Peripheral nerve care

Peripheral nerves are complex structures that relay signals between the central nervous system (the brain and spinal cord) and the rest of the body. When these nerves are damaged, their ability to transmit signals to the body is disrupted. This can cause a combination of symptoms that limit your ability to perform daily activities due to weakness, numbness, and pain in the arms, hands, legs and feet.  

Finding the damaged nerves causing your symptoms can be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Penn Medicine specializes in expert diagnosis and advanced treatment for more than 100 peripheral nerve disorders. We’ve seen many different cases, from common to complex, and can identify the cause of your nerve condition faster and more accurately than providers with less experience.  

We use a collaborative approach, with experts from different disciplines working together to provide the best possible treatment options for your peripheral nerve condition. That means that a team which includes neurosurgeons, orthopedic surgeons, peripheral nerve surgeons, plastic surgeons, neurologists, radiologists, and physical and occupational therapists work together to create a plan for each patient. 

We’re also mindful that the peripheral nerve treatment journey may take some time. That’s why our specialists use methods like Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS), a system that ensures you receive attentive care from pre-surgery through recovery, to ensure fewer complications, a shorter hospital stay, and better health outcomes. 

Peripheral nerve conditions can be hard to diagnose, and many patients live for years without an explanation or effective treatment for their muscle weakness or pain. Our specialists understand that the cause of a peripheral nerve condition is not always obvious and often requires a bit of detective work to uncover. We also know that the sooner you are diagnosed, the better your prognosis is expected to be.

At Penn Medicine, we use the latest technology available to determine the cause of your peripheral nerve disorder and to develop a plan of care that’s right for you. Our nerve specialists administer the appropriate tests or scans to visualize any damage to your peripheral nerves. Images from those scans are then analyzed by our team of radiologists, who are specially trained to interpret complex nerve structure images and provide you with an accurate diagnosis. 

Penn nerve specialists are always looking for ways to improve patient outcomes. Our Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) program is a modern and innovative approach specifically designed to do just that. This program guarantees that you receive thorough evaluations before, during, and after surgery. This means you’ll have someone specially assigned to watch for any unexpected or underlying conditions that could worsen your symptoms, and we’ll work with you to develop a treatment plan that gets you back to your normal routine as quickly as possible. 

Your treatment plan will likely include medications or remedies for pain. One of the key benefits of our ERAS program is that it implements pain relief strategies that reduce the use of opioid pain medications, enabling you to manage your pain effectively without exposing yourself to unnecessary risks. It’s one of many ways we aim to make the entire peripheral nerve surgery process as personalized, effective, and stress-free as possible.