NOI Notes

Reaching everyone through a blog isn't easy. So for about 6 months now I've been writing a monthly newsletter along with my noigroup team which discusses lots of different topics - making them relevant to both the patient and clinician.

To start receiving the most recent edition of NOI Notes, you need to register with noigroup so we have your contact email address on our database.

We don't like to pester people so don't worry about getting lots of junk mail.

The newsletter comes out each month and is stored away afterwards in the archive of NOI NOTES if you're interested in some of the previous topics.

Calming therapeutic neuroscience narrative 2. “Zings and zaps from nerves”.

There are many odd pains and sensations that people experience where the strangeness may evoke more stress and maybe even more pain. A fairly common one is where damaged peripheral nerves “fire” at odd times. This is a feature of abnormal impulse generation in nerves, researched extensively by Patrick Wall, Marshall Devor and colleagues.

It seems to happen when a nerve is mechanically stretched or pinched though not every time, which makes it more stressful when it happens. A common one is when a person puts their neck back and they get a shock like zing. Sometimes people get a zap in the front of their hip when they walk and clinicians who examine the physical health of nerves in patients will be aware of the occasional sharp zings when they perform assessment techniques such as a Straight Leg Raise or Upper Limb Neurodynamic Test.

Noone likes zings and zaps and if it happens a few times, it is only natural that the person will avoid that movement and change their posture. In most cases, zings and zaps are not serious indicators of disease or serious trauma and with some explanation and some exercise of neighbouring tissues, the zings and zaps may well just go.

“Its just your body reporting in” may help some.