Nerve Pain

Damaged or inflamed nerves can create a variety of symptoms ranging from stabbing or lightning bolt sensations to burning, pins and needles, or numbness. Dr. Joseph Fortin, Medical Director of STAR Health and Clinical Professor of Indiana University School of Medicine in Fort Wayne, Indiana is an interventional pain management specialist or pain detective. He offers complete evaluations to find and treat the root cause of your body’s pain, including all types of nerve pain. Call the office today or book an appointment online to get the care you need to ease your painful condition.

What are nerves?

Nerves, the basic unit of your peripheral nervous system, are responsible for making muscles work and providing sensation. Think of them as wires, sending signals throughout the body to coordinate actions and send sensory information to the brain.

There are 2 types of nerves related to symptoms and disability from nerve damage:

Sensory nerves, which carry signals from the body’s sensory receptors (your skin, connective tissue, bones, and muscles) to the spinal cord and brain. The information transmitted from these receptors or antennae allow you to feel pain as well as other sensations.
Motor nerves, which carry signals away from the brain to the body’s muscles. These nerves control your movements and actions.

What happens when nerves are damaged?

Nerve damage or irritation can stop, interrupt, or corrupt signals transmitted from your body to your spinal cord and brain. Nerves are fragile and can be damaged by pressure, stretching, or cutting. Damage to sensory nerves causes pain or altered sensation, while damage to motor nerves causes weakness. It is possible for an injury to effect both sensory and motor nerves, resulting in both pain and muscle weakness.

What is nerve pain?

Nerve pain, also called neuralgia or neuropathic pain, is a type of pain that is generated by nerve afflictions. The pain develops if the nerve is injured, compressed, or inflamed.

Inadequate nutrition like a vitamin B12 deficiency, toxins (like alcohol and some pharmaceuticals) as well as metabolic conditions like diabetes and thyroid disease are also common causes of nerve pain.

What are the types of nerve pain?

Nerve pain is classified by the type of nerve that is creating your pain. Some of the common classifications include:

Sciatica – Sciatica is pain that travels along the sciatic nerve, which branches from your lower back down through your hips and buttocks, all the way to your feet. In most cases, sciatica only affects one side of your body. Irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve (often caused by a collapsing disc in the low back) is the source of the pain.
Postherpetic nerve pain – Shingles is a form of the chickenpox that lies dormant in your nervous system. When it is activated, the virus causes a painful rash, and blisters. In some cases damage to the nerves at the site of infection can lead to chronic pain that lingers long after there remains any evidence of infection. This condition is referred to as postherpetic pain.
Occipital nerve pain – Occipital nerve pain most often is concentrated at the base of the skull and radiates along one of several pathways, including behind the ear, toward the top of the head and sometimes to the eye. This type of pain may occur spontaneously, or result from an injury or surgery to the scalp or skull. This pain is often related to inflamed or mechanically faulty joints in the upper neck.
Trigeminal nerve pain – The trigeminal nerve supplies sensation to most parts of your face. While the pain may be experienced in any part of the face, most patients with trigeminal neuralgia experience bouts of intense stabbing sensations in their jaw or cheek.

What are nerve pain symptoms?

Common nerve pain symptoms include:

Numbness or tingling
Electric shock-like sensations
Radiating pain (pain that travels from one body part to another)
Burning sensations
Pins and needles

You may even experience muscle weakness due to nerve damage. Many who suffer from nerve pain also report that their symptoms get worse at night.

What happens during a nerve pain consultation?

As an interventional pain management specialist and pain detective, Dr. Joseph Fortin’s goal during your nerve pain consultation is to diagnose the root cause of your pain so that he can provide the most effective treatment.

During the consultation, he will review your medical history and the medications you are using. Dr. Fortin and his nursing staff will ask detailed questions about nature, character, and onset of your symptoms as well as any exacerbating or ameliorating factors. Following an exhaustive history intake, Dr. Fortin will conduct a thorough physical examination.

To better understand the cause of your nerve pain, he may order diagnostic tests such as direct imaging evaluation of the nerve, or electro-diagnostics to study the nerve and muscle function.

How is nerve pain treated?

Based on the type of nerve pain you have, the underlying cause of nerve damage or irritation, and how severe your symptoms are, Dr. Fortin develops a personalized treatment plan with you.

Your treatment plan may include:

Rehabilitation or physical therapy
Regenerative Medicine (i.e. stem cell science)
Interventional pain management image-guided injections
Photobiomodulation (to reduce inflammation and expedite healing by activating stem cells)
Lifestyle and nutritional counseling

Dr. Fortin schedules regular follow-up appointments to monitor your pain and adjust your treatment plan as needed.