What is Nerve Pain?
Nerve Pain is a discomforting and at times non specific condition that can be caused by a wide variety of reasons. The nature and effective treatment of Nerve Pain depends on the underlying cause giving rise to the pain. Such pains can be accompanied by buzzing or burning sensation and an overall discomfort that is difficult to describe.
Nerves act as the communication lines of the body by carrying electrical signals through the brain. There are three types of nerves in the body, namely autonomic nerves, motor nerves and sensory nerves.
These different types of nerves control different aspects and hence cause different types of symptoms. Injury or damage to any of these nerves tends to give rise to Nerve Pain, whether mild or severe.
The first step towards the elimination of Nerve Pain is the identification of the cause of the pain. Accordingly, conventional medicines and natural home remedies for Nerve Pain can be used to cure Nerve Pain. Nerve is also called Neuralgia.
Nowadays, apart from herbal cures, Nerve Pain home remedies also emphasis on alternative therapies including meditation, acupuncture, aromatherapy and other similar natural treatments. Sciatic Nerve Pain is one of the most frustrating Nerve Pains that is mostly caused due to disc herniation or Piriformis Syndrome.
Causes and Symptoms of Nerve Pain
Nerve Pain is usually caused by nerve degeneration, compression, inflammation, injuries and other similar reasons. Conditions like chronic renal insufficiency, diabetes, carpal tunnel syndrome, chemical irritations, radiation treatment, peripheral nerve injury, spinal stenosis, tumors and use of certain drugs may also cause the same.
Besides, Nerve Pain may also be caused due to diseases such as Lyme disease, Shingles, Hepatitis C, HIV, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Irritable Bowel Syndrome and other related infectious and autoimmune diseases.
Lead ingestion and deficiency of vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, zinc etc can also contribute in causing this type of pain.
Symptoms of Nerve Pain vary with the type of nerves affected. The pain can be characterized by numbness, burning, buzzing or pricking sensations. Burning pain is generally associated with Neuritis. Nerve Pain in motor nerves gives rise to symptoms of muscle atrophy, twitching and even paralysis.
Autonomic nerve damage cause light headedness, inability to sense angina, abnormal excessive sweating, bladder dysfunction etc. On the other hand, sensory nerve damage leads to problems with positional awareness in addition to pain and sensitivity.
Natural Home Remedies for Nerve Pain
• Taking long hot water bath or shower is one of the simplest Nerve Pain home remedies that help to ease Nerve Pain by improving circulation in the body.
• Herbs like chamomile, horseradish, celery, elderberry etc can be taken in the form of tea or used as compresses or poultices to soothe Nerve Pains.
• Having garlic milk is one of the most popular natural remedies for Nerve Pain cure. Prepare this remdy by cooking two crushed raw garlic cloves in about half a cup of milk and drink this milk to reduce Sciatica Nerve Pain effectively over a period of time.
• Celery is one of the most effective natural home remedies for Nerve Pain treatment. Drinking half a cup of celery juice mixed with some carrot juice helps to cure Nerve Pain. Similarly, daily having a combination of celery juice and potato juice is useful in relieving Nerve Pain caused by Sciatica.
• Regular consumption of elderberry juice helps to relax the muscles and hence serves as a good Nerve Pain natural remedy.
• Daily having a cup of soy milk mixed with honey acts as a valuable home remedy to get rid of Nerve Pain caused by nutritional deficiencies.
• Massaging the painful area with aloe vera gel or a mixture of one tablespoon warm mustard oil and crushed garlic is highly beneficial in reducing Nerve Pains to a great extent. Herbal oils of peppermint, rosemary, lavender, clove, eucalyptus, winter green etc can also be used for this purpose.
• Apply a paste prepared from cinnamon and honey and wash it off after a few minutes to relieve Nerve Pain caused by pinched nerves.
Diet for Nerve Pain
Apart from home remedies for Nerve Pain, Nerve Pain home treatment also consists of proper dietary measures focusing on a healthy diet rich in a variety of essential vitamins and nutrients.
For instance, vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc and magnesium are highly beneficial in facilitating the process of healing Nerve Pain.
Thus positively include garlic, spinach, green peas, soybeans, pinto beans, bananas, parsley, sprouts, whole grains, milk, yogurt and other such nutritious foods in the diet to deal with Nerve Pain at home. Plus, regularly drink vegetable juices extracted from carrots, beetroots and celery.
