Autoimmune diseases, motor neuron disease, cancer, infections, and diabetes can all cause nerve damage. Nerves may also be damaged through acute or progressive injury and malnutrition. Treatment depends on whether the nerve is compressed, partially damaged, or severely damaged.
Repair Minor Nerve Damage
Be patient. Only a few pinched or severed nerves slowly repair themselves. Nerve tissue dies at the injured site, and connections between intact nerve endings must be reestablished to restore function. This process is called regeneration.
- There are many causes of pinched nerves, including poor body posture, injury, arthritis, spinal stenosis, and/or obesity.
Take NSAIDs or paracetamol. Unless otherwise directed by your doctor, these medications should be used only for short-term treatment of acute pain, no longer than 1 to 2 weeks.
- NSAIDs help reduce nerve swelling and inflammation, and paracetamol only relieves pain.
- Make sure these medicines do not interact with other medicines you take. For example, if you are taking blood thinners, you should not take aspirin.
- Long-term use of NSAIDs can cause gastritis and stomach ulcers. Be aware of the use of these medications.
Get physical therapy. If the nerve is pinched rather than severed, doctors usually recommend physical therapy to repair the damage and improve strength and mobility. Ask your doctor if physical therapy is right for you.
- Some insurance does not cover physical therapy costs. If you have questions about the cost, ask your insurance company.
- After an acute injury, you may need to wait weeks or months before starting physical therapy. Nerves need time to recover and regenerate.
- If it’s difficult to move on land, try low-weight training in the water. Once your endurance improves, try some strength and resistance training.
Get acupuncture. Some patients find that acupuncture calms the nerves, allowing them to continue normal activities while the nerves repair.
- Biofeedback can also help. You can control body functions through biofeedback. Electronic sensors attached to your body give feedback information about your body to help you focus and relax.
- The cost of acupuncture or biofeedback is usually not covered by insurance.
Repair Moderate Nerve Damage
Perform electromyography or nerve conduction testing. These tests can find out the location and severity of nerve damage. Your doctor may also order an MRI.
- Some tests can be performed by a general practitioner, such as an electromyogram. More invasive tests, such as MRIs, need to be done by a specialist or in a hospital.
Consider injections to numb the nerves. If your doctor determines that the nerve damage will not cause long-term damage, you may be candidates for a “nerve root block” to numb the nerve, or a steroid injection to reduce inflammation. Nerve root blocks are commonly used in pain management and are performed by trained anesthesiologists. Steroids can help you recover from nerve damage faster.
Consider minor surgery. Some nerve injuries result from pinched nerves, and often a minor outpatient surgery is enough to repair them. Conditions suitable for surgery include symptoms of radiculopathy, nerve root compression on MRI, neuralgia that persists for more than 6 weeks, and progressive muscle weakness.
- Minor surgery may include arthroscopic decompression of a pinched nerve or suturing damaged nerve endings back together.
- Another minor procedure is to release pressure from compressed nerves, helping to repair pinched nerves caused by chronic injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome. The doctor will separate or move the nerves to a new location to give them more room.
Get neurological retraining. You may need nerve retraining through special physical therapy. Training is usually divided into “pre-phase” and “post-phase”, which is mainly to train the nerves to sense various sensations normally.
- In the early stage, the nerves are mainly trained to sense various sensations, and in the later stage, the sensitivity of the nerves to sense various sensations is adjusted.
- This type of treatment is typically outpatient physical therapy. The length of treatment depends on the severity of the nerve damage, but it will take some time to retrain the body to move normally.
Repair Severe Nerve Damage
Seek medical attention. If you suffer an acute injury and experience numbness or tingling in your extremities, go to the emergency room immediately. If you get cut by something sharp, try to stop the bleeding on the way to the emergency room.
- It is quite common to accidentally injure a nerve with a knife or broken glass.
- Always go to the emergency room if you have recently been exposed to lead, mercury, or other toxic substances. Toxins need to be flushed out of the body before nerve repair can begin.
Consider surgery to reconnect or graft the nerve. If nerves are completely severed, they may need to be reconnected or transplanted to repair them. If the surgery is successful, the nerve will begin to grow and repair at a rate of about 2.5 centimeters per month.
- Nerve transplantation requires taking nerve fibers from other parts of the body. After surgery, the donor area where the nerves were removed may remain numb.
Retrain your body. Rehabilitation treatment for nerve injuries is usually divided into 4 stages. The repair process involves promoting the healing of nerve cells and retraining them to send the correct signals to the brain.
- You may need physical therapy. A professional therapist will teach you incremental range of motion exercises to retrain your body so it can heal properly.
- This process takes time. Nerves cannot be successfully repaired overnight; recovery may take weeks, months, or years. In severe cases, neurological function may not be completely restored. Your doctor will determine how long it will take you to recover from the injury based on your condition.
Understanding Nerve Damage
Recognize the symptoms and pain of nerve damage. There are some signs and symptoms of nerve damage. If you experience any of the following symptoms, you must see a doctor.
- Soreness, tingling, or tingling in your hands, legs, fingers, or toes.
- Loss of muscle control. This can cause muscle weakness. If you find it difficult to do everyday activities such as buttoning buttons or turning doorknobs, it could be a sign of nerve damage.
- Difficulty digesting, which may be accompanied by bloating or a feeling of fullness. You may vomit partially digested food or have difficulty passing it.
- Peripheral neuropathy affects the brain’s ability to receive pain signals transmitted by nerves. This is a very common condition with symptoms including pain or numbness in the extremities. You may experience tingling or burning in your hands and feet, which may be early signs of nerve damage.
If you have recently started taking a new medication, be sure to talk to your pharmacist. Some drugs are known to cause neurological damage in some patients, particularly those used to treat cancer and human immunodeficiency virus.
Go to the doctor. If you have a disease that may cause nerve damage, such as diabetes, cancer, alcoholism, or an autoimmune disease, be sure to see your doctor. Nerve injuries should be included in the treatment plan for these conditions.
Consult a specialist. If your back problem or disease progresses to the point where it causes numbness or tingling in your hands and feet, make an urgent appointment with your doctor. These symptoms indicate pinched or damaged nerves. Emergency surgery may be necessary in some cases.
Ask your doctor about medications. Ask your doctor if you can use tricyclic antidepressants or anti-seizure drugs to control nerve pain. These drugs block pain signals in the brain and help people with chronic nerve pain control pain. Be sure to ask about possible side effects of long-term use of these medications.