Nerves recover slowly, and maximal recovery may take many months or several years. You'll need regular checkups to make sure your recovery stays on track. If your injury is caused by a medical condition, your doctor will treat the underlying condition.
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.
Recovery Process
The nerves, if injured, will regenerate all the time and at any age.
As the nerve recovers, feeling and movement will slowly start to come back. Nerves regenerate at ~1 milimetre per day, which means that full recovery can take a number of months and sometimes years, and in some cases may never come back completely.
The outlook for peripheral neuropathy varies, depending on the underlying cause and which nerves have been damaged. Some cases may improve with time if the underlying cause is treated, whereas in some people the damage may be permanent or may get gradually worse with time.
The central nervous system contains complex cells that don't reproduce themselves. For this reason, damage to the central nervous system does not heal on its own. The peripheral nervous system connects the central nervous system with the rest of the body. These nerves are not protected by bone and are easily damaged.
When the nerves are damaged, they can't send the signals they usually send to your muscles to tell them what to do. This leads to muscle weakness and problems with movement you may experience as an initial symptom of the damage or injury. Muscle weakness due to nerve damage is most often in your arms and legs.
Just like with cutaneous scars (which also swell as part of the healing process) the time for swelling to decrease is usually longer than a few days or weeks. Another reason why nerves may take a while to recover has to do with the severity and duration of compression.
An MRI may be able help identify structural lesions that may be pressing against the nerve so the problem can be corrected before permanent nerve damage occurs. Nerve damage can usually be diagnosed based on a neurological examination and can be correlated by MRI scan findings.
Nerve cells can regenerate and grow back at a rate of about an inch a month, but recovery is typically incomplete and slow. This is a complete nerve injury, where the nerve sheath and underlying neurons are severed. If there is an open cut, a neurosurgeon can see the cut nerve ends at surgery and repair this.
Muscle weakness and paralysis. Nerve deterioration from peripheral neuropathy weakens the connected muscles. That can cause paralysis, which may cause difficulty moving the toes, foot drop and hand weakness. Weakness can also affect muscles in the thighs, arms and elsewhere.
Clinical studies have shown that electrical stimulation enhances axon growth during nerve repair and accelerates sensorimotor recovery.
Peripheral neuropathy happens when the nerves that are located outside of the brain and spinal cord (peripheral nerves) are damaged. This condition often causes weakness, numbness and pain, usually in the hands and feet.
If your nerve is only injured, you may recover over time without surgery. Nerves heal slowly, sometimes over many months. For these mild nerve injuries, nonsurgical treatment options include medication, physical therapy or massage therapy. Peripheral nerve surgery can reconstruct or repair damaged nerves.
PN was strongly associated with earlier mortality. Mean survival time for those with PN was 10.8 years, compared with 13.9 years for subjects without PN.
While the general benefits of aerobic and flexibility exercises are well-known, increasing movement and heart-rate are particularly important for people suffering with peripheral neuropathy. Physical activity can improve blood circulation, which strengthens nerve tissues by increasing the flow of oxygen.
Sometimes a section of a nerve is cut completely or damaged beyond repair. Your surgeon can remove the damaged section and reconnect healthy nerve ends (nerve repair) or implant a piece of nerve from another part of your body (nerve graft). These procedures can help your nerves regrow.
Peripheral neuropathy and can cause pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness in the upper or lower extremities. If you are living with peripheral neuropathy and it is so severe that it prevents you from earning a gainful living, you may be awarded Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) benefits.
Magnesium is one of the most essential nutrients in the human body. It plays a vital role in nerve regeneration and functional recovery by reducing the inflammation and causing Schwann cell proliferation at the injury site, which increases axonal recovery.
Nerve pain often feels like a shooting, stabbing or burning sensation. Sometimes it can feel as sharp and sudden as an electric shock. You may be very sensitive to touch or cold. You may also experience pain as a result of touch that would not normally be painful, such as something lightly brushing your skin.
Three main causes for the inability of injured nerves of the central nervous system, or CNS, to regenerate have been known to date: the insufficient activation of a regeneration program in injured nerve cells that stimulates the growth of fibers, so-called axons; the formation of a scar at the site of injury that is ...
Peripheral Nerve Injury Symptoms
People with traumatic nerve damage can experience severe, unrelenting pain, burning sensation, tingling or total loss of sensation in the part of the body affected by the damaged nerve.
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.
While some types of neuropathy cannot be reversed completely, there are treatments available to help minimize symptoms and improve quality of life to a point that the neuropathy feels 'reversed'. The first step in determining if neuropathy can be reversed is understanding what type it is and what has caused it.