Moreover, regularly engage in adequate amount of physical exercise to avoid further Nerve Pain related complications. In addition, take rest and avoid lifting heavy objects, especially in case of Sciatica Nerve Pain.
I have a pitched sciatic nerve. I’ve had it since April 2011. I’m now walking with crutches for balance. The pain in my back is gone. I have pain in my right thigh, and tightness in my feet. I cannot afford therapy because my insurance do not cover it. Therefore, I’ve been searching and searching for home remedies. I welcome your advice. Thank you. Georgia
try the spice “Turmeric” you can get it in the vitamin isle at lets saw a walmart or at a helath food store (if you would get it from walmart as i did, i double the dose). i have a pinched nerve in my neck from degenerative disc disease wanted to rip my arm off but after 3 days of taking 2 capsuls twice a day the pain is tolerable and it even seems to be getting to the point i dont think about it every second of every day anymore. my husband says i dont moan, whimper and cry in my sleep anymore and i actually do sleep now. hope it helps
You could possibly have a herniated disc. You should see a spine specialist.
Is there a vitamin pill that has Vitamins A B1 B6 B12 D Zinc and Magnesium combined if so who has this Pill, if not made then based by what you said in the previous paragraph on Nerve Pain, then make it
Regarding Georgia’s sciatica pain, I too was incapacitated with such a pinched nerve. My doctor was thinking of injecting something into the area of the tail bone, but before he did so, I saw a Dr. Gott column in which he detailed a very simple exercise which I did for a few minutes twice a day — this was in case the nerve was being pinched somewhere inside the buttocks, which I suspected was true for me as soon as I read the possibility.
Anyway, the pain disappeared completely after doing the exercise for a while — not even a long time. If he still has his website, it may have details.
Audrey, could you tell me in detail about the exercise that could help my tail bone pain? I can’t find the Dr Gott article online. Thank you so much.
On August 20, 2011 I was in a farm accident and my left leg was severed, unfortunatly there was too much damage for them to reattach my leg. I am now an above the knee amputee. I have what is called Phantom nerve pain/ Phantom leg feeling. The problem isn’t that I can still feel my leg from the knee down, the problem is that I can feel it stuck at a 90 degree angle and sometimes it feels like it did when the accident happened. Is there any home remedies that I can try to help ease the Phantom Nerve Pain, I’ve been on 4 different meds and none of them work, plus I’m not big on medicating myself. If anyone has any ideas I would be greatful.
Hello Kayla,
I have TM, so my pain is different. But my neurologist advised me to read very good book The Brain That Changes Itself by Dr. Norman Doidge. May be you have found something already but I want you to know about this experements. The pain is in your brain. Dr. Norman Doidge explains how to cheat your brain.
He tells how they “cured” people amputed legs or arms. I thought it is amasing!
They build a mirrow box the way you can see the reflection of your leg in place of amputed one. You are moving your leg and the brain gets the message that you are moving your amputed one. The pain dissapears after few months or so.
Sorry, can not explain it very good. Read the book. It is very good!
I think you can build this box for yourself and get rid of this pain forever!
Hope it will help you. Wish you all the best!
i have a pinched nerve from degenerative disc disease. 2 yrs ago i had the surgery on 2 out of 4 of the bad discs but the drs did not want to do all for at once do to my age. in the past month i have been in sever pain and also do to my first bout with the disease i lost my job so no insurance so i knew the Dr was out of the question. i found a blog that talked about taking the spice “Turmeric” while reading most of the people stated they had gotten relief within days and in some cases hours, so i thought what the heck it cant get any worse. i ran to my local store bought the 500mg capsules form the vitamin isle and came home and took 2 right away. its been 3 days and the stabbing pain in my arms (4 spots all the time) has subsided to a dull tolerable ache. i sleep at night again, i can type for more than a few minutes with out wanting to rip my arm off….it worked for me. my mom has fibermyalga and i called her right away she is going to be trying it also to see if she gets relief from the pain, ive got my fingers crossed for her.
i have the same issues as you except i have damage to my sympathetic nerve also i just moved from florida to mass and i am on some heavy duty medication for pain my problem is am i going to have withdrawels if i take this medication i cant get a dr appt til may and i am going to be out of my pain meds i dont know what to do and the thing about them not wanting to do surgery because we are too young is insane i can feel my discs sitting on my nerves and cant walk sometimes any suggestions?
