When the Pain Burns, Shoots, or Never Fully Goes Away
Most pain has an obvious cause. You strained something, you overdid it, you heal and move on. But nerve pain is different. It burns when nothing is hot. It shoots when you haven't moved. It lingers long after any injury should have healed, and it often gets worse at night, just when you need rest the most.
If you've been living with this kind of pain (and if medications, rest, or physical therapy haven't made it stop), you may be dealing with chronic nerve pain. And you may finally be in the right place.
Talk to a SpecialistOr Call Brock Pain Medicine: (469) 742-9950
What Is Chronic Nerve Pain?
Nerve pain (also called neuropathic pain) occurs when nerves themselves are damaged, irritated, or misfiring.
Unlike musculoskeletal pain, which signals that a tissue is injured, nerve pain often means the signaling system itself has gone wrong. The nerve is sending pain messages even when there is no ongoing injury to explain them.
It can be constant or come and go. It can affect a small area or radiate along an entire limb. And because it doesn't always respond to the treatments that work for other kinds of pain, many patients with chronic nerve pain spend years searching for relief that standard care can't provide.
How Patients Describe It
Nerve pain has a distinctive quality that most patients recognize immediately — and that can be hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it:
Burning, as if the skin or tissue is on fire
Electric shocks or shooting pain that travels down an arm or leg
Tingling, pins and needles, or a crawling sensation
Hypersensitivity — even light touch or clothing feels painful
Numbness alternating with intense pain
Pain that is worse at night or disrupts sleep
A constant aching or stabbing that doesn't let up
These sensations are real. They are not imagined, and they are not something you simply have to live with.
Talk to a SpecialistConditions That Cause Chronic Nerve Pain
Chronic nerve pain can develop from a wide range of underlying causes. What they have in common is that they disrupt normal nerve function.
Peripheral neuropathy
Damage to peripheral nerves, often from diabetes, autoimmune conditions, or unknown causes. Typically affects the feet and hands first.
Post-surgical nerve pain
Pain that persists after surgery—hernia repair, joint replacement, back surgery, thoracic procedures—when nerve tissue is affected during or after the procedure.
Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
condition in which the nervous system produces disproportionate, lasting pain following an injury. The pain spreads and intensifies beyond what the original injury would explain.
Post-herpetic neuralgia
Nerve pain that continues after a shingles outbreak. The varicella-zoster virus can damage nerve fibers, causing burning pain that lasts months or years.
Intercostal neuralgia
Pain along the nerves between the ribs, often following surgery, injury, or infection. Can cause sharp, burning chest or back pain that is frequently misattributed.
Nerve entrapment / compression
Nerves compressed by surrounding tissue—as in carpal tunnel syndrome, cubital tunnel syndrome, or tarsal tunnel syndrome—produce persistent local pain, tingling, and weakness.
Diabetic neuropathy
High blood sugar over time damages small blood vessels and nerve fibers, causing burning or shooting pain typically beginning in the feet and progressing upward.
Failed back surgery syndrome
Persistent or recurring pain following spinal surgery, often involving nerve root irritation or scar tissue formation around nerve structures.
Why Nerve Pain Is Often Undertreated
Many patients with chronic nerve pain share a common experience: they've seen multiple providers, received multiple explanations, and tried multiple treatments. All without long-term pain relief.
There are several reasons nerve pain is difficult to treat through standard channels:
It is often invisible on standard imaging
It mimics other conditions
Common pain medications provide limited relief
Short-term treatments address symptoms without resolving the underlying nerve dysfunction
Specialist pain management is often the step that changes outcomes for patients who have been searching for answers.
Talk to a Specialist
How Brock Pain Medicine Treats Chronic Nerve Pain
Treatment begins with a thorough evaluation to understand the specific source of your nerve pain. From there, your plan is built around your condition, your history, and what you've already tried.
Medication Management
Specific medication classes can reduce nerve pain more effectively than standard pain relievers. Finding the right fit requires a specialist's evaluation.
Nerve Block Injections
Targeted injections interrupt pain signals along specific nerve pathways, providing relief lasting weeks to months — and confirming the nerve as the primary source when they work.
Peripheral Nerve Stimulation (PNS) via Nalu
When medications and injections haven't been enough, PNS delivers mild electrical impulses directly to the nerves generating your pain — drug-free, without major surgery, and with a trial period before any permanent commitment. The Nalu system is small, wearable, and controlled from a smartphone.
“Most of us don’t realize how chronic pain can affect every aspect of your life. You eat right. You stay active. Suddenly you develop lower back pain and can’t do the things you could. Unremitting pain can color your life, your personality, your relationships, your prospects, your work — and it’s not long before depression and hopelessness set in.”
— Dr. Lee Brock
— Dr. Lee Brock
Are You Dealing With Chronic Nerve Pain?
You may benefit from a consultation at Brock Pain Medicine for chronic nerve pain if:
You have burning, shooting, tingling, or electric shock sensations that have persisted for three months or longer
Your pain has not responded adequately to medications, physical therapy, or other conservative care
You have been diagnosed with neuropathy, CRPS, post-herpetic neuralgia, or a related condition
You have nerve pain that developed after surgery and has not resolved
Standard pain relievers provide little or no relief for your symptoms
Your pain is disrupting sleep, work, or daily activities
You Don’t Have to Keep Managing This Alone
Chronic nerve pain is one of the most isolating conditions a person can experience. It’s invisible to others, frequently dismissed by providers who aren’t trained in nerve-specific treatment, and exhausting to manage day after day.
If nerve pain has been part of your life for longer than it should be, a specialist evaluation is the appropriate next step.
Talk to a SpecialistOr Call Brock Pain Medicine: (469) 742-9950