Having a nerve injury during your stay in Bali can be frustrating. Whether you sustain your nerve injury during sports such as surfing, a random accident or simply from sleeping in the wrong position, there is always a treatment our physiotherapists can do to help you recover and alleviate the pain.
Common nerve injuries
Nerve injuries are not the most frequent injuries, but they are injuries that can be very painful. The nerves are what communicates pain, among other things, to your brain. So when a nerve is affected by an injury, the simplest movement is hindered.
Sometimes, the nerves are directly affected, by a blow or a strong impact, causing the pain. In other cases, the nerve is pinched between muscles or bones which is also a source of pain and lack of mobility. The most common nerve injuries are:
Radial nerve injury (loss of strength / movement in your wrist, hand, or fingers)
Carpal tunnel syndrome (numbness and pain in your forearm and fingers)
Ulnar elbow entrapment (pain or weakness in your lower arm / hand)
Ulnar wrist entrapment (weakness of grip, numbness to pinky and ring fingers)
Sciatica (sharp pain in your legs and in your lower back)
While some of these injuries can easily be fixed by a few physiotherapy sessions, other will need more attention and potentially dedicated functional programs to go back to your peak level. Ignoring a nerve injury may cause reduced blood flow to the nerve and can permanently damage its function.
How do you sustain a nerve injury?
Nerve injuries can occur in more ways than you think. Other than a cut from a traumatic accident. Many nerve injuries are sustained while practicing sport. It may not be instantly felt on the moment but after the training. It can result from an impact, a wrong move or regular compression / stretching traumas that add up and trigger a complete injury to the nerve fibers.
Other nerve injuries are triggered by carrying weight the wrong way or without enough strength to do so. Nerve injuries are therefore common in physical jobs, or during activities requiring carrying things such as moving out, gardening or cleaning.
How can physiotherapy help with nerve injuries?
Most nerve injuries are very sensitive, which make them difficult to treat. Physiotherapy have several treatments to firstly ease the pain caused by the inflamed tissues pinching the nerves. Using a combination of Electrical stimulation, Infrared or Ultrasound treatments are recommended to alleviate the discomfort and boost repair of the nerve fibers.
Additional sport massages and dry-needling helps in managing the pain, releasing muscles tension and improving blood circulation surrounding the affected nerves.
For preventive measures, functional movements programs are ideal to avoid having nerve injuries. If you are doing a sport with a lot of asymmetrical rotations such as tennis, badminton or golfing, movement therapy can help you get your weak side stronger and avoid future nerve issues. If you are into a sport where nerve injuries are also common such as weightlifting, CrossFit or surfing, a functional movement program might be great way to strengthen specific parts of your body and avoid most nerve injuries.
Appointment Booking
Unsure of what you need? Meet our physiotherapist for an orientating consultation.
Our Physiotherapist is equiped to perform using therapy instruments such as TENS, Ultrasound, Infrared, Kinesio Tape and Dry-Needle. A combination of care will be determined based on the patients' ailments or discomfort level on the injured limb.
After using passive techniques such as Infrared / Ultrasound treatment for managing and reducing the discomfort or pain of an injury. Active physiotherapy or functional movement aids in returning the range of motion of the affected muscles / joints or even preventing future injuries.