I am a Neuromuscular Therapist and treat this type of pain routinely.Pinched nerve? Not lkeily. That is not a medically accurate term and the condition is not that common when it occurs. Same goes for Sciatica.Aspirin, Motrin or any variety of the pain relievers do not fix this type of painful condition; they merely dull your sensitivity to the discomfort.I cannot tell you how many people come to me thinking they have sciatica or pinched nerves when really all they are dealing with is overly tight back and hip muscles. After I perform an hour or so of deep muscle massage and some stretching the pain is gone. The reason the pain comes and goes is that your muscles are on the verge of spasm all the time. When you engage in some form of physical activity, like walking, that’s just enough strain on the muscles to cause spasm and pain. Rest probably helps relieve it but the underlying cause still remains.The simplest thing to do is get some high quality deep muscle massage. I’m sure your low back and gluteuls (hip muscles) are overly tight and need some work to release them. You may also have trigger points, hyper irritable spots within these same muscles, that are referring pain from your back into your gluteuls or vice versa. Sometimes a tight hip muscle called the piriformis can squeeze on the sciatic nerve as is passes through the buttocks, but that is not a pinched nerve and is easily resolved with massage therapy. It’s highly unlikely that the pain you are experiencing has anything to do with discs or nerves. My experience has shown me that most of the pain you’re describing is coming from the muscles. Overly tight muscles and trigger points mimic pain that often gets diagnosed as sciatica.You also want to consider what the cause of this pain is: sitting too frequently or for long periods of time; weak hip muscles; not enough stretching or exercise; wearing high heeled shoes; injuries. Focus on the cause, not the symptoms.
Janete: Nice response by you. However, there appears to be no correlation with my extreme shooting pain in the left leg and muscle spasms. The pain – which is not constant, and can even disappear for a year or two – can come when I walk, sit, or even sleep. I have no doubt that you’re right in what you say, but why would I get shooting pain while I am asleep? There is no pattern to my pain, which I find quite baffling.
I have nerve compression on nerve roots L-5 – S-1 from scar tissue after a hemi-laminectomy and a forominatomy done last May. I am in intolerable pain even with pain medications. Can anyone suggest anything for me? I am now experiencing neuropathy in my feet. I have intense pain from my right buttock down my leg and into my foot. I am having a hard time walking now.
Kayla,
Read “The Brain that Changes Itself” – it has interesting new therapies for stroke victims but also amputees. There have been breakthroughs in being able to address nerve pain in phantom limbs by activating adjacent nerves (in the case of lower arms, they would activate nerves in the face, for example.)
Best wishes,
E
My chiropractic shared that my sourness/pain in the right arm was a pitched nerve (neck pain due to an auto accident 20 years ago). It started slow and grew to the point it was painful and difficult to cut food. Every day my arm was in pain at the elbow. He asked that I try using a “Dakota Traction”. Within a few weeks I slowly noticed the pain was going away along with some days now (2 months later) I don’t even think about it. He shared not all patients can handle the traction but you are on it only 5 to 10 minutes each day before bedtime. My arm still some discomfort but is is muh better than before. I’ll be trying the vitimin mentioned above (Turmeric).
I am experiencing all the symptoms of nerve damage,my doctor told me that my nerves are damaged,but not tell me the cause of damage .he gave me vitamin b complex and cachnerve,the pain is still on I don’t know what to
There are many many, buy your supplements at a quality health food store. Not walmart or a grocery store. Wholefoods or sprouts or many others. The combinations are easy to find. They actually cost less and are of better quality at health food stores (no gnc stores)
From Deanne the herbalist
I had arm severed 90% off at elbow and i tryed the vicks vapor rub, the only thing in my house that related to this artical and it took roughly 65% of the nerve pain in my hand away. Love it now maybe i can fall asleep.
I have been taking hydrocodone for my nerve damage for at least 11 years, when im out the pain down my legs and feet are great. can,t sleep sweating tingling feeling in legs, like coming out of a sleep, its terrible do you think your home remidies might help me.
I have nerve pain in my legs due to years if severe edema. I have lost weight and my doctor is working with me. its a burning pain so bad it keeps me up my legs move at night so much it disrupts my sleep. I am on gabapentin 300mg twice a day and 600 once. My thing is it makes me sleep and I don’t want to put more chemicals in my body than there already is form other meds. Is there any natural thing I can do to help?