You may need to rest the affected area until it heals. Nerves recover slowly and maximum recovery may take many months or several years. Nerves, if injured, will regenerate at all times and at any age. They will grow again, but not immediately or with the same capacity they had before.
Any nerve injury or tumor can cause sensory changes, such as numbness or tingling, or weakness in the muscle that supplies the nerve. Without adequate nerve supply, muscles may stop working completely within 12 to 18 months. Lipinski advises people who suffer from trauma or nerve injury to seek treatment as soon as possible for the best results. They have already died, he says, adding that there may still be other options for these patients to improve pain and the function.
Depending on the severity of the injury, treatment routes vary greatly. If the nerve is only injured, you may recover over time without surgery. Nerves heal slowly, sometimes over many months. For these minor nerve injuries, nonsurgical treatment options include medication, physical therapy, or massage.
For people with peripheral neuropathy, that tingling sensation along with pain, burning, numbness, and other uncomfortable sensations don't go away as easily. The symptoms of peripheral neuropathy are not a response to a temporary lack of blood supply and pressure, but rather to nerve injury or irritation. Depending on the nerves affected and the magnitude of the problem, muscles may weaken and, over time, atrophy. And if the nerves of the autonomic nervous system are affected, basic functions, such as bladder and bowel control, can be affected and the consequences can be even more serious.
The analogy isn't perfect and it's not original, but one way to quickly understand neuropathy is to think of the peripheral nervous system as a complicated system of connections to carry messages to and from the brain and spinal cord. The living cables of the system are the axons that connect one nerve cell to another (see illustration). And, like the wiring, those axons are wrapped in an insulating material that's not rubber or plastic, of course, but a fatty substance called myelin. As the peripheral nervous system branches and the nerves become smaller and smaller, the axons of the smaller branches often lack myelin.
Occasionally, doctors will order a biopsy. Small pieces of skin can be inspected to determine the density of small nerve fibers and biopsies can be taken of the nerves themselves. Information obtained from these and other tests can help doctors determine if the cause of neuropathy is inflammation or damage to axons or myelin, which may shed some light on the underlying cause. As nerve fibers regrow, the muscles and skin supplied by the damaged nerve regain movement and sensitivity.
Like electrical cords, 43 pairs of peripheral nerves extend from the spinal cord and allow movement, coordination and sensitivity throughout the body. Nerves transmit sensory (sensations of touch, pressure, or temperature) and motor (muscle movement) impulses to and from the brain. Pain, tingling, numbness, and other discomfort associated with peripheral nerve injuries are often successfully treated with physical therapy and other non-surgical methods. The results of a study conducted on mice and published in Cell Metabolism suggest that increasing the supply of energy to injured nerves in the spinal cord could help promote axon regeneration and restore some motor functions.
Recovery is a slow process, and the most important thing you can do to regain nerve sensitivity and function is to move steadily. Over time, nerve axons in other parts of the body may be affected, so symptoms are felt around the ribs and chest and sometimes on the top of the head. Future research is needed to develop therapeutic compounds that are more effective at entering the nervous system and increasing energy production for the possible treatment of traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries. Nerve damage throughout the body can also be due to accidents, injuries related to sports and work, and lacerations that stretch, compress or cut these nerves.
The most common cause of nerve damage in the legs and feet is due to diabetes, also called diabetic neuropathy.
