Foot Pain.…Make it STOP!!

Patients often ask, “How much pain will I have after surgery?” This is a very difficult question to answer because everyone experiences pain differently. This also makes testing someone for pain difficult. Everyone experiences pain at different levels and have different thresholds for tolerating pain. Pain is often difficult to locate. When our bodies experience a pain, it sends the signal through our brain through nerve fibers. Small nerve fibers called delta fibers send 90% of the pain signals to the brain to specific locations in the cortex of the brain. Testing these fibers shows us where the pain is coming from. Small nerve fiber testing is a painless test that can show where the pain is coming from in about 20 minutes. An EMG tests for nerve damage. Pain occurs before the nerve is damaged. By testing the small nerve fibers, it locates accurately with 95% sensitivity where the pain is before there is permanent damage. This leads to earlier and more effective treatment. If you are experiencing pain that is not responding to traditional treatment, consult with your physician to see if you are a candidate for small nerve fiber testing.