Nerve Pain

Overview

Nerve pain is also known as neuralgia almost always occurs when there is an underlying condition affecting the nerves that transmit the impulse of sensation to the brain. Nerve pain is very different compared to the others where nerve pain commonly presents as shooting, stabbing or burning type of pain. Most of the time the pain will be more severe at night. There are many causes of nerve pain. Some of it is due to infections such as shingles, multiple sclerosis, any nerve compression, diabetes mellitus, chronic kidney disease, and trauma. Some nerve pain can be really severe and debilitating. Investigations should be done to find out what causes nerve pain such as blood glucose level, blood culture x-ray of the spine and renal profile. Management of nerve pain is by treating the underlying cause. However, in some cases, pain reliever needs to be prescribed.