Невралгії. Клінічна картина, етіологія, загальні принципи діагностики та лікування

Neuralgia is a peripheral nervous system abnormality characterized by the acute pain syndrome. Usually, you need qualified medical assistance; however, you should know how to stop the symptoms of neuralgia by yourself.

The clinical picture develops depending on which nerve is affected. However, there is a range of common symptoms for any localization:

• Severe pain. It always emerges suddenly, feels in the organ or the body region where the pathological process develops. For example, signs of the chest neuralgia in a woman are manifested by pain in the mammary glands radiating to the bladebone.
• Problems with mobility. It regards any joints: elbow, ankle, hip, shoulder, etc. A patient complains that he/she cannot take a comfortable position, there is a problem with changing the position of the body: for example, it is problematic to rise from a sitting position or sit down from a lying position.

Often these two symptoms are mutually complementary. For example, pain in case of the neuralgia of the left half of the back is combined with the inability to sit, stand or change the position of the body.

If neuralgia is triggered by an infectious disease, then pain may arise immediately after the attenuation of the infectious process. In this case, neuralgia is considered as a complication, for example, this is often observed with herpes zoster (herpes infection).

The treatment is prescribed by a specialist only. He/she clarifies the diagnosis, finds out the cause of the development of the pathological process and selects the individual treatment scheme.

Medication is mandatory, because the symptoms of neuralgia are pronounced and disturb a patient around the clock, disrupting his/her usual rhythm of life. General prescriptions include:

These are massage, warming, acupuncture, reflexotherapy and other techniques.

For example, if the occipital neuralgia is caused by non-inflammatory processes in the brain, then you can quickly get rid of the problem with a course of acupuncture or infrared radiation. However, such a treatment can only be applied after the acute symptoms have been eliminated.

The massage is performed only as a restorative treatment method. That is, it is prescribed after stopping the pain syndrome and an acute inflammatory process. Massaging the neck area often helps to relieve occipital neuralgia.

Some physiotherapy procedures can be carried out in combination with pain medications, for example, electrophoresis with lidocaine or novocaine. Active substances under the action of an electric current penetrate deeply into the tissues and influence directly on the pathological area.

There is a number of recipes with the use of the flowers of wild chamomile, althea root, which will help to relieve acute pain and reduce discomfort. Official medicine considers them useless, and in some cases, harmful. In any case, they should not become the main therapy, because you cannot do without medication and a course of physiotherapy.

You can get the information on how to suspect the disease and how to distinguish the neuralgia in the heart region from a stenocardia attack or a myocardial infarction on our website

Article author - Irina Pepenina

Publication date: 08.10.2020