Category: Blog

Nerves can be injured in more ways than you might think. From kitchen accidents, car wrecks, sports injuries to injury during surgery, there are several situations that can lead to damaged or injured nerves. But there are four common types of nerve injury that can sometimes lead to chronic pain:

• Cut or laceration
• Stretching
• Compression
• Neuroma

four common causes of nerve damage

When it comes to nerve damage, what causes nerve pain? And why? Let’s break down what each of these causes of nerve damage are, what they mean and how they commonly occur.

cut or laceration

The most common cause of nerve damage involves cuts or lacerations to the nerve. These injuries can occur due to a traumatic event or even during a surgery.

Individuals can sustain this type of injury if they have experienced a severe cut. For example, slicing into your hand while cutting an avocado or bagel or falling through glass. Nerves can accidentally be cut during surgery or may even need to be cut in a procedure like a mastectomy or tumor removal, where cutting the nerve may have been unavoidable. Nerves can also be cut by a broken bone.

stretching

Much like a rubber band, nerves have a tipping point when stretched too far. When that point is reached or exceeded, injury to the nerve can occur. Stretching can cause damage to the internal structure of the nerve, and the nerve may no longer function properly.

Nerves can be stretched too far during retraction of tissues during surgery, or, for example, during the placement or removal of orthopedic implants. In fact, 10%–40% of patients experience chronic neuropathic pain after surgery.

Nerves can also be stretched during an injury when sudden, sometimes violent, movement jostles the body in a direction it wasn’t made to move. When this fast, unnatural movement occurs, the stretched nerve fibers can be stressed to the point of injury.

A movement like this can occur in sports injuries, car accidents or even during childbirth. Depending on the extent of the injury, a stretched nerve injury may be temporary or permanent. If the damage to the nerve fibers is severe enough and the nerve is not fixed, the growing nerve fibers may form a painful neuroma which can be the cause of chronic pain.

compression

We all know what it’s like to be under a lot of pressure. When that pressure gets to be too much, we burn out, snap or give in. When nerves experience exceeding amounts of pressure, they also begin to perform at less than their best.

Nerve compression occurs when nerves are squeezed, pinched or otherwise pressured by surrounding tissues. This extra strain disrupts normal nerve function, which can lead to muscle weakness, numbness, burning or tingling, or immense pain.

Compression injuries often occur near joints like elbows, wrists and ankles—any place where surrounding bones, ligaments, tendons and muscles have an opportunity to add undue stress to the nerve. They can also be the result of a previous surgical or traumatic injury where scar tissue has developed and is compressing the nerve. When a nerve is compressed, it can become inflamed, which can lead to nerve pain.

neuroma

A neuroma is a tangled mass of nerve and scar tissue that may form when nerve damage, either from an injury or during a surgical procedure, goes unrecognized or isn’t properly repaired. Unrecognized nerve injuries are a common problem as often times nerve injuries are missed in the ER. When nerve fibers continue to grow without any structure to guide them, normal nerve function is disrupted and can lead to chronic pain.

Symptoms may include pain, loss of function, extreme sensitivity to touch or temperature, or in some cases numbness.

nerve damage and nerve pain

Any one of these common causes of nerve damage can lead to chronic nerve pain. When nerve damage causes nerve pain, it’s important to understand your options for repairing the source of the pain rather than typical treatments which may only temporarily manage the symptom.

Nerve repair is possible. Depending on your nerve injury, there are a number of surgical options available.

Much like the people who experience it, pain comes in all shapes and sizes. A sinus headache, a stubbed toe, a scraped knee or a broken arm—pain is a part of everyday life. But sometimes, that pain can transform into something more.

The day-to-day ouches and injuries we battle throughout our lives cause something known as acute pain.

what is acute pain?

Acute pain is the immediate reaction of your body that lets you know “Hey, that didn’t feel good, and you should stop doing whatever that was!” Though it hurts, this pain is a good thing—it lets your body know that a dangerous activity has just occurred, and you should course correct to avoid doing it in the future.

Acute pain doesn’t have a long shelf life. It’s there in the moment and then subsides not long after the initial incident. As soon as you’re healed, the pain goes away.

But what happens when pain lingers?

That’s where chronic pain comes into play. And there is a big difference between acute and chronic pain.

what is chronic pain?

Chronic pain is lasting. It drags on for weeks, months, even years without signs of stopping.

Most of the time when you injure yourself or have a surgical procedure, you feel pain. But after you heal, you feel fine again. Once in a while, that process goes awry. In response to trauma, the body’s nerves may react in a way that can lead to a different, chronic form of pain called neuropathy.

Some studies have found that approximately 30%–77% of individuals have pain six or more months after experiencing trauma.

Neuropathic pain, or nerve pain, has many potential causes and may manifest in a variety of ways. Sometimes it’s caused by the nerve physically being cut, for example, during a traumatic injury or accidentally during a surgical procedure. Neuropathic pain is extremely common among patients who have a cut nerve or had a limb amputated.

However, damage can also result from the nerve being compressed, injured or crushed—even if not actually cut. These types of injuries are most frequently incurred during an accident, a fall, playing sports, or any other activity that can stretch, compress, crush or cut nerves. This includes compression of the nerves due to repetitive stress, for example, carpal tunnel syndrome.

when to seek help

Once you understand the difference between acute pain vs. chronic pain, it will be easier for you to assess next steps. When pain is chronic (lasting more than three months) it’s important to take steps to find its cause and find a solution that lasts.

If you think your chronic pain is the result of a nerve injury, we might be able to help. You may have first experienced nerve pain in the months or years following surgery, trauma or amputation. Like most people, you probably never considered your chronic pain might be the result of nerve damage.

To find out if you’re a candidate for nerve repair, take our quiz.