While the exact number is unknown, many Americans — perhaps over 3 million — experience nerve pain (neuropathy). This type of pain results from a nervous system malfunction set off by nerve damage from diseases such as diabetes, trauma, or toxic doses of drugs.
For years, nerve pain has baffled scientists. Traditional pain treatments, including powerful medications such as morphine, rarely help. Descriptions of neuropathy by people who have it typically include words such as burning, shooting, stabbing, or electric-like, and not aching or crushing. The distribution of that pain is along the course of a particular nerve or a group of nerves of similar length.
Starting in 1988, researchers began to identify animal models that mimic the clinical signs of the ailment. For example, one rat model with nerve injuries has a super-sensitive reaction to a hair tapped on its hind paw. The rat will quickly jerk away. Some people with neuropathy experience a similar reaction. For them, the tickle of a hair can translate into a long-lasting, burning pain.
Here at The Spine Diagnostic & Pain Treatment Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, we have an on-site physiatrist – a doctor who specializes in physical medicine –who has special expertise in conducting electrodiagnostic studies that test for nerve damage. The two most common tools we use are:
- Electromyography (EMG)
- Nerve Conduction Velocity
Once our experts at The Spine Diagnostic & Pain Treatment Center discover the root of your pain problem, our fellowship-trained, double board-certified anesthesiologists and pain management specialists can offer you a variety of treatments to help reduce pain. Our comprehensive care includes the most advanced interventional pain treatments and injection therapy.
For more information on nerve pain relief, call now: (225) 769-5554.