After damage to nerve tissue (like a stroke, spinal cord injury or nerve inflammation in diabetes) nerve pain can occur.

This pain is the result of abnormal conduction of pain impulses in the nerves. You can compare this with an incorrectly connected telephone wire, making it so the phone constantly keeps ringing. The nervous system is then constantly put into action because it “thinks” that there is tissue damage somewhere.

This type of pain is often not possible to properly reduce with ‘normal’ painkillers. With nerve pain, doctors will often administer a drug that slows the conduction in nerves. For this we often use antidepressants and anticonvulsants. It is good to realize that these tablets are not prescribed because the doctor thinks it is “all in the imagination.” These medications are specifically prescribed for pain. Commonly used tablets are amitriptyline (Tryptizol, Sarotex) and carbamazepine (Tegretol).

Another way to combat pain is to dampen the nerve that carries the pain stimuli. This is generally referred to as a nerve block. Modern nerve blocks are safe and don’t damage nerves. On the other hand, there are types of pain that are caused by abnormalities in the brain and spinal cord. In these cases it has less effect to dampen the nerve conduction and you may experience poor results with a nerve block. It will then be necessary to find an alternative treatment to reduce your pain symptoms.