Neuralgia is a condition where a peripheral nerve is affected. Moreover, its structure does not change, but a person feels pronounced pain. Sensitivity and motor functions are not impaired. Depending on which nerve is involved in the pathological process, neuralgia is classified. Symptoms of each species are different.
Causes of Neuralgia
The state of tissues in the body is controlled by receptors that are in the peripheral nerve fibers. The information they receive enters the central nerve, causing pain, especially if its receptors are unhealthy. What causes their defeat?
- One of the causes of neuralgia is microtrauma of the nerve trunk, obtained due to excessive cooling of the body and high physical activity of a person.
- Infectious nature may be neuralgia. Symptoms and treatment are individual for each patient. The cause of neuralgia can be damage to the nerves with various toxins, such as alcohol or heavy metals.
- Age-related changes.
- Earlier diseases and inflammation of the musculoskeletal system.
- Frequent stress and constant overwork.
How is it a dangerous disease and how is it treated with medical methods?
An insidious disease is neuralgia. Symptoms and treatment of its various types are different. The danger of pathology lies in the difficulty of diagnosing it. Neuralgia often pretends to be another disease. It restricts movement, disrupts sleep, appetite. A person becomes causelessly irritable, a disease terrorizes him. Neuralgia is treated:
- Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs: "Diclofenac sodium", "Naproxen", "Nimesulide", "Ibuprofen", the complex - "Analgin + Amidopyrine".
- Anticonvulsants: Carbamazepine, Tegretol, Diphenin, Trileptal.
- Antidepressants: Amitriptyline, Duloxetine.
- Topical anti-inflammatory ointments: Diclofenac, Ketonal, Ibuprofen.
- Blockade with the use of painkillers: Novocaine, Lidocaine and others.
- Vitamins C, E and B1, B12 in the form of injections.
Remember, medication is permissible only as directed by a doctor!
Intercostal neuralgia, symptoms
- Acute or dull pain under the ribs. It has a paroxysmal character.
- Muscle twitching and profuse sweating occurs. The skin turns red or, conversely, may turn pale.
- The area of intercostal space is numb.
- The pain intensifies if a person changes the position of the body, makes a sudden movement or sneezes.
- Pressure on individual points of the back, chest, spine, ribs, and other sections causes pain.
- Intercostal neuralgia on the left may respond under the scapula. Symptoms and treatment of this disease are individual. It seems to one person that his back hurts, and to another - that his heart.
Only a comprehensive clinical examination helps to establish the correct diagnosis and exclude heart disease. They are treated with other methods than neuralgia. If it is incorrect to establish a diagnosis and thereby miss the time, the patient's condition will irrevocably worsen. To prevent this, you need to know the differences between heart disease and neuralgia.
- Accompanied by acute chest pain for a long time, intercostal neuralgia. Symptoms, drug treatment are specific. During neuralgia, pain intensifies if you change the position of the body, take a deep breath or exhale, sneeze, make a sharp movement or put pressure on the chest.
- In heart diseases, periodically occurring pains in 5-10 minutes pass by themselves or with the help of drugs. They do not intensify if you change the position of the body, make a sharp movement, take a deep breath or exhale. But the rhythm of the contractions of the heart may be disrupted and blood pressure may change. To exclude this disease, an electrocardiogram is done.
Treatment of intercostal neuralgia
To treat this disease, it is first necessary to remove unpleasant pain caused by damage to the intercostal nerves. Physiotherapeutic procedures and acupuncture treat neuralgia. Symptoms and treatment, depending on the exact diagnosis, are different.
With exacerbation, bed rest is primarily needed. Moreover, the bed should be solid and even, no feather beds. A novocaine blockade is arranged for the affected nerve. The inflammation is removed with painkillers and non-steroidal agents: “Analgin”, “No-spear”, “Diclofenac”, “Ketorol”. To relieve muscle spasm, "Midokalm" is used, and convulsions are eliminated with "Carbamazepine" or "Gabapentin". It is very important for this disease to improve nerve conduction. This helps vitamins "Milgamma" or "Neuromultivitis." A little later, treatment continues with electrophoresis, UHF, and sollux.
Medicines are very useful for a disease such as intercostal neuralgia. Symptoms, treatment, pills in each case individual. When the patient is bothered by something, he comes to the doctor. After the examination and accurate diagnosis, the doctor prescribes medication. Anti-inflammatory and analgesic ointments have a good effect . Muscles begin to relax, blood circulation improves. After applying the ointment, you need to hide in a warm blanket. The room can not arrange drafts. You can apply a pepper patch, which has the same effect as the ointment.
