How do you know if nerve damage is serious?

Feeling like you're wearing a tight glove or sock. Muscle weakness, especially in your arms or legs. Regularly dropping objects that you're holding. Sharp pains in your hands, arms, legs, or feet.

What are the symptoms of severe nerve damage?

How do doctors know if you have nerve damage?

Electromyography (EMG) records electrical activity in your muscles to detect nerve damage. A thin needle (electrode) is inserted into the muscle to measure electrical activity as you contract the muscle.

What happens if nerve damage is left untreated?

Left untreated, nerve damage may worsen over time. It can sometimes start in the nerves farthest from the brain and spinal cord -- like those in the feet and hands. Then it may move up into the legs and arms.

Is nerve damage a serious problem?

A nerve injury can affect the brain's ability to communicate with muscles and organs. Damage to the peripheral nerves is called peripheral neuropathy. It's important to get medical care for a peripheral nerve injury as soon as possible. Early diagnosis and treatment may prevent complications and permanent damage.

Neurology - Nerve Damage and Regeneration

How long before nerve damage becomes permanent?

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.

What is end stage neuropathy?

Stage 5: Complete Loss of Feeling

This is the final stage of neuropathy, and it is where you've lost any and all feeling in your lower legs and feet. You do not feel any pain, just intense numbness. This is because there are no nerves that are able to send signals to your brain.

Does nerve damage show on MRI?

Nerve damage can usually be diagnosed based on a neurological examination and can be correlated by MRI scan findings. The MRI scan images are obtained with a magnetic field and radio waves. No harmful ionizing radiation is used.

What does nerve damage feel like?

Nerve pain often feels like a shooting, stabbing or burning sensation. Sometimes it can be as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. People with neuropathic pain are often very sensitive to touch or cold and can experience pain as a result of stimuli that would not normally be painful, such as brushing the skin.

Do damaged nerves ever heal?

If a nerve is injured but not cut, the injury is more likely to heal. Injuries in which the nerve has been completely severed are very difficult to treat, and recovery may not be possible. Your doctor will determine your treatment based on the extent and cause of your injury and how well the nerve is healing.

What is the most common symptom of nerve damage?

Can nerve damage lead to paralysis?

Common causes of paralysis include strokes, spinal cord injuries and nerve disorders like multiple sclerosis.

Can blood test detect nerve damage?

A variety of blood tests may be performed to determine the cause of nerve damage. These tests may look for high blood glucose levels, diabetes onset, vitamin deficiencies, etc.

How do neurologists treat nerve pain?

Multimodal therapy (including medicines, physical therapy, psychological counseling and sometimes surgery) is usually required to treat neuropathic pain. Medicines commonly prescribed for neuropathic pain include anti-seizure drugs such as: Gabapentin (Neurontin®).

Can CT scan detect nerve problems?

A CT scan will highlight any problems with bone and tissue, but they won't help much in determining nerve damage. X-rays, also, are not very effective in picking up neural subtleties, but they will show if there is a break, fracture, or if something is out of place in the musculoskeletal system.

What nerve runs from neck to leg?

The sciatic nerve is formed in the lower spine by the combination of motor and sensory fibers from spinal nerves L4 to S3. These spinal nerves belong to a larger group of nerves in the lower spine called the lumbosacral plexus.

What are the five stages of neuropathy?

How far can neuropathy spread?

About three-fourths of polyneuropathies are “length-dependent,” meaning the farthest nerve endings in the feet are where symptoms develop first or are worse. In severe cases, such neuropathies can spread upwards toward the central parts of the body.

Can you live with neuropathy?

The good news for those living with neuropathy is that it is sometimes reversible. Peripheral nerves do regenerate. Simply by addressing contributing causes such as underlying infections, exposure to toxins, or vitamin and hormonal deficiencies, neuropathy symptoms frequently resolve themselves.

What kind of doctor do you see for nerve damage?

Neurologists are specialists who treat diseases of the brain and spinal cord, peripheral nerves and muscles. Neurological conditions include epilepsy, stroke, multiple sclerosis (MS) and Parkinson's disease. Dr.

What doctor do you see for nerve pain?

Experts generally recommend starting with your primary care doctor if you think you're experiencing nerve pain. Still, many patients may also need to see a neurologist – a doctor specializing in the nervous system – to determine the cause of nerve pain.

What are the top 3 common nervous system disorders?

What is the best treatment for nerve damage?

Does nerve pain get worse before it gets better?

If left untreated, the numbness, tingling, and burning caused by peripheral neuropathy will get worse over time. The damaged nerves will continue to send confusing messages to the brain more frequently until the spinal cord gets so used to sending the signals, it will continue to do it on its own.

What does it feel like when a nerve is healing?

You may start to have an uncomfortable pins-and-needles feeling. The nervous system tends to become hyperactive as nerves regain normal function. The nerve structures, as they recover, tend to be irritable for a period of time. That's because the nerves are firing spontaneously.