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Intercostal neuralgia causes bands of pain around the rib cage due to nerve damage or degenerative disease. Diagnosis can be complicated, but treatment options include pain relievers, anti-inflammatory medications, physical therapy, nerve stimulation, and surgery.
Intercostal neuralgia is a rare pain condition involving the intercostal nerves that supply the muscles between the ribs. In patients with this type of neuralgia, bands of pain are experienced around the rib cage. The pain is usually intermittent and spasmodic. The intensity can vary depending on a number of factors. This condition is usually treated by a neurologist, who is a doctor who specializes in conditions involving the nerves. Treatment usually also involves a pain specialist to help deal with the associated pain.
Patients may develop intercostal neuralgia as a result of an injury that damages the nerves or as a result of a degenerative disease that pinches or otherwise damages the nerves. Typically, people experience pain while breathing, coughing, and laughing. They may also experience pain when exerting themselves. Neuralgia can manifest itself as tingling, numbness, itching or pain and sometimes all these sensations are experienced at different times. In some cases, the pain is excruciating and is sometimes described as “like a bolt of lightning”.
Diagnosing this condition can be complicated. It can mimic other conditions, and a doctor who is inexperienced with intercostal neuralgia may not understand the reports made by the patient. Patients with chronic pain conditions also sometimes encounter resistance from healthcare professionals who are concerned about drug-seeking behavior and fear that a patient will claim they are in pain when they are not. The sometimes erratic nature of pain conditions can complicate matters further, as a patient may have varying levels of pain making it difficult to narrow down the location and cause of the pain.
Immediate management of intercostal neuralgia includes giving pain relievers to manage the pain, along with anti-inflammatory medications to reduce inflammation around the nerves. A doctor may give a local anesthetic injection to a patient experiencing extreme pain. Some other options may include physical therapy and massage, depending on your situation. Some patients also pursue complementary and alternative therapy under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
If these measures are not effective, more aggressive treatments are available for this condition. Nerve stimulation sometimes provides benefits for some patients. This option is usually tested first with external stimulation, and if the patient feels relief, an internal device may be implanted. Finally, if a nerve doesn’t respond to any treatment, it can be severed in a surgical procedure so that it stops sending pain signals to the brain.
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