Nerve damage can come in many different forms. Before you learn about the different types of nerve damage, it’s important to know how it happens, and where it comes from.
The brain and the spinal cord together make up the central nervous system. A nerve is a collection of neurons that cluster together and attach themselves to the spinal cord.
Although the nerves are directly attached to the spinal cord, the spinal nerves are actually a part of the peripheral nervous system.
An important thing to understand about the topic of nerve damage is that the neurons in the peripheral nervous system can actually regenerate. This is because they are able to clean up the damaged parts much quicker than the neurons in the central nervous system. Looking a little bit deeper, if the cell body itself is damaged, the neuron will not be able to regenerate.
One type of nerve injury is called axonotmesis. Axonotmesis occurs when you have a section of the neuron that is missing. Even though there is a section missing, with this injury the outer shell of the neuron is still in tack. This allows for the neuron to be able to regenerate the missing section.
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