Nerve Conditions and Care
Find Relief and Restore Your Nerve Health
A tingling hand. A shaky step. A sharp pain that comes without warning. These aren’t just symptoms, they’re signals your body is asking for care.
At every step, from diagnosis to treatment, your team works to understand what’s happening beneath the surface. Because getting back to what feels normal doesn’t start with a test. It starts with being heard on the road to improved nerve health.
What Does Nerve Pain Feel Like?
Nerve pain feels different for everyone. Some describe it as burning, tingling, or stabbing. Others say it’s like a shock or pins and needles that won’t stop. It may come and go or stay all day. Even soft touch, like a breeze or bedsheet, can hurt.
Symptoms May Include:
- Sharp or shooting pain
- Numbness or tingling
- Burning or freezing sensations
- Muscle weakness
- Pain that worsens at night
How is Nerve Pain Diagnosed?
You know your body best. If something feels wrong, a doctor can help find the cause. They’ll listen to your symptoms, examine you carefully, and may order tests like blood work, imaging, or nerve studies to understand what’s happening inside.
How is Nerve Pain Treated?
Treatment depends on the cause. Your care team will work with you on a plan that fits your life:
- Medications to ease nerve pain or calm overactive signals
- Physical therapy to help you move more easily
- Injections or nerve blocks to target pain at the source
- Lifestyle changes to help manage symptoms
Sometimes a mix of treatments works best. Your team is with you through each step.
Common Nerve Pain Conditions We Treat
Nerve pain can show up in many different ways, from tingling or burning in your hands and feet to sharp, shock-like pain in your face. At CHRISTUS, our neurosurgeons diagnose and treat a wide range of conditions where surgical expertise makes a difference, including:
- Entrapment Syndromes: When a nerve is “trapped” or compressed in a tight space, it can cause pain, weakness, or numbness. Common examples include:
- Carpal Tunnel, pain, tingling, or numbness in the wrist and hand, often called carpal tunnel
- Tingling or numbness in the ring and little fingers that is felt at the elbow, and called Ulnar Nerve Entrapment
- Pelvic pain or discomfort from pressure on pelvic nerves, called Pudendal nerve entrapment.
- Burning or tingling on the surface of the thigh, called Meralgia paresthetica
- Conditions that cause sudden severe facial pain: Sharp, electric-shock type pain on one side of the face or head that may come and go.
- Pinched nerves in the spine: Nerves squeezed by herniated discs or spinal stenosis, leading to sciatica, back pain, or leg weakness.
- Nerve injuries: Damage from accidents, surgery, or repetitive stress that causes pain or loss of function.
- Chronic nerve pain: Pain that lingers long after an injury or illness has healed, sometimes needing advanced treatments.
- Movement and neuromuscular disorders: Conditions like tremors, Parkinson’s, ALS, or myasthenia gravis where neurosurgeons may help with certain procedures or devices.
- Urgent nerve conditions: Severe compression that causes sudden loss of bladder or bowel control (such as cauda equina syndrome) and requires immediate care.
Nerve Pain Conditions Usually Managed by Other Specialists
Some nerve problems are caused by whole-body conditions rather than a single site of compression. These are usually not treated with surgery, though neurosurgeons may play a supportive role:
- Diabetic neuropathy: Managed by endocrinologists and neurologists; neurosurgeons may help with spinal cord stimulation for severe pain.
- Postherpetic neuralgia (after shingles): Often treated with medications and topical therapies; surgery is rarely needed.
- Multiple sclerosis–related nerve pain: Treated by neurologists, though neurosurgeons may assist with implanted pumps or stimulators for specific symptoms.
Minimally Invasive Solutions for Chronic Nerve Pain
There are several therapies available to target nerve pain. These can include:
- Cryoneuroablation (involving targeted freezing of sensory nerves)
- Epidural steroid injections
- Intrathecal medication pumps (pain pumps)
- Neuromodulation includes nerve blocks and radiofrequency ablation, to disrupt or modify pain signals.
Spinal Cord & Peripheral Nerve Stimulation
- Spinal Cord Stimulation (SCS) is an implantable “pain pacemaker” that sends electrical signals to the spinal cord to help block chronic neuropathic pain. It’s considered that more conservative therapies have not provided relief.
- Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) delivers targeted electrical stimulation to specific peripheral nerves. It’s particularly effective for localized neuropathic pain such as post-traumatic or diabetic nerve pain.
Robotic & Image-Guided Spine Surgery
For nerve pain linked to spinal conditions (like herniated discs or stenosis), spine surgery tools are used to improve accuracy and outcomes.
- Medtronic O-arm - provides high-resolution 2D/3D imaging during surgery.
- StealthStation Navigation System - offers computer-guided precision.
- Joimax - endoscopes and tubular retractors enable ultra–minimally invasive procedures with smaller incisions and quicker recovery.
These options aim to relieve pain while minimizing recovery time, with a caring, patient-centered approach.
Non-Surgical Treatments for Nerve Pain
Not every case of nerve pain requires surgery. In fact, many people find relief through non-surgical treatments that focus on calming irritated nerves, reducing inflammation and retraining how the nervous system processes pain signals.
Common Non-Surgical Treatments Include:
- Physical therapy: Gentle stretching, strengthening, and posture training can reduce pressure on the nerves and improve mobility.
- Medications: Certain medicines can target nerve pain specifically, helping to reduce sharp or burning sensations.
- Injections: Targeted steroid injections may reduce inflammation around the nerve roots, offering lasting relief.
- Neurostimulation (Spinal Cord Stimulation): For chronic pain that doesn’t improve with other methods, neurostimulation can be life-changing. This therapy uses a small device to send mild electrical impulses to the nerves in your spine. These impulses “retrain” how the nervous system perceives pain, often reducing or replacing painful sensations with a gentle tingling, or eliminating them altogether.
Non-surgical care focuses on restoring your quality of life with the least invasive approach possible. Your care team will tailor a plan that fits your symptoms, goals and lifestyle.
When Should a Person Get Treatment?
Pain that feels strange, spreads, or lingers is worth checking out. You deserve answers and you can find them at CHRISTUS Health.
Don't Ignore the Tingle
The emotional toll of living with chronic pain is real, and it's often linked to physical and mental health challenges.
Physical Complications can Include:
- Muscle atrophy and weakness
- Worsening of pain
- Loss of sensation
- Impaired motor function
Psychological Complications can Include:
- Sleep problems
- Mood changes
- Depression and anxiety
- Trouble with daily tasks
Getting care early can protect your quality of life and help you feel like yourself again.
Schedule an appointment with a neurosurgeon
