What is a Nerve Pain?

Nerve pains, also known as neurogenic pain can be very debilitating and can often affect the quality of your life. But how do we get nerve pains, what does it feel like to have a nerve pain, how is it different from regular arm or leg pain and will it ever go away? These are some of the common questions around nerve pain that we will discuss in this blog.

Our spine is made up of vertebra stacked on top of one another with a disc in between every two vertebra. There are nerves exiting the spine on either side at the level of these vertebra. So the nerves that exit the spine at the neck (cervical spine) will supply your hands and the nerves that come out the spine at your lower back (lumbar spine) will supply the bottom, legs all the way up to your toes. If these nerves are compressed or irritated for any reason such as a disc bulge or a spinal stenosis or an injury in the area this can lead to a nerve pain. A classic example of this is Sciatica, that is caused by the irritation or compression of the Sciatic nerve, the longest and thickest nerve in the body. It can cause a nerve pain anywhere along your lower back to your bottom and down to your toes. Nerve pains can also originate from other medical issues like diabetes or some medications.

When you have a nerve pain you might feel it as a tingling numbness or a burning sensation or sharp shooting pain or just heaviness in the arms or legs. Different fibres in our nerves carry different sensations and the type of pain that you feel will depend on which part of the nerve is being irritated or compressed. The type of pain can vary between two people or between your left and your right side of your body.

A common question that gets asked about nerve pain is if pain from pinched nerves (in the neck & back) ever go away? Watch this video to learn more about this ….