People experience nerve pain in different ways. Sometimes it’s a stabbing pain in the middle of the night, or a chronic prickling, tingling, or burning they feel all day. Uncontrolled nerve pain can be debilitating and hard to bear, but with treatment, it can often be adequately controlled.
When you take your hand close to a flame from a campfire, the nerves send out a pain signal to the brain and you immediately withdraw your hand before you burn yourself. Pain is actually supposed to be a warning. If you have nerve damage, the system isn’t working, so damaged nerves send false signals to the brain and you feel real pain, even without any cause. Damaged nerves may also send no signals and you feel no pain even when you are injured.
Nerve Pain Triggers
Certain body positions or certain activities like standing in a queue or walking suddenly becomes painful. Nerve damage also makes the body over sensitive, this means you may experience pain even when a bed sheet is draped lightly around your body.
Loss of feeling
Nerve damage at times may cause loss of sensations and a feeling of numbness in the fingertips, affecting the use of your hands. Knitting, typing and tying shoes may become difficult. People with nerve damage usually say that their sense of touch is dulled and they feel as if they are wearing gloves all the time.
Effects of pain and sleep
Nerve pain usually is seen to get worse at night. With the touch of sheets or with the pressure of lying down, the pain gets aggravated and the person gets terribly uncomfortable. The patient loses sleep because of the nerve pain, this should be mentioned to a doctor. With modified lifestyle and medicines this state can change.
Loss of balance
Nerve damage not only causes numbness in the hands and feet but also causes muscle weakness. This results in the loss of balance when walking. Such a condition also may lead to falls. The person has to use devices like braces, canes or walking stick for assistance. Some physical and occupational therapy can help.
Unseen Injuries
The numbness caused by nerve damage will prevent the person from feeling any pain. The person may get injured without realizing it. It is best to check yourself for injuries from time to time, especially in the feet.
Nerve pain getting severe
Nerve pain when left untreated will worsen over time. It first starts in the nerves farthest from the brain and spinal cord, like in the feet and hands. Then it moves up along the legs and arms. Usually when treatment is given for the condition that is causing the nerve damage, then the nerve pain stops and the damage gets even reversed.
What causes nerve pain?
Conditions like diabetes, shingles and cancer can cause injury to the nerves leading to pain. Sometimes nerve pain occurs without any reason. It is best to detect and treat underlying cause of nerve pain like uncontrolled diabetes and treat it appropriately.