In the treatment of intercostal neuralgia, non-standard methods of treatment are used: aromatherapy, herbal medicine, light treatment. There are cases when a systematic exposure to light completely healed the patient.
Neuralgia is such a disease that it is impossible to get rid of if you do not cure the disease that caused the inflammation of a particular nerve. Remember that eliminating pain symptoms only provides relief for a while. As soon as the medicinal effect on the body is stopped, the pain will return and intensify much.
Inflammation of the occipital nerve, symptoms
Occipital neuralgia is most uncomfortable. Strong shooting pains appear in the head. This happens when the surrounding tissue pinches the nerve. Attacks may be accompanied by fainting, vomiting, and nausea. Often pain can be given to the temples, eyes and forehead. It is important to know the causes of this disease in order to consult a doctor in time.
- Accompanied by a headache, occipital neuralgia. Symptoms, the treatment of which is aimed at eliminating the causes of the disease, are characterized by acute, lumbago-like pain, which begins and stops unexpectedly.
- Turning the neck or touching the back of the head causes pain.
- Usually the nerve is affected on one side of the head. But bilateral inflammation is not excluded.
- If you touch the skin on the head, you feel pain and discomfort.
- In bright light, eyes begin to hurt.
Occipital Neuralgia Therapy
In medical practice, two methods of treating this disease are used: conservative and surgical. Medication includes:
- Rest without any physical exertion.
- Massage of a nerve affected by a disease.
- Treatment with anticonvulsants: Gabapentin, Finlepsin, Carbamazepine.
- The use of muscle relaxants.
- Blockade of the nerves of the occipital region. Steroid preparations are used for this procedure. The inflammation "Kenalog", "Metipred", "Dextamethasone", "Hydrocortisone" is well removed.
If the disease is not treated, it goes into the chronic stage of neuralgia of the occipital nerve. Symptoms, the treatment of which will be successful, especially with the use of the method of blockade of the occipital nerve, can be eliminated at an early stage of the disease. Otherwise, surgical intervention is required. It is carried out in two ways using high quality medical equipment.
How else is occipital neuralgia treated? Symptoms, the treatment of which is often associated with surgical intervention, can be alleviated with the help of folk remedies.
- For the preparation of herbal infusion use oregano, peppermint and thyme. It is added to the water when a person takes a bath. Herbs are mixed in equal amounts. On a glass of boiling water put one tablespoon of the mixture, then the solution is insisted and filtered. Treatment lasts for one month for 10 minutes per procedure.
- Compresses from pickles, potatoes and onions relieve headaches. Grind vegetables, pour wine vinegar. They insist for two hours. Apply a compress to the forehead and nape in the morning and evening.
- Drops in the ears from beetroot juice are quickly relieved of headache. You do not need to cook it. Instead of drops, you can grate the vegetable, wrap the mass with gauze and put in the ear.
Facial nerve, disease, symptoms
The trigeminal nerve controls the work of the muscles of the face. If it is inflamed, severe pain pierces the face. With neoplasms and adhesions inside the skull, trigeminal neuralgia can be caused . Symptoms, the treatment of which will help eliminate the causes of the disease, are characterized by pain and often lead to undesirable intracranial changes. Neuralgia gives complications that cause inflammation in the nasal and oral cavity. Overheating and normal hypothermia of the body can be caused by facial neuralgia. Symptoms, treatment - long and not always effective - once again convince the patient that this disease better to warn. And for this you need to know the signs of its appearance:
- Suddenly arising pain, which for several minutes is accompanied by severe muscle spasm. Pain occurs most often in both jaws, at the level of the eyes, lips and nose. More often the right side of the face suffers.
- When attacks of pain become more frequent, eyes begin to watery.
- The pupils dilate.
- Nasal discharge appears.
Painful sensations are accompanied by neuralgia of the facial nerve. Symptoms, the treatment of which is aimed at stopping the pain syndrome, can give such a side effect as an increase in blood pressure. Symptoms of facial neuralgia should not be confused with symptoms of neuritis, in which the nerve becomes inflamed, rather than irritated or constricted.
Facial nerve, disease, treatment
The main task in the treatment of this disease is to relieve the patient's headache and the frequency of attacks. This ailment is treated with complex measures: methods of integrated medicine and medical methods. Therapy is prescribed individually, the emphasis is on pain points.
