Neuropathic Pain
Nerve pain following limb injury is common. Physiotherapy is an essential component in the recovery from this. Using a mirror box can dramatically improve the results of this physiotherapy.
It may seem bizarre that something so simple as a mirror can be used to get your hand or foot going again but its true. The fact is however that even after short periods of immobilisation following injury and nerve pain development the efficiency of the communication between your brain and your hand can be reduced. In order to rehabilitate your hand or foot, you need to turn back "on" the wiring between your brain and your limb. Mirror therapy is an aid to this rehabilitation and provides a visual feed back that is thought to encourage your wiring system to both get moving again and to activate spare or sleepy parts of the wiring system that have previously been uninvolved, to contribute to your recovery. Watch Video
Improvements come with repeated exercises. This is why a portable, collapsible and lightweight Mirror box is an invaluable tool in your recovery, allowing you to do your rehabilitation exercises wherever and whenever you wish.
Step up your therapy now to a new and more efficient phase.
Nerve pain rehabilitation focuses on restoring normal function through graded exercise programmes. This work is the "bread and butter" of physiotherapy and occupational therapists. Our deepening understanding of why some patients have difficulty rehabilitating their limbs following injury has revealed that co-ordination between the somatosensory cortex and the motor cortex is key. Furthermore, input from vision and mirror visualisation techniques can play a very helpful and significant role in speeding up and increasing the effectiveness of physiotherapy routines, which can easily be undertaken using the mirror box mirror. This approach has been described in the literature in anecdotal evidence, case reports and clinical trial work. The evidence is building that using mirror therapy particularly with the hand following injury be it accidental or post surgery can have a beneficial effect on rehabilitation
Types of Neuropathic Pain
Neuropathic literally means "a dysfunction of the nervous system". Physicians use the term "Neuropathic pain" to describe pain that originates from impaired function of the nervous system. Neuropathic pain can be divided into central causes (brain and spinal cord) or peripheral causes (the nerves running from the spinal cord to the skin) of disruption to the nervous system.
Central causes of neuropathic pain include stroke, traumatic brain injury, traumatic injury to the spinal cord, multiple sclerosis, brain tumours, inflammation or infection of the brain or spinal cord.
Peripheral causes of neuropathic pain are shingles, traumatic nerve injuries such as brachial plexus avulsions, trigeminal neuralgia, diabetic neuropathy, alcoholic neuropathy, multiple sclerosis and amputation.
Symptoms of neuropathic pain .
Neuropathic pain typically causes feelings of burning, electrical shooting pain, unpleasant tingling, pins and needles, a feeling of water running down the limb, a crawling feeling beneath the skin and increased sensitivity to non pain full stimulation (hypersensitivity) as well as pain to non painfull stimulation (allodynia).
Time course of Neuropathic Pain
Neuropathic pain does not tend to get better and if it does it takes a long time to do so.
Treatments
- Medication
- Anticonvulsants such as pregablin or gabapentin
- Tricyclic antidepressants such as nortriptyline
- Opioids such as morphine
- NMDA receptor antagonists such as ketamine
- Sodium channel blockers such as lidocaine
- Canabinoids such as sativex
- Stimulation therapy
- TENS and spinal cord stimulation
- Psychological management
- Coping skills
- Pain management programmes
- Mirror box therapy as part of a graded exercise programme .
