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.
Nerve damage can be extremely debilitating and could result in permanent disabilities. The impact of nerve damage could range from numbness to chronic pain or even paralysis.
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.
Whether or not neuropathy can be reversed depends on the cause of the nerve damage. In some cases, the pain may go away entirely. In others, nerve damage may be permanent. For example, when neuropathy is caused by an infection, symptoms might go away completely when the infection is treated.
Seddon2 classified nerve injuries into three broad categories; neurapraxia, axonotmesis, and neurotmesis.
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.
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.
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.
A damaged nerve has the capacity to grow up to a third of an inch in length during recovery, meaning severed nerves can potentially heal and come back together (although it's unlikely they do so without human intervention and stitching).
Nerve conduction studies, including an Electromyogram (EMG) may be performed on individuals suffering with nerve pain symptoms. These studies use electrical impulses to determine the level of damage. A final diagnosis will be made by your physician through the help of one or all of these tests.
Injury to a nerve can stop signals to and from the brain. This can cause muscles to stop working properly and result in loss of feeling. In many cases, nerve injuries can be treated to improve outcomes. However, nerves are very complex structures and do not recover as well as ligaments, tendons, and bones.
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.
The SSA considers neuropathy a disability if the condition is severe enough to cause extreme limitations in the motor function of two extremities. Alternatively, it qualifies as a disability if it results in marked limitations in mental and behavioral work-related skills.
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.
Nerve conditions can be hard to diagnose, and many patients live for years without an explanation or effective treatment for their muscle weakness or pain. Our specialists understand that the cause of a nerve condition is not always obvious and often requires a bit of detective work to uncover.
A neurological examination can diagnose nerve damage, but an MRI scan can pinpoint it. It's crucial to get tested if symptoms worsen to avoid any permanent nerve damage.
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.
Severe nerve compression that lasts more than six weeks can cause permanent muscle loss and nerve damage. You should see your healthcare provider early about symptoms so you can start the appropriate treatment.
Patients may lose mobility below the area affected by the damage. The neurosurgeon can develop a treatment plan depending on the patient's condition and handle the intervention process. The treatment may include surgery, medications, physical therapy, and mental health therapy.
Trigeminal neuralgia (TN), also known as tic douloureux, is sometimes described as the most excruciating pain known to humanity. The pain typically involves the lower face and jaw, although sometimes it affects the area around the nose and above the eye.
The most severe type of nerve injury is an avulsion (A), where the nerve roots are torn away from the spinal cord. Less severe injuries involve a stretching (B) of the nerve fibers or a rupture (C), where the nerve is torn into two pieces.
The most severe form of injury is called neurotmesis, which is a full transection of the axons and connective tissue layers wherein complete discontinuity of the nerve is observed.