By: Janice Tai

Imagine how distressing it would be if each time you put on a shirt, it triggers a 'pain flare'.

This is exactly what happened to a 68-year-old housewife, Mrs Goh.

She had shingles, which is a viral infection of the nerves within the spinal cord. The pain was so acute that she was unable to lie down.

Sensitivity to touch and pressure is one of the many symptoms of neuropathic pain, which is what happens to a shingles sufferer.

Neuropathic pain, or nerve pain, is chronic pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the nervous system. Its symptoms are often described as burning, tingling or shock-like sensations.

Neuropathic pain is different from inflammatory pain caused by trauma or fractures. Therefore, medication that treats inflammatory pain, like painkillers, will usually not work on nerve-type pain.

Dr Bernard Lee, founder and director of Singapore PainCare Center, shared some of the ways his patients cope with this condition.

'Patients will try putting hot packs or an infra-red lamp over the painful area. Others use cold compresses or massage the area.

'One patient cut two holes in his underwear over the buttocks area where he had neuropathic pain, claiming that the circulation of air helped to relieve his discomfort. But all these methods will not relieve the pain as nerve pain is different from inflammatory pain,' said Dr Lee.

Neuropathic pain can be identified by the following symptoms:

- Pins and needles, or a shooting and burning sensation.

- It comes on spontaneously and does not have a stimulus.

- The pain can last for more than three months.

- There is pain in areas of numbness.

Apart from shingles, other examples of neuropathic pain include post-stroke pain; phantom pain, where one feels pain after amputation, and diabetic pain.

Dr Lee said about 10 per cent of people worldwide have neuropathic pain. More people suffer from it than diabetes (7 per cent) or hypertension (9 per cent).

Treatment for neuropathic pain includes stabilising the nerve with medications such as anti-convulsants and anti-depressants.

For some patients, 'denervation' of painful nerves using radio-frequency waves may work to get rid of certain nerve pain conditions.

This article was first published in Mind Your Body, The Straits Times.