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Neuralgia Nerve Pain Facts
Causes and Remedies
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Neuralgia. A word that sends shivers down the spine. It’s a pain that you never forget once you have experienced it.
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It’s difficult to explain pain levels. Everyone has a different pain tolerance level, of course. Therefore, o it’s hard to determine the worst kind of pain.
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However, nerve pain has a way of getting to people in a way that other types of pain just can’t manage. Many sufferers of multiple conditions – who are versed in a variety of pain – will tell you it’s the worst there is.
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Nerve Pain is VERY Severe compared to Ordinary Muscle Pain
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The main problem with neuralgia is that there is very little you can do to ease it.
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You can compare it to another common forms of pain, for example, muscle pain (myalgia). It’s easy to see the difference in management.
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Common Relief-Medications for Ordinary Muscle Pains, Myalgia
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There’s a lot you can do for muscle pain. You don’t even need to see a doctor for certain kinds of these pains. You could simply go to a local pharmacy and buy some inexpensive ibuprofen. This over-the-counter drug is very effective at easing muscle pain.
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If Ibuprofen doesn’t do it, then you have a plethora of options before seeking prescription drugs. There’s diclofenac and naproxen, heavy-duty NSAIDs which can ease pain with a single dose. You’ll feel an improvement in the pain symptoms within an hour or so.
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If you don’t want use medicine for myalgia, then you have plenty of other options. Heat will help; a hot water bottle applied to the skin and able to soothe the muscle underneath.
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You can tape the muscle up with kinesiology tape or a medical support. You can try pain-relieving ointments like “Tiger Balm” or use homemade versions. You have many options to manage muscle pain.
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What are relief medications for nerve pain?
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You’re less lucky here. There are not so many pain-relief remedies here.
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There are medications, of course, which can help ease nerve pain too. These include pregabalin and gabapentin. They’re pretty effective, too – even though no one really knows how they work.
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They are immediately different from muscle pain options, as they take a long time to work. There’s no promise of immediate relief. It can take up to two weeks for them to take effect.
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There are prescription-class drugs. There’s no neuropathic pain medicine available over-the-counter. That means if you have nerve pain and need immediate relief, you’re… well, you’re kind of stuck with it.
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You can try a heat bag (it won’t do much). Tiger Balm alternatives give little relief, There are various tapes and supports available, but pain relief is questionable. In all honesty, there’s not much you can do.
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You can rarely relieve a pain immediately. The pain quickly shoots up the rankings of the worst pain people have experienced. There’s no quick fix. If you experience neuralgia, then you’re going to be experiencing it for awhile longer yet.
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What Causes Nerve Pain?
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Neuralgia has a tendency to be the child of many fathers.
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It can be caused by systemic issues. The primary cause of nerve pain due to body (rather than joint) problems is vitamin B12 deficiency. It might sound like that’s a pretty big consequence of just being deficient in one of many vitamins. However, vitamin B12 deficiency is particularly problematic. The B vitamins as a whole play a huge role in nerve health, with B12 being at the front.
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One of the problems with B12 is that it’s not readily available in food. B12 upplements are not particularly effective. That means it’s easy to become deficient in this vitamin.
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This is complicated further by instances of pernicious anemia. This is an auto-immune condition which causes B12 deficiency. Pernicious anemia is terribly under-diagnosed. So if you think you have any of the symptoms, see a doctor as soon as possible. If correctly diagnosed, treatment is relatively simple: B12 injections, which you can learn to administer at home.
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Outside of systemic issues, neuralgia can be caused by any number of injuries or just wear and tear on your body.
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Sciatica – a lower back condition which causes millions of people to suffer its pain every year – is a form of nerve pain. There’s no specific reason why it happens.
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However, the usual culprits include: insufficient exercise and spending too long at a desk. Sometimes, a trapped nerve is to blame. These can happen for any number of reasons.
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Sometimes, it’s just bad luck. However, that doesn’t make the pain any easier to deal with. It can just happen.
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The human body is a wonderful machine capable of feats worthy of amazement. However, sometimes, it just fails. It doesn’t matter how old you are or what you do with your life. Nerve pain happens, and it can happen to you.
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How Do I Know It’s Nerve Pain, Not Something Else?
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The most commonly used adjective to describe nerve pain is “sharp”. It’s a jagged kind of pain. Its tendency is to radiate from a central point.
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Muscle pain is more of an ache. Neuralgia, by comparison, would be more likely to make you sit up and wince rather than just mutter about how much it hurts.
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The difficulty with nerve pain is that the body part which hurts might not be the one which is the cause of the pain. If you have a slipped disc in your back, for example, this can cause nerve pain. However, you might not feel it in your back. You’d feel it in your legs instead!
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This mystery-solving process is why it’s always important to seek the advice of a specialist in nerve pain. One source of such neurologists is CORE Chiropractic. These specialists can help you figure out where the pain is actually coming from.
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It might be surprising to be told the pain in your hand – for example – is actually caused by nerve damage in your shoulder! This is more common than you’d think.
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What Can I Do To Manage Nerve Pain?
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First and foremost, you must find the cause of the pain. You may be doing something which is exacerbating the pain. In such a situation, the only way you’re going to solve it is by desisting.
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This can be difficult if it’s a lot of typing, for example, that is causing the problem, and you have to type in your job. In these instances, take time off where possible to give the nerve a chance to recover.
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If there is no obvious cause in terms of lifestyle or injury, then the best management is with prescription medications.
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Pregabalin and gabapentin have been reported to be effective. However, they are not without their side effects. These medications might also interact with other drugs you are taking. Hence, you should only consider them under the advice of an experienced physician.
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It can take a few months to get on the right dosage. In addition, you have to be able to tolerate it. As mentioned before, neuralgia has a habit of sticking around.
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In terms of alternative remedies, visiting a chiropractor will definitely be beneficial. You might have alignment problems which are causing the neuralgia. In such a case, your chiropractor will work with you to find a solution.
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A physiotherapist might also help provide relief, especially if you have a trapped nerve. They will be able to show you exercises designed to strengthen and relieve the impacted area.
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Massage is often mentioned as an effective treatment for many bodily aches and pains. However, it is not necessarily useful for neuralgia. What it might help is to alleviate any “compensation” pain.
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When we injure part of our body, we have a tendency to favour the uninjured parts and overuse them to try and protect the damaged area. With time, this can lead to pain in the “good” parts of the body, too – life’s just not fair that way!
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If you fear this is happening, then a good, deep tissue massage might be able to restore the “good” parts of you.
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However, for nerve pain alone, massage is limited in its effects. This is no surprise, given that massage focuses on the muscles, not the nerves. It might be useful for stress relief and pain management. So it’s worth trying before reaching for a more radical solution.
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For some forms of neuralgia, there are surgical procedures to free badly trapped and damaged nerves. These surgeries, of course, carry the general risks associated with undergoing a general anesthetic.
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It’s therefore worth exhausting all of the options above before making the decision to go under the knife. This is especially so, as the success rates are not particularly encouraging. Keep surgery as a last resort when all else fails. Your chances are that one of the above suggestions is going to be effective for you.
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Does Neuralgia Ever Just Heal?
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Yes it does, and sometimes in a way that can feel spontaneous. You wake up one morning and it’s gone. This is most likely if the pain didn’t come from a direct injury, but from general wear-and-tear.
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However, for some people, neuralgia is going to be a fact of life for them from now on. If this is a situation you find yourself in, then don’t suffer unnecessarily. Talk to your doctor and pain management specialists so you can find the best way to cope.
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Share with us your below challenges with neuralgia pain! Also share any success tips you have discovered.
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