Typically, this pain is felt as a sharp spasm traveling along the pathway of the nerve.
Nerve pain can be moderate and intermittent or severe and truly debilitating.
Neuralgia is caused by inflammation, pressure or injury to nerves and may be experienced in different parts of the body. There are three common types of neuralgia. Sciatica causes pain along the sciatic nerve traveling down the hip and back of the thigh sometimes extending all the way to the foot. In addition to inflammation of the nerve, sciatica may be due to pressure or impingement on the sciatic nerve from certain types of exertion, degenerative arthritis of the spine, back injury or slipped or herniated intervertebral disks. In about one-third of shingles cases, pain along the affected nerve pathway will persist for months or years after the skin lesions have healed.