Neuralgias Treatment in Nagpur

The treatment of neuralgias, which are intense, stabbing pains along the course of a nerve, typically involves addressing the underlying cause and managing the associated pain. Medications like anticonvulsants and tricyclic antidepressants may be prescribed to alleviate nerve pain. Nerve blocks or injections with anesthetics or steroids can provide temporary relief. Physical therapy and alternative therapies like acupuncture may also be considered to manage symptoms. In severe cases or when conservative treatments are ineffective, surgical interventions, such as decompression or neuroma excision, might be recommended to alleviate neuralgia symptoms. Treatment approaches should be tailored to the specific type and location of the neuralgia, and consultation with a healthcare provider is essential for a proper diagnosis and management plan.

Signs and Symptoms

Neuralgias, which are characterized by intense, sharp, shooting pains along the course of a nerve, often present with the following signs and symptoms:

• Severe pain: The hallmark symptom is excruciating, stabbing pain that follows a specific nerve pathway.
• Sensitivity to touch: The affected area may become hypersensitive, with even light touch or clothing causing extreme discomfort.
• Burning or electric shock-like sensations: The pain may feel like burning or electrical shocks, and it can be triggered by various factors, including movement.
• Intermittent episodes: Neuralgia pain often occurs in sudden, brief attacks, but the frequency and duration can vary.
• Location-specific pain: The pain typically follows the path of a specific nerve and is often localized to a particular area of the body.

Treatment of Neuralgias

Some of the neuralgias are easy to treat and most of them are difficult not only to treat but also to identify.

• Drug Treatment–Some antinuerupathic drugs like Duloxietene, antidepressants, are associated with effective pain relief in cases of peripheral nerve damage. Anticonvulsants such as gabapentin are also occasionally recommended for this condition. These drugs will take two to three weeks for the pain to come down and will have to be taken for long term. Drugs are not very effective in providing 100 percent pain relief. Side effects will start to show up especially in old patients. The side effects of these medications need to be kept in mind before staring them. The dose of these drugs needs to be escalated every two weeks depending upon the response .
• Transdermal patches of capsacin may prove to be efficacious sometimes. Capascain patches in different concentration can be used . these patches work by acting as a counter irritant and helps in dampening the pain signals carried by sensory nerves.

Radiofrequency Ablations Of Peripheral Nerves:

Radiofrequency Ablation is an minimally invasive procedure done to inhibit the pain signals to be carried by the sensory nerves. This is done using radiofrequency machines . Once the target nerve is identified by identifying the distribution of pain , then the nerve is ablated using radiofrequency waves
This procedure is done as a day care procedure. The target nerve is identified using ultrasound or fluoroscopic machine. Then the nerve is confirmed by sensory stimulation which is done using the radiofrequency machine.
Sensory stimulation- Sensory stimulation is done to identify the correct nerve by stimulating this nerve and eliciting the same pain regular pain of the patient.
Motor stimulation- After sensory stimulation, motor stimulation is done in which the motor movements is elicited .
If the culprit nerve is sensory nerve, conventional radiofrequency wave is given and if the culprit nerve is motor nerve then pulsed radiofrequency waves are passed.

Peripheral nerve stimulation

Peripheral nerve stimulation is done to stimulate the sleeping nerve which is causing pain. This is a technique in which pain is converted to numbness and hence patient does not feel pain. This is done as a minimally invasive procedure as a day care procedure.