Diagnosis

It is important for the doctor to know what symptoms are present and when they first appeared. Do you feel tingling or numbness, are you restricted in your movements or are you less sensitive to skin touches? Did the pain first appear in a special situation?

Did it appear suddenly or creepingly? Where exactly is the point of pain located or does it radiate into a region? For further diagnosis, various movement tests may be carried out, since certain nerves have leading muscles that innervate them.

In this way, one can find out which nerve is most likely to be affected. The possible damage to the nerves can also be tested by assessing the reflex status, which involves tapping the base of the muscles with a reflex hammer. Imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance therapy (MRI) can be used to visualize the entrapment of nerve tracts along the spinal canal.

Another diagnostic option is the measurement of nerve conduction velocity. In this process, electrodes are attached to the skin, which on the one hand can measure the nerve impulse and on the other hand can irritate muscle fibers and thus also the associated nerve fibers with a certain (harmless) current intensity. The nerve conduction velocity can be calculated from the values determined and it can be estimated whether there is nerve damage in the measured area.

Duration

The duration of the pain varies depending on the location, cause, degree of inflammation and condition of the person. Usually it is helpful to start early with a pain-relieving therapy in order to relieve the psychological strain that pain brings with it. For example, in the case of intercostal neuralgia caused by bronchitis, one can expect the pain to improve as soon as the bronchitis has subsided. If it is a neuralgia due to herpes zoster virus, the pain can occur again and again in the area of the vesicles even after shingles has healed. In general, it can be said that the pain should decrease as soon as the causal cause is found and treated.