Some Causes of Nerve Pain

Some Causes of Nerve Pain

Nerve pain is often a temporary condition caused by a pinched or compressed nerve. If the point of compression is fixed or healed quickly enough, the nerve pain ends and the nerve tissue sustains little if any damage. However, sometimes nerve tissue is permanently damaged by injury or disease, and this can cause chronic nerve pain, which is very challenging to manage. Our nerves form a communication system between the different parts of the body and our brain. We have spinal nerves which exit the spinal cord through gaps between the vertebrae. The point where the nerve leaves the spinal cord is called the nerve root, and from there it branches out into many smaller nerves called peripheral nerves. If a peripheral nerve or a nerve root becomes damaged, that mixes up the signals that it sends to the brain. Some kinds of nerve damage cause the nerve to communicate constant pain, and this can make pain management very complicated. Nerve pain can be difficult to properly diagnose and even harder to manage. If you are diagnosed as having chronic nerve pain, then long and regular talks with your physician will be required for proper nerve pain management.

Managing Nerve Pain with Medication

There are few effective treatment options for the roughly 3 million Americans who live with debilitating, chronic nerve pain. It is widely believed that opium-based drugs are not very effective for nerve pain. But new research suggests opioids are a useful treatment option for managing chronic pain caused by nerve damage. One recent study suggests that patients with spinal cord injuries or multiple sclerosis found high-dose treatments of opioids resulted in very good nerve pain relief. There was no evidence that any of the study participants built up a tolerance to the medication, and no addictive behavior was observed during the study. While far from being a cure-all, it is possible that opioids could be an effective treatment for some kinds of nerve pain. The risks and benefits of long-term opioid use for nerve pain are not well understood, however. Additionally, we have about a hundred years of anecdotal evidence that the use of pure opium nearly always results in some level of addiction. Consequently, the use of opioids – or any medication, for that matter – for nerve pain management should be carefully considered and closely monitored.

Alternative Treatments for Nerve Pain

Nerve pain can be hard to manage, especially if you don’t want to take the risks associated with prescription painkillers. Fortunately, there are many non-addictive methods of nerve pain relief which have few if any side effects, and they require no prescription. Herbal remedies don’t offer the kind of significant nerve pain relief that prescription drugs can. However, herbs like St. John’s Wart and Varvain may help heal your nervous system, while prescription pain killers are only expected to mask the pain. Aromatherapy treatments can also ease nerve pain a bit, and people who use this treatment appear to heal more quickly than others. Essential oils of lavender, chamomile, and marjoram are reportedly effective at easing nerve pain. Acupressure is also an effective treatment, particularly for sciatic nerve pain. Acupressure operates on approximately the same principals of acupuncture, but without the needles. There are many different alternative treatments for nerve pain. Some require a bit of homework on your part, and very few of them are completely free. However, if you need some help managing your nerve pain and you aren’t comfortable with prescription pain killers, these relatively harmless options are worth looking into.