Nerve damage can be painful and can affect your quality of life. A range of traumas can damage nerves, including injuries, burns, diseases, muscle spasms, a pinched disc or vertebral misalignment. Conventional treatment includes pain relievers, antidepressants, antiseizure drugs, physical therapy or surgery. Herbal foods may help relieve the symptoms of nerve damage naturally. Consult your health-care provider for a diagnosis of the underlying problem before starting herbal treatment.
Herbal Actions
Herbal foods for nerve damage include plants with a variety of actions. Analgesic and antispasmodic herbs will relieve pain and muscle spasms. Antidepressant herbs can help you relax and reduce muscle tension. Anti-inflammatory herbs may also help heal damaged nerve tissue. Check with a qualified practitioner for advice about dosage and preparation of herbal foods for treating nerve damage.
Kava
Kava, or Piper methysticum, is a Polynesian evergreen shrub. Traditional healers use the rhizomes and roots as a sedative beverage. Kava is rich in a group of chemicals called kavalactones, which bind to dopamine receptors in your brain and relax muscles, reduce convulsions and relieve pain. Kava may be useful if muscle spasms are causing your nerve damage and pain. In their 2001 book, “Herbal Remedies,” naturopathic doctors Asa Hershoff and Andrea Rotelli recommend combining this herb with aspirin or other pain killers to enhance their effect. Do not use kava with other sedative or antidepressant medicine.
Jamaican Dogwood
Jamaican dogwood, or Piscidia piscipula, is a tropical deciduous tree used by indigenous groups as a fish poison and medicinal herb. Herbalists use the root bark to treat nerve pain, and the plant has anti-inflammatory, sedative and antispasmodic actions. Hershoff and Rotelli note that it can help with many types of nerve damage and pain, including sciatica and facial nerve pain. In their 2000 book, “The Herbal Drugstore,” Dr. Linda B. White and medicinal plant expert Steven Foster explain that the herb works similarly to aspirin, by blocking prostaglandins, chemicals involved with pain and inflammation. Do not combine this herb with other sedative or antidepressant drugs.
St. John’s Wort
St. John’s wort, or Hypericum perforatum, is a European perennial shrub with tiny yellow flowers. Traditional healers use the flowers for healing wounds and treating mild depression. The herb is rich in hypericin and hyperforin. White and Foster state that St. John’s wort calms nerves and decreases muscle spasms that damage nerves and cause nerve pain. Hershoff and Rotelli note that you can use the herb internally and externally for nerve damage and pain in your fingers, toes and coccyx, and for sciatica and inflamed nerves. Do not combine St. John’s wort with other antidepressants.
References
- “Herbal Remedies”; Asa Hershoff, N.D., and Andrea Rotelli, N.D.; 2001
- “The Herbal Drugstore”; Linda B. White, M.D., and Steven Foster; 2000
