Nerve Disorders
Explore the many variants.
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a sudden injury sustained to the head that causes damage to the brain and interferes with normal brain function. Click here to learn more about TBI.
If you have a post-traumatic headache that is not going away with typical headache medications, the underlying cause may be due to an entrapment of the occipital nerve at the occipito-nuchal line (where the neck muscles attach to the back of the head).
TOS may be variable as it is a collection of different nerve problems or entrapments and symptoms include pain and numbness in the arm, shoulder, and neck, as well as weakness and tingling sensations in your fingers. TOS occurs when there is compression of the nerves and blood vessels as they pass through the thoracic outlet, located between the neck and shoulder – specifically when the collarbone and first rib (thoracic outlet) nerves become compressed. TOS is common after injuries like motor vehicle accidents when whiplash occurs.
The brachial plexus is a network of nerves that control movement and sensation in the shoulder, arm, and hand. The most common type of thoracic outlet syndrome is caused by compression of the brachial plexus nerves. After your injury you may experience significant pain in your shoulder, arm, and hand. When you get injured, the nerves here may become stretched, compressed, or in the most serious cases, ripped apart or torn away from the spinal cord.
Spinal cord injuries are also common after injuries and are also variable. These injuries can range from your neck (cervical spine) down to your lower back (lumbar spine). Radiculopathy refers to a condition where there is compression or damage to the spinal nerve roots. Symptoms are variable depending on the location of your injury, and you may be experiencing numbness, tingling, pain, and weakness in the corresponding areas of the body. For example, cervical radiculopathy affects the neck, shoulder, arm, and hand, while lumbar radiculopathy affects the lower back, buttock, and leg.
Sciatica involves irritation or compression of the sciatic nerve which runs from the lower back down to the leg. You may be feeling pain, pins and needles, or numbness that radiates from the lower back, through the buttock, and down the affected leg. The pain is typically felt on one side of your body.
If you have significant pain in your buttock region and experience numbness and tingling along the back of the leg into the foot, like sciatic pain, and the pain is worse when sitting, you might have Piriformis syndrome. This occurs when the piriformis muscle, located in the buttock region, irritates the nearby sciatic nerve and causes pain.
EIf you have been experiencing pain or numbness in the area between the legs, including the genitals and occasionally some of the inside of the thigh, and often only one side is affected, you may have a pudendal nerve entrapment. This condition involves compression or irritation of the pudendal nerve, which supplies sensation to the genitals, rectum, and perineum. Other symptoms include chronic pelvic pain, pain during sitting, sexual dysfunction, and numbness or tingling in the genital area.
If your injury resulted in significant numbness, tingling, and pain in your hand and fingers, especially the thumb, index, middle and half of the ring finger, and you have weakness and difficulty gripping objects, it may be caused by pressure or entrapment of the median nerve in the wrist.