- Relieve pain and convulsive manifestations: Tegretol, which begins to take 200 mg per day. Gradually, the dose is increased to 600-800 mg for 3-4 doses. "Baclofen" is taken 3-4 times a day for 5-10 mg.
- Eliminate muscle spasm "Papaverine", "Lyorezal", "No-spear".
- Improves tissue metabolism "Nerobolin".
- Vitamins: B1, B6, B12 have a general strengthening effect.
- Reduce ice pain or hot wipes. Make paraffin baths.
Sciatic nerve neuralgia, symptoms
This nerve is responsible for the sensitivity and motor ability of the legs.
- A characteristic symptom is sudden pain on the back of the leg, right or left.
- Pain accompanies a person constantly, as if shooting a leg from top to bottom.
- They get worse when you sit down.
- Burning and tingling of the muscles of the limbs.
- Movements are difficult.
- There may be back pain, but not as sharp as in the leg.
- May be accompanied by numbness or tingling of muscles of sciatic nerve neuralgia. Symptoms (treatment of the pathology will be described below) are very specific, it is impossible to confuse them.
Therapy
Drug treatment is carried out:
- Painkillers and anti-inflammatory drugs: Diclofenac, Ketoprofen, Ibuprofen, Ortofen. These drugs relieve inflammation and swelling of the tissues. But they have a negative effect on the mucous membrane of the intestines and stomach. They are used only as directed by a doctor. Physiotherapeutic procedures are prescribed to eliminate the pain, but they do not cure the disease. Different alcohol tinctures, ointments and decoctions treat sciatic nerve neuralgia. Symptoms, the treatment of which can be effective if the cause of the disease is eliminated, are characterized by impaired sensory function in the area of sciatic nerve innervation. Therefore, the use of these funds will only help get rid of the pain syndrome.
- Steroid preparations: Prednisolone, Diprospan, Dexamethasone. These medicines are more often prescribed for injection. You can not use them yourself, since they have side effects.
Remember, ineffective treatment helps eliminate symptoms for a while. Very soon, the pain will return, become even stronger and begin to spread throughout the body. And only complex treatment helps to cope with the disease successfully.
Neuralgia of the back, symptoms
- Sharp, dull, burning pains in the back.
- Muscle spasm. It is felt when a person moves quickly or lifts weights. It can provoke stress, hypothermia or a draft.
- The pain intensifies during coughing, sneezing, and even breathing. It is accompanied by burning or numbness.
- The neglected form of neuralgia intensifies pain, fetters movement.
- Muscle tone decreases.
It is characterized by painful manifestations of neuralgia of the back. Symptoms and treatment are individual for each patient. A disease can manifest itself in different ways: bring relief for a short time and return with renewed vigor. There are severe cases when paralysis occurs.
How to treat back neuralgia?
The main task of treating any disease is to relieve an attack of pain. Then, the cause of the disease should be identified. If possible, eliminate it. Neuralgia is successfully treated. The main thing is to consult a doctor on time. For the treatment of back pain, apply:
- Drug and manual therapy.
- Ultrasound radiation and magnetic therapy.
- The neuralgia of the back is treated with massage and acupuncture. Symptoms and treatment this disease should not be confused with neuralgia of other organs.
- Physical therapy classes are required.
Acute back pain during an exacerbation is treated with medications: Diclofenac, Ibuprofen, Nimesulide and others. After that, ointments for external use are used: Ketonal, Sustamed.
Alternative methods of treatment
A common disease is neuralgia. Symptoms and treatment may be different. Traditional methods do not always give positive results. People with this disease can sometimes be cured thanks to folk methods. For this, various decoctions, tinctures, ointments based on natural plant materials are used.
- Willow bark has long been used to treat neuralgia. The prepared broth is recommended to be taken several times daily. At one time - 1 tbsp. the spoon.
- Pain and a lot of inconvenience are caused by neuralgia. Symptoms, treatment with folk remedies of which in combination with medications gives a positive effect, sometimes, despite the pronounced nature of the inflammation, can quickly disappear. If the traditional treatment with pills does not help, you should try the tincture of yarrow. It has an anti-inflammatory effect and quickly relieves pain. A tablespoon of a medicinal plant is poured with boiling water, one glass is enough. It is infused for one hour. Infusion should be taken up to four times a day. At each reception - 1 tbsp. the spoon.
- A warm water compress helps well to relieve the inflammatory process. Use fresh leaves of geranium or burdock as its base.