diseases, such as multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and other medical conditions.

• Sciatica or pressure on the lower back nerves causes leg pain, numbness, pins and needles, and weakness in the legs.

• A chronic pain syndrome or fibromyalgia causes aching pain and burning sensation in different body parts. The disease's exact cause is unknown, but it may occur due to poor sleep, emotional distress, and genetic factors.

What Are the Symptoms of Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage?

Symptoms of nerve damage depend on the location and type of nerve affected and present various symptoms. This nerve damage mainly occurs in the spinal cord, brain, and peripheral nerves throughout the body.

Symptoms of motor nerve damage include:

• Muscle atrophy.

• Paralysis.

• Weakness.

• Twitching, or fasciculation.

Symptoms of autonomic nerve damage include:

• Dry eyes and mouth.

• Constipation.

• Inability to feel chest pain, such as heart attack or angina.

• Lightheadedness.

• Sexual dysfunction.

• Too much or too little sweating, also called hyperhidrosis or anhydrosis.

• Bladder dysfunction.

Symptoms of sensory nerve damage include:

• Numbness.

• Burning.

• Pain.

• Sensitivity.

• Pickling or tingling.

• Problems associated with positional awareness.

How Is Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage Diagnosed?

The doctor diagnoses nerve damage and pain by examining a person's symptoms. They test the nerves by checking the muscle sensitivity, strength, and reflexes to touch.

Some of the diagnostic tests recommended by the doctor to analyze the nerve damage include:

• Blood Tests: This helps check a person's overall health and rule out an underlying medical condition causing nerve pain.

• MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) or CT (Computed Tomography) Scan: This helps to identify the cause of the pain.

• Nerve Conduction Studies: It helps the doctor to analyze how quickly the nerves carry electrical impulses or signals. In this study, an EMG or electromyogram test is performed on a person to determine the level of nerve damage.

These diagnostic tests help the doctor understand the type of nerve pain and guide in exploring various treatment options to relieve and manage nerve damage.

How Is Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage Treated?

Nerve damage cannot be cured completely, but various treatment strategies can help relieve nerve pain and other symptoms.

1. Treating the Underlying Condition Causing Nerve Pain:

• Regulating the blood sugar levels in diabetic patients.

• Changing the drugs or medications that are causing the nerve pain.

• Treating the autoimmune conditions.

• Treating nutritional deficiencies, such as vitamin B12 deficiency.

• Treating compression and trauma to nerves with physical therapies or surgery to remove pressure on the nerve.

2. Medication:

• Pain relievers.

• Capsaicin Cream.

• Tricyclic Antidepressants, such as Desipramine and Amitriptyline, and antidepressants, such as Venlafaxine and Duloxetine.

• Anti-seizure drugs, such as Pregabalin and Neurontin.

3. Alternative Approaches:

• Meditation.

• Acupuncture.

• Hypnosis.

• Biofeedback.

• Electrical nerve stimulation, such as TENS.

• Antioxidant vitamins.

4. Lifestyle Changes:

• Eating a balanced diet.

• Regular exercise.

• Staying active and fit to retain body flexibility.

• Getting treatment for disturbed sleep due to excessive or chronic pain conditions.

How Can Nerve Pain and Nerve Damage Be Prevented?

Nerve damage and pain can be prevented in the following ways:

• By eating a balanced diet.

• Avoiding alcohol or drinking in moderation.

• Controlling blood sugar levels and other medical conditions with proper treatment and follow-ups.

• Proper body weight management.

• Avoiding smoking.

Conclusion

Nerve pain and nerve damage can occur due to various factors and affect a person’s life to a great extent. Therefore, one must address such issues to the doctor for the first time only when such pain or discomfort is experienced. Since certain medical conditions also cause this pain, the doctor’s advice must be diligently followed by a person to treat the underlying cause and relieve their symptoms.