More on nerve pain
May 6, 2015 15:38:01 GMT -8
Post by Butiki on May 6, 2015 15:38:01 GMT -8
I have been looking at nerve pain, as I would like to get off Lyrica. I came across these articles, so I hope you find them helpful. 
Living with nerve pain can be a long-term proposition. Some neuropathic pain gets better with treatment or on its own, but that can take months or years. Other nerve pain stays the same for years or worsens slowly. Some nerve pain can't be reversed.
Your doctor can help you identify and treat neuropathic pain with the best available therapies. But there are also plenty of things you can do on your own to take care of pain.
Your doctor can help you identify and treat neuropathic pain with the best available therapies. But there are also plenty of things you can do on your own to take care of pain.
Classification
There are a number of different types of pain that are commonly seen in persons with a spinal cord injury.
Classification of these pain types has always been somewhat problematic due to considerable uncertainty
about the underlying mechanisms and systems involved and a wide variety of terms have been used in
describing the same type of pain. In an attempt to standardise nomenclature, the International Association
for the Study of Pain proposed a classification system (Siddall et al., 2002). In a similar fashion to other types
of chronic pain, this is first divided into nociceptive (pain arising from somatic or visceral structures) and
neuropathic (pain arising from nerve structures including the spinal cord and brain). The system then identifies
five common types of pain seen following SCI, including:
1. Musculoskeletal pain arising from bones, joints, ligaments and muscles either in the acute post-injury
phase or with chronic overuse;
2. Visceral pain arising from disturbances to bladder, bowel or other visceral function;
3. At-level neuropathic pain, sometimes described as endzone or borderzone, which is a band of
burning, electric or shooting pain and hypersensitivity in the dermatomes close to the level of injury;
and
4. Below-level neuropathic pain, referring to pain with the same burning, shooting, electric qualities as
the previous type of pain but it is located diffusely below the level of injury usually bilaterally in the
buttocks and legs.
5. The remaining category (above-level neuropathic pain) is not exclusive to spinal cord injury but
includes several types of neuropathic pain that are commonly seen, such as complex regional
pain syndromes (often referred to as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia) and compressive
neuropathies (eg. carpal tunnel syndrome).
This classification attempts to identify most of the pain types commonly seen with the aim of providing
direction for treatment.
There are a number of different types of pain that are commonly seen in persons with a spinal cord injury.
Classification of these pain types has always been somewhat problematic due to considerable uncertainty
about the underlying mechanisms and systems involved and a wide variety of terms have been used in
describing the same type of pain. In an attempt to standardise nomenclature, the International Association
for the Study of Pain proposed a classification system (Siddall et al., 2002). In a similar fashion to other types
of chronic pain, this is first divided into nociceptive (pain arising from somatic or visceral structures) and
neuropathic (pain arising from nerve structures including the spinal cord and brain). The system then identifies
five common types of pain seen following SCI, including:
1. Musculoskeletal pain arising from bones, joints, ligaments and muscles either in the acute post-injury
phase or with chronic overuse;
2. Visceral pain arising from disturbances to bladder, bowel or other visceral function;
3. At-level neuropathic pain, sometimes described as endzone or borderzone, which is a band of
burning, electric or shooting pain and hypersensitivity in the dermatomes close to the level of injury;
and
4. Below-level neuropathic pain, referring to pain with the same burning, shooting, electric qualities as
the previous type of pain but it is located diffusely below the level of injury usually bilaterally in the
buttocks and legs.
5. The remaining category (above-level neuropathic pain) is not exclusive to spinal cord injury but
includes several types of neuropathic pain that are commonly seen, such as complex regional
pain syndromes (often referred to as reflex sympathetic dystrophy or causalgia) and compressive
neuropathies (eg. carpal tunnel syndrome).
This classification attempts to identify most of the pain types commonly seen with the aim of providing
direction for treatment.
