Regeneration time depends on how seriously your nerve was injured and the type of injury that you sustained. If your nerve is bruised or traumatized but is not cut, it should recover over 6-12 weeks. A nerve that is cut will grow at 1mm per day, after about a 4 week period of 'rest' following your injury.
The nerve structures, as they recover, tend to be irritable for a period of time. That's because the nerves are firing spontaneously. Most of the time, the pins and needles feeling is a good sign. It's a short-term phase that means nerves are coming back to life.
Nerves heal about one inch per month. You'll have follow-up appointments with your surgeon, during which he determines how your nerve regeneration is progressing. Nerve fibers have to grow down the full length of the damaged nerve to where the nerve and muscle intersect. That can take between six months to one year.
“The process of nerve regrowth can be extremely painful and if muscles have atrophied it requires a lot of physical therapy to regain function.
To achieve full recovery, the nerve must undergo three main processes: Wallerian degeneration (the clearing process of the distal stump), axonal regeneration, and end-organ reinnervation.
Schwann cells can help damaged nerves regenerate and restore function. On average, damaged nerves can grow back at a rate of about 1 inch per month or 1 millimeter per day.
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.
Nerve Pain
It's best to use cold when the pain is still sharp and move on to heat once that sharpness has subsided. The heat will increase blood flow and help tissues heal faster.
Nerve Pain Progression
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.
Tingling or burning in the arms and legs may be an early sign of nerve damage. These feelings often start in your toes and feet. You may have deep pain. This often happens in the feet and legs.
Magnesium ion can promote peripheral nerve repair by inhibiting inflammation.
Magnesium decreases nerve pain. Clinical experience, as well as research in nerve pain conditions such as pancreatic cancer, has shown that magnesium can be an effective treatment for pain.
What's the best painkiller for nerve pain? Tricyclic antidepressants like amitriptyline and anti-epileptic drugs like gabapentin and pregabalin are very effective at treating nerve pain.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also known as tic douloureux, is sometimes described as the most excruciating pain known to humanity.
The abnormal pressure pushes on nerves and compresses the blood vessels that supply them. The nerves react to their distress by sending signals that cause an unpleasant, even painful, tingling sensation.
Fewer Distractions
You notice your body is hurting more in the hands or feet that cause you to concentrate on the pain. The brain becomes concerned with the nerve pain rather than simply shutting off and falling asleep. You may even find your bed sheets to be a culprit when it comes to fueling the pain.
The neurotropic B vitamins thiamine (B1), pyridoxine (B6), and cobalamin (B12) are key players, which maintain the neuronal viability in different ways. Firstly, they constantly protect nerves against damaging environmental influences.
Despite the presence of cells with regenerative capacity, neuroregeneration in the adult brain is limited because of the inhibitory action of the glial cells and an extracellular environment that counteracts the myelin and neuronal repair. For example, glial scar formation inhibits axonal regeneration.
At high doses, methylcobalamin, the active form of vitamin B12, accelerated nerve regeneration, increased myelination, and improved motor and functional recovery of injured nerves [80, 83].
Adequate rest is so important and can help with chronic nerve pain. Make sleep as easy for yourself as possible.
On average, human peripheral nerves regenerate at a rate of approximately 1 inch per month. This rate is close to the slow axonal transport rate and is largely dictated by the need to move neurofilaments and microtubules, building blocks of axons, through the long axons (6, 7).
As the tissue heals less chemicals are released, the nerves are irritated less and gradually they become less sensitive. As the nerve returns to normal it sends less pain messages to the spinal cord and onto the brain so less pain is felt.