Chronic pain stemming from damage that has been done to nerve tissue is commonly referred to as neuropathy. What makes neuropathy unique is that the pain associated with it is not a sign of the body healing itself from injuries or overuse of the muscles. What actually causes the pain are disruptions or malfunctions within the body’s nervous system. In short, pain is an ailment caused by nerve damage.
Chronic lower back pain is often linked to neuropathy. This comes as no surprise, as the nervous system runs right down the spinal cord.
How Does Nerve Pain Occur?
The spinal cord holds an impressive 31 pairs of nerves, all of which are extremely sensitive. There is a nerve root which is the point where these nerves are extended into smaller sets of nerves that travel throughout your entire body. Back nerves go through this root to travel all the way to the tips of toes and fingertips.
Your nervous system is comprised of two types of nerves:
- Sensory
- Motor
Sensory nerves let you know how pleasant or painful something feels. Motor nerves are based on the movement and performance of muscles. Damage that is caused to any part of the nerve system, or tissue in the back can result in neuropathy pain. This pain is usually sustained by abnormal pressure on the nervous system from discs in the back.
Any type of back injury has the potential to damage the nervous system. Falling out of a tree as a child, getting into a serious vehicle accident, being injured at work, tumbling down the stairs, or hitting the water too hard while waterskiing, are just a few examples of how this type of damage might be caused.
What Makes Pain Chronic?
Chronic pain simply means that the nerves continue to send messages to the brain, indicating things like muscle tissue damage, when the damage is actually originating within the nerves sending those messages.
Some of the characteristics of back pain associated with neuropathy include:
- Severe, electric-like shock waves
- Shooting painsDeep, burning pain
- Coldness and numbness
- Persistent tingling or feeling of weakness in the muscles
- Pain that travels from the back through the nerve path, to arms, legs, and feet
Many times, neuropathic pain can be experienced during light touch, when pain normally would not be experienced. It may also increase sensitivity to other types of pain, like when you stub your toe. These sensations are commonly felt as pinpricks under the skin. Most people report that the back pain associated with this ailment is nothing like they have ever felt before, as the characteristics are not common.
Are There Treatments for Neuropathy?
There are only a couple of proven ways to heal this ailment. One is through specific exercises done on a daily basis. Activities such as yoga and full-body stretching are often utilized. While these methods can help to minimize your nerve pain, they probably won’t eliminate it altogether.
The other is through a non-invasive treatment called Function Disc Stabilization, which has been proven to work for thousands of patients with back pain. Functional Disc Stabilization is an effective way to minimize, if not eliminate neuropathic pain.
This is a non-surgical, non-invasive procedure that uses an effective combination of both nonweighted traction and spinal decompression to help revitalize the intervertebral disc complex. There’s no need for hospital stays when undergoing this procedure.
Functional Disc Stabilization works by replenishing the missing fluids in your spine within itself can take pressure off your nervous system, so you’ll see improvements in other things like the strength of your spine, and a feeling of better health overall.
