Neuralgia at back

Various diseases can lead to nerve-related pain in the back.Initially, these include degenerative (wear-related) changes in the spine or herniated discs. Both can result in the spinal cord or the nerve roots becoming virtually trapped and thus damaged. In addition to the neuralgic pain, neurological functional limitations (e.g. numbness, disturbances in movement coordination) are often also present.

Another possible cause is shingles, or herpes zoster. Herpes viruses are reactivated, usually due to a weakening of the immune system, e.g. by a flu-like infection, and then spread along a spinal nerve. Here the neuralgic pain is usually accompanied by a vesicular rash on the trunk.

Neuralgia in the genital area

If the N. genitofemoralis is damaged or irritated in men, attack-like, shooting pains occur in its innervation area. This results in seizure-like pain in the groin and scrotum.

Neuralgia in the feet

An aching foot is a great burden for the person concerned and is usually caused by injuries of various kinds. However, the pain can also have a nervous cause. Since this form of pain can often only be relieved to a limited extent by classic pain medication, the cause of the nerve damage should be treated first.

The most common cause of nerve pain in the foot is diabetic neuropathy. Due to a long-standing diabetes mellitus, as many elderly and overweight people have it, damage to the vessels in the outer parts of the body occurs first. On the one hand, the nerves are damaged due to the subsequent undersupply, which then causes pain, on the other hand, the increased blood sugar level itself also causes damage.

In the foot, nerve injuries or irritations are also often caused by bruising. These are caused, for example, by wearing tight shoes or by unnatural foot positions, i.e. wearing high heels. This is also the reason why young women in particular are often plagued by such a pain syndrome.

A flat shoe model with enough freedom can already lead to an alleviation of the symptoms, whereby the nerve needs time to recover. The neuralgia can also be triggered by a so-called tarsal tunnel syndrome. This is a syndrome that is caused by a compression or constriction of certain nerves in the leg.

Another more common form of neuralgia is the Morton neuralgia. Affected persons usually report at the beginning of sensitivity disorders such as tingling or falling asleep of the feet and especially the toes. Later, recurring, shooting pains, some of which radiate into the leg, are added to the symptoms.

The mechanism of origin of this disease is based on a compression of the nerves of the sole of the foot between the heads of the metatarsals. Over time, this strain on the nerve can lead to the formation of new connective tissue around the nerve, which is supposed to protect the nerve. Although this is “well meant”, in the end it almost always leads to an additional entrapment of the nerve. The diagnosis can usually be made relatively reliably on the basis of the symptoms described and the physical examination, and is confirmed by ultrasound or MRI examination.