Injuries can sometimes involve damage to the nerves. This can cause increased sensitivity (which we refer to as hypersensitivity), loss of sensation or a significant change in how you perceive your sensation e.g. pins and needles.
It is important to address these problems and learn how to regain sensation, re-learn ‘normal’ and reduce the hypersensitivity. We have a large area of the brain that represents the sensation of the hand in an area called the Sensory Homunculus. The reason it is so large is that the hands, particularly the fingertips, have many more nerve endings compared to the rest of the upper limb. This means when we injure our fingers, it can be more painful. Interestingly, pain can only be interpreted in the brain. Injury to the body has to involve a signal going from the limb up to the brain and then a response is sent back to the limb with instruction.
Nerves are able to regenerate, meaning if they are cut or crushed, they can regrow. However, when nerves regrow, they repair first at the site of injury and then regrow down towards the tips of the fingers or toes. Nerves can regrow at a rate of 2 milimetres per day. Depending how far away from the fingertips the injury is, will determine the recovery time. After initial injury, the nerve can take up to a month to begin regenerating. Symptoms that indicate you may have a nerve injury can include numbness, burning, shooting, pins and needles.