The Peripheral nerves branch outward from the spinal cord to send messages from the brain to the rest of the body. They help with tasks such as sensing temperature differences in the feet and moving the muscles for walking. Peripheral nerves are constructed of fibers called axons that are insulated by surrounding tissues.

While vital to daily life, Peripheral nerves are fragile and easily damaged. Injury to the nerves can affect the brain’s ability to properly communicate with muscles and organs. Damage to the peripheral nerves is called peripheral neuropathy.

It’s important to get medical care for a peripheral nerve injury as soon as possible. Early diagnosis and treatment can prevent complications and permanent damage.

What are the symptoms of Peripheral nerve injury?

Symptoms of a Peripheral nerve injury may range from mild to serious. The more serious symptoms can greatly limit your daily activities. Your symptoms often depend on which nerve fibers are damaged:

• Motor nerves: Motor nerves regulate all the muscles under your conscious control (For example walking, talking, and holding objects). The symptoms of damaged motor nerves typically include muscle weakness, painful cramps, and uncontrollable muscle twitching.
• Sensory nerves: These nerves relay information about touch, temperature, and pain. Damage to sensory nerves cause can cause a wide variety of symptoms including numbness or tingling in the hands or feet, trouble sensing pain or changes in temperature, walking, keeping your balance with your eyes closed, or fastening buttons.
• Autonomic nerves: This group of nerves regulates activities that are not controlled consciously (For example breathing, heart and thyroid function, and digesting food). Symptoms may include excessive sweating, changes in blood pressure, the inability to tolerate heat, and gastrointestinal symptoms.

Many peripheral nerve injuries affect more than one type of nerve fiber, causing you to feel a wide variety of symptoms.

What are the causes of Peripheral nerve injury?

• Injury from an accident, a fall, or high-impact sports, which can stretch, compress, crush or cut nerves
• Diabetes, Guillain-Barre syndrome, and carpal tunnel syndrome
• Lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjogren’s syndrome, and other autoimmune diseases
• Narrowing of the arteries
• Hormonal imbalances
• Tumors

Physical Therapy

Physical therapists diagnose and treat patients with medical problems or injuries that limit their ability to take part in their daily lives. Patients will usually see a physical therapist after a referral by their primary physician. Physical therapists work with patients who have experienced an injury or disease that has affected their movement and range of motion.

At Nextgen Pain & Injury Clinic, our team of licensed physical therapists and rehabilitation experts will focus on your total health and wellness. Regardless of the cause or source of your pain, we will develop a treatment plan with your unique issues in mind.

Our treatment philosophy emphasizes evidence-based manual and therapeutic exercise techniques that are tailored toward efficiently returning patients, athletes, and employees to their pre-injury status. We treat orthopedic and sports injuries, provide spinal rehabilitation, post-surgical rehabilitation, and industrial rehabilitation. Personalized physical therapy is used to treat a variety of conditions.

• Chronic and acute medical problems
• Knee pain
• Back pain
• Leg Pain
• Ankle pain
• Sports injuries
• Musculoskeletal injuries
• Chronic medical problems
• Neurological conditions such as spinal cord injuries