What Is Peripheral Nerve Pain?

The peripheral nervous system consists of all the nerves that are outside of the brain and the spinal cord: the nerves in your arms and legs, in your face, and in your chest and abdomen. Whether caused by injury, surgery, or conditions such as diabetic neuropathy, damage to the peripheral nerves can lead to chronic pain that is difficult to diagnose and find solutions to treat.

The Peripheral Nerve Surgery Program in the Section of Plastic Surgery involves cutting-edge surgical treatment for pain caused by injury and/or compression of nerves.

Surgery for Chronic Pain

Some causes of chronic pain can be successfully treated with surgery. Chronic pain after surgery, accidents, trauma, and sports injuries that has not been relieved by first-line methods may be due to injury to peripheral nerves. Patients often visit several doctors and engage in multiple therapies including physical therapy, medications, orthopaedic treatment, or spinal nerve blocks without significant relief. Medications often only reduce or mask the symptoms — unfortunately, patients with chronic pain from peripheral nerve injury rarely experience lasting relief from medications.

New techniques have been shown to reduce or eliminate pain for many of these patients. Michigan Medicine is one of a handful of institutions currently offering this surgery as an option for patients who may have exhausted other methods of treating their pain.

The optimal patient for potential surgical treatment for peripheral nerve injury has:

    Pain in a specific area for more than three months that has not been relieved by other methods like physical therapy or medications.

    A prior workup by other specialists such as orthopaedic surgeons, physical medicine doctors, pain specialists, or neurologists — without discovering an obvious cause for the pain.

    Prior tests can be particularly helpful, such as EMG/NCV, diagnostic nerve blocks, and 3T MRIs.