Nerve pain can come and go, or it can stay for months or years. It can make even a gentle touch feel painful. This can disrupt a person's daily life activities, such as sleeping, and can lead to depression or anxiety.
On average, damaged nerves can grow back at a rate of about 1 inch per month or 1 millimeter per day.
People with nerve pain feel it in different ways. For some, it's a stabbing pain in the middle of the night. For others, symptoms can include a chronic prickling, tingling, or burning they feel all day. Uncontrolled nerve pain can be hard to bear.
Regeneration time depends on how seriously your nerve was injured and the type of injury that you sustained. If your nerve is bruised or traumatized but is not cut, it should recover over 6-12 weeks. A nerve that is cut will grow at 1mm per day, after about a 4 week period of 'rest' following your injury.
Sit on a chair with your hands behind your back and slump forward. Then bend your neck forward and lift one leg up with the toes pointed toward you. If this causes pain, you may have a nerve problem.
Electromyography (EMG) is used to record the electrical activity in muscle. It can identify abnormalities in the muscles or nerves resulting from peripheral neuropathy, nerve degeneration or damage to the protective covering (myelin sheath) that surrounds the nerves in your brain or spinal cord.
As a specialist in peripheral nerve surgery, Dr. Seruya wants his patients to know that after a period of 12-18 months nerve damage can become permanent.
Most of the time, the pins and needles feeling is a good sign. It's a short-term phase that means nerves are coming back to life.
Nerve pain often feels like a shooting, stabbing or burning sensation. Sometimes it can feel as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. You may be very sensitive to touch or cold. You may also experience pain as a result of touch that would not normally be painful, such as something lightly brushing your skin.
An MRI may be able help identify structural lesions that may be pressing against the nerve so the problem can be corrected before permanent nerve damage occurs. Nerve damage can usually be diagnosed based on a neurological examination and can be correlated by MRI scan findings.
How Long Have You Had the Pain? If you experience pain or discomfort from a pinched nerve for more than three days and you're not finding any relief from over-the-counter non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) or other treatments, this is a red flag.
To find out, conclusively, if your nerves are damaged, you need to see a neurologist. He or she will perform tests to determine the health of your muscles and nerves. If there is a problem, the doctor will explain the reason for the damage and its extent. They will follow up by devising a treatment plan.
While anxiety cannot lead to nerve damage that causes pain, it can actually intensify nerve pain caused by injury or accidental nerve damage.
The outlook for peripheral neuropathy varies, depending on the underlying cause and which nerves have been damaged. Some cases may improve with time if the underlying cause is treated, whereas in some people the damage may be permanent or may get gradually worse with time.
To achieve full recovery, the nerve must undergo three main processes: Wallerian degeneration (the clearing process of the distal stump), axonal regeneration, and end-organ reinnervation.
It is important to differentiate this tingling from the pain sometimes produced by pressure on an injured nerve. The pain is a sign of irritation of the nerve; tingling is a sign of regeneration; or more precisely, tingling indicates the presence of young axons, in the process of growing.
Tingling or burning in the arms and legs may be an early sign of nerve damage. These feelings often start in your toes and feet. You may have deep pain. This often happens in the feet and legs.
Application of vitamin B complex or vitamin B 12 has been shown to increase the number of Schwann cells and myelinated nerve fibers and the diameter of axons, and thereby promote the regeneration of myelinated nerve fibers and the proliferation of Schwann cells (Lopatina et al., 2011).
Introduction: Peripheral nerve injury is a common cause of lifelong disability in the United States.
A blood test can detect conditions that may be causing peripheral neuropathy, such as diabetes, nutrient deficiencies, liver or kidney dysfunction, and abnormal immune system activity.
Nerve conduction studies, including an Electromyogram (EMG) may be performed on individuals suffering with nerve pain symptoms. These studies use electrical impulses to determine the level of damage. A final diagnosis will be made by your physician through the help of one or all of these tests.
While some “pinched nerves” may resolve independently with a little TLC, some nerve compression problems worsen over time. If you ignore your symptoms, you could wind up with permanent nerve damage, along with chronic pain, muscle weakness, and mobility problems.
What Evidence May Prove the Accident Caused Your Nerve Damage? Proving you suffered nerve damage is difficult. Part of the reason for this is that some nerve damage, such as a whiplash injury, is not visible. Even when you have a diagnosis, it can be challenging to prove the injury was the result of your car accident.