Coronavirus And Nerve Damage

It’s estimated that 15 – 20 million Americans have some degree of nerve pain in their life, and it usually occurs in those 60+. At Integrated Pain Consultants, “Top Doc” Dr. Nikesh Seth and his team have always been committed to offering a suite of alternative therapies for pain management related to nerve pain and damage. Our team is prepared to work with patients in the coming months who’ve been struggling with nerve pain throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and from the coronavirus disease itself. The Daily Mail recently reported that neurologists from the University of Science and Technology in Wuhan analyzed 214 coronavirus patients in China and found that 36.4 percent had nerve and brain injury symptoms.

According to researchers, coronavirus is especially damaging to the brain and nervous system of patients who are classified as “severely ill.” One third of patients in this study were found to have headaches, nerve pain, slurred speech, stumbling, and even seizures. This is the first study to focus on brain issues related to coronavirus and is being touted as a means of identifying which patients are at the highest risk for complications.

Assessing Nerve and Brain Damage

Neurologist Bo Hu separated various neurological symptoms into three categories including manifestations in the central nervous system, peripheral nervous system, and skeletal muscular injuries. The central nervous system symptoms included impaired consciousness, ataxia, and acute cerebrovascular disease. Hu then compared patients with neurological symptoms to those who didn’t have as severe of an infection. Those with a severe infection tended to not only be older, but also have underlying conditions—especially hypertension.

The full implications of COVID-19 are, of course, still being learned about and studied by everyone. However, what pain management specialists already know is how to treat the symptoms (the pain) of nerve damage. Some of the most popular treatments for nerve pain at Integrated Pain Consultants include epidural steroid injections, spinal cord stimulation, medication management that’s safe and reduces the risk of dependency, radiofrequency ablation, ketamine infusions, sympathetic nerve blocks, and ARP Wave Therapy. If you’re suffering from nerve pain, regardless of the cause, help is available. Call Integrated Pain Consultants today at (480) 626-2552 to schedule your consultation or appointment.