Neuralgia

Index

  1. What is neuralgia?
  2. What are the symptoms of neuralgia?
  3. Causes of neuralgia
  4. Can neuralgia be prevented?
  5. Treatment of neuralgia

What is neuralgia?

Neuralgia is an irritation or damage to a nerve that causes severe pain. This condition is most common in the elderly, but can affect any age. The two main types of neuralgia are:

  • Postherpetic neuralgia: ongoing pain after an outbreak of shingles.
  • Trigeminal neuralgia: pain like a sharp prick or cramp in part of the face.
  • Neuralgia affecting the glossopharyngeal nerve: less common, causing tenderness in the throat.

What are the symptoms of neuralgia?

The symptomatology of neuralgia usually includes:

  • Acute pain: this is the main symptom of neuralgia, and presents as a very intense pain in the whole area of the affected nerve.
  • More sensitive skin in the region of the nerve: leads to intense pain on contact.
  • Weakness of the muscle in which the nerve is located: it may even lead to complete paralysis of the nerve.

Neuralgia is an irritation of a nerve that causes intense pain.

Causes of neuralgia

In many cases the cause that provokes neuralgia is unknown, but it may be due to any of the following factors:

  • Chronic kidney disease.
  • Consumption of certain medications.
  • Infectious diseases such as herpes zoster virus, HIV or syphilis.
  • Pressure on the nerve from a bone, blood vessel or nearby tumor.
  • Trauma.
  • Diabetes.
  • Porphyria.
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Can neuralgia be prevented?

One way to prevent neuralgia is to control blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Vaccinations and antiviral medications against the herpes zoster virus can also prevent neuralgia.

Treatment of neuralgia

Treatment for neuralgia will depend on the cause of the neuralgia, the location of the nerve and the degree of pain.

Pharmacological treatment for pain includes antidepressant medications, anticonvulsants, analgesics and relaxing patches or creams.

Other treatments that can be carried out are:

  • Physical therapy, especially in postherpetic neuralgia.
  • Injections of pain-relieving medication.
  • Pain relief treatments, such as radiofrequency, heat application, chemical injection or balloon compression.
  • Nerve blocks.
  • Surgical intervention to relieve pain.
  • Alternative medicine such as acupuncture.
  • Nerve or spinal cord stimulation, especially when other treatments fail to relieve the symptoms of neuralgia. In some cases, motor cortex stimulation is performed, which consists of placing an electrode on the nerve, brain or spinal cord and connecting it to a pulse generator.