Condition: Nerve Damage

Nerve Damage is also known as ‘Neuropathic Pain’ which is a particular form of pain message that we experience when there is specific damage to the nerves. This type of pain falls into three broad categories:

An example of this would be where, during the course of an accident, a nerve was severed. Even if the nerve is successfully repaired at surgery, the function of the nerve may be permanently altered. Under these circumstances, the sensations we feel are often described using the terms listed above.

The second main category wherein the above symptoms are experienced is when a nerve is temporarily, or indeed permanently, squeezed or put under pressure. A common example of this is would be Sciatica. Under such circumstances one of the soft shock absorbing discs in the spine is damaged and bulges outward, commonly known as a ‘slipped disc’. The bulge then squeezes the nerve that exits the spinal canal, causing a painful sensation that can run all the way from the back through the bottom and down to the foot. Should a disc be damaged in the chest then such sensations would be experienced coming around one or several of the ribs. If the discs were damaged in the neck then the sensations may travel from the neck to the fingers.

The third situation is when there is an acute irritation of the nerve. The best example of this is “shingles”. This condition arises when the chicken pox virus that we may have been exposed to as a child becomes reactivated when we are feeling run down or are ill in another way. The virus spreads along one particular (or sometimes two or three) nerves and the characteristic rash appears on the skin. Whilst the virus is active, and the nerve irritated, an intense burning, electrical pain can be experienced.

Clearly working out which of these three categories is causing the nerve to misbehave is the starting point for sorting the problem out.