Nerve Recovery: The Slowest Healer and the Most Important One
Recovery Basics, Part 5 of 5
Tingling in the fingers. Numbness down the leg. A burning line of pain, pins and needles, or a hand that keeps dropping things. Nerve symptoms feel different from every other kind of pain, and they worry people more. That is fair. Your nervous system runs everything.
The good news is that nerves can and do recover. They just do it on their own timetable, and they need the right conditions.
What your nerves do
Your brain communicates with every muscle, organ and cell through the spinal cord and the nerves that branch out from it between the bones of your spine. Messages travel out to tell your body what to do, and messages travel back to tell your brain what is happening.
Every part of healing covered in this series, in muscle, tendon and joint, is coordinated by that system. When it works well, you work well.
What nerves need
Nerves are sensitive and they are demanding. They need three things.
Space. Nerves pass through narrow tunnels, especially where they leave the spine. Swelling, a bulging disc, stiff joints or tight muscle can crowd them.
Blood flow. Nerves use a great deal of oxygen for their size. Even mild, sustained pressure reduces the circulation inside a nerve and it starts to misfire.
Movement. Nerves are designed to slide and glide as you move. Stay in one position for hours and they become irritated.
The basics of nerve healing
An irritated nerve (pressure, inflammation, no real damage) can settle in days to a few weeks once the pressure comes off.
A compressed nerve that has been squeezed for longer often takes 6 to 12 weeks, sometimes more.
A damaged nerve regrows at roughly 1 millimetre a day, about 2 to 3 centimetres a month. A nerve injured at the lower back that needs to recover all the way to the foot may need many months.
Two things are worth knowing. First, recovery usually follows an order: pain eases, then feeling comes back, then strength. Second, symptoms often retreat towards the spine as things improve. Pain that used to reach your foot and now stops at your knee is a good sign, even if your back feels sorer for a while.
The most important rule with nerves is this: the longer a nerve is under pressure, the longer it takes to recover. Nerve symptoms are not something to wait out.
Two things you can do
1. Change position often. Nerves dislike sustained pressure and sustained stretch. If sitting brings on your symptoms, stand up every 20 to 30 minutes. If looking down at your phone sets off your arm, bring the screen up to eye level. Avoid sleeping with your arms overhead or your wrists curled. Small changes, repeated all day, take a lot of load off an irritated nerve.
2. Keep the blood flowing. Walk daily, at a pace that does not flare your symptoms. Walking gently moves the nerves in your back and legs and improves their circulation. Support that with food: oily fish for omega-3 fats, eggs, meat and leafy greens for B vitamins, and less sugar, because high blood sugar is directly irritating to nerves. Do not aggressively stretch a nerve that is already tingling. If a stretch brings on pins and needles, ease off.
Free one-page handout
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Where chiropractic fits
Chiropractic is built around the nervous system. It is what our profession has focused on from the beginning.
Your nerves leave the spine through small openings between the vertebrae. When those spinal joints are restricted, inflamed or not sitting and moving as they should, the nerve at that level can become irritated or crowded. Chiropractors are specifically trained to find where that is happening, using orthopaedic and neurological tests of your reflexes, sensation and strength, and to correct it with precise adjustments.
Restoring movement at that level reduces irritation and gives the nerve the space, circulation and movement it needs. The adjustment does not heal the nerve. It removes what is getting in the way so your body can.
And because nerves control everything else, the effects often go beyond the original complaint. Patients regularly tell me they are sleeping better, moving more easily and have more energy. A nervous system with less interference simply works better.
When to seek urgent medical care
Go to an emergency department straight away if you have:
Loss of bladder or bowel control, or difficulty passing urine
Numbness around the groin or inner thighs
Rapidly worsening weakness in a leg or arm
Severe symptoms after a fall or accident
Do not wait on nerve symptoms
If you have had tingling, numbness, burning or weakness for more than a few days, get it examined. The earlier the pressure comes off, the faster and more completely nerves recover.
This article is general education and is not a substitute for an individual examination.
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