Nerve Pain: The Types We Treat

Are you having pain?  Is it sharp, shooting, burning, stinging?  Does it travel down the leg or arm? Can you touch the area and it hurts? How you are experiencing pain may give clues to what is happening to the nerves.  Think of nerves as insulated cables that carry information from the body to the brain and back down. Irritation or damage to these nerve fibers (‘cables’) alter the signal going to the brain.  Your brain makes the final decision whether for you to experience pain or not. If the brain does not like the signal it may send a ‘pain signal’ to let you know something is wrong and you better fix it.
 
There are three basic types of nerve pain we commonly see in our office.  We want to return to the analogy of insulated cables so you can gain a better understanding on nerves.  Think of the wire as the nerve and the insulation as the fascia that surrounds the nerve.  Just like the wires in your home, television, and other appliances some currents travel faster if the wire is insulated or not.  Signals from your body may travel fast or slow.  This is what happens when you step on a tack and feel a sharp sensation, only to have a duller ache moments later – different nerve fibers send different signals at varied speeds.

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The first type of nerve pain is a classic type.  This type occurs when the wire portion of the cable is affected.  This could be a result of compression or resultant nerve damage from other reasons.  This pain is often described as radiating, burning, or stinging.  This pain will follow where the sensory nerves distribute which means it travels.  Issues to the wire portion of the nerve can result in decreased function of the areas of the body where that nerve connects.  A good example is sciatica or pain from the neck traveling into the arm/hand.
 
The second type of nerve pain results from irritation or inflammation to the insulation or fascia surrounding the nerve.  This pain is felt in the local area of the nerve. 
 
The third type involves entrapment or adherence to the nerve’s fascia.  When this happens the body will put itself into a protective response causing muscles to spasm or disengage in order to take stress off the nerve.  This type of nerve pain can be difficult to diagnose because the pain may in areas far from where the nerve is entrapped or adhered.  The pain you experience is not directly related to the nerve, but more in how your body responds to it being entrapped.
  Does any of this sound familiar?  How long have you been dealing with the pain and discomfort?  Is the pain getting in the way of living the life you desire?  Why wait any longer? It’s time to take care of yourself so you can get back to enjoying the activities you love.  At Body Evolution we are used to helping people with nerve pain, people just like you.  Come in for a FREE Discovery session to see how we can help you get rid of your nerve pain without the need for injections or pain killers.  Contact us today!!

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