The nervous system is considered your body’s command center for a reason. Made up of your brain, spinal cord, and nerves, your nervous system tells you when to breathe, when to speak, and when and how to react to what’s happening around you. You have trillions of peripheral nerves that are constantly sending information back to your brain and spinal cord, which process that information and prompt you to act appropriately in response. But if you start to exhibit signs of nerve damage, it’s a clue that something isn’t working quite right.
When your nervous system misfires, you might feel something you shouldn’t—or miss a cue because you didn’t feel something you should. Your feet might tingle or hurt for no apparent reason, or you might burn your hand because you didn’t realize how hot the stove was. These miscommunications inside your body are often the result of nerve damage.
Meet the experts: Andrew Elkwood, M.D., plastic and reconstructive surgeon; Isha Gupta, M.D., neurologist; R. Glenn Smith, M.D., neurologist at Houston Methodist.
About 20 million Americans have neuropathy, or peripheral nerve damage, per Yale Health. That means your peripheral nerves—the nerves outside your brain and spinal cord—are damaged in some way. This is commonly caused by diabetes, genetic health conditions, repetitive motion, and Lyme disease, says Andrew Elkwood, M.D., plastic and reconstructive surgeon. But other causes include injuries, infections, autoimmune conditions, vitamin deficiencies, certain medications, and more, per the Mayo Clinic.
Nerve damage generally happens slowly, says Isha Gupta, M.D., neurologist. So you might be able to catch it and prevent it from getting worse. Here are some subtle signs that can signal nerve damage, according to experts. Be sure to see a doctor if you have any of these symptoms.
Signs of nerve damage
Numbness, tingling, or burning
Feeling numbness, tingling, or burning is an early sign of nerve damage, per the National Library of Medicine (NLM). This pain may start in your hands and feet and spread to your arms and legs. “Compression of sensory nerves (often while sleeping) is relatively common, and symptoms such as numbness or tingling can be temporary,” says Dr. Gupta. But if that pins-and-needles feeling doesn’t go away, it may be nerve damage.
Injuries
Sensory nerves are supposed to tell your brain when something is dangerous. And when they don’t do their job properly, you can end up more accident- and injury-prone than usual. If you get burned or cut because you didn’t realize something was hot, sharp, or dangerous, talk to your doctor, says R. Glenn Smith, M.D., neurologist at Houston Methodist.
Trouble moving
If your motor nerves are damaged, your muscles might feel weak or even paralyzed, says Dr. Smith. So it might feel hard—or impossible—to move parts of your body. If this weakness comes on suddenly, it could signal a stroke, and you’ll want to head to the ER. But if it progresses more gradually, you’ll want to talk to your doctor about possible nerve damage.
Lower back pain
Sharp pain in your lower back that spreads down just one leg could be a sign of sciatica—a condition where your sciatic nerve is compressed or damaged. Your sciatic nerve runs from your lower back to your hips and down your legs. And it can become compressed or damaged by injuries, herniated discs, diabetes, and more, per the Cleveland Clinic.
Clumsiness
Feeling way clumsier than usual? Nerve damage may be to blame for your stumbles and falls. “If large nerves affecting sensation are damaged, then lack of coordination and failure to sense the position of the body can lead to falls,” says Dr. Smith. For instance, numbness in your feet can make it hard to tell where you’re walking—causing you to fall.
Frequent urination
Damaged nerves can send your bladder faulty messages. So if you feel like you need to pee more than usual—or you’re struggling to make it to the bathroom in time—that may be a sign of nerve damage. The opposite can also occur: You might have trouble emptying your bladder or telling when your bladder is full.
Sudden head pain
If you get brief, intense headaches that feel like electric shocks, you might have something called occipital neuralgia, a condition where one of your greater occipital nerves gets pinched. You have two greater occipital nerves—one on each side of your head. And when one gets compressed, it can cause shooting, zapping, or tingling head pain.
Unusual sweat
Your nervous system plays a key role in many of your body’s innate processes, like sweating when you’re hot, according to the Cleveland Clinic. So sometimes, nerve damage can mess with your sweat—causing you to sweat too much or too little. This usually happens when something goes wrong with the nerves that help your brain and your sweat glands communicate. And it can also cause your body temperature to fluctuate more frequently.
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