6 Hidden Symptoms That Might Point to Nerve Damage

Nerve damage — also called neuropathy — can show up in ways that aren’t always obvious at first. While many people expect nerve damage to cause severe pain, early symptoms are often subtle and easy to dismiss.

Things like tingling, buzzing sensations, or unexplained muscle weakness can all point to a problem with your nerves. And because nerve damage can worsen over time, recognizing the signs early can make a real difference in your treatment and recovery.

Here are six hidden symptoms that may signal nerve damage — and what you should do next if you notice them.

1. Numbness or tingling

Numbness or tingling are one of the most common symptoms of early nerve damage. Many people describe it as pins and needles, a crawling sensation, or a feeling that part of their body has “fallen asleep.”

This happens when sensory nerves are damaged. This type of nerve carries signals related to touch, temperature, and pain. When those signals don’t travel properly, the brain receives incomplete information. The result is a numbness or tingling sensation known as paresthesia. 

This early symptom may start intermittently before becoming more constant over time. Numbness and tingling often affects the following areas:

• Hands

• Feet

• Arms

• Legs 

2. Sharp pains

Nerve damage can also cause sudden, sharp, or electric-like pain. It feels very different from muscle or joint pain, which may feel more achy. Nerve pain is often burning, stabbing, or shooting. It can appear without warning and may worsen at night or with light touch.

Nerve pain happens because damaged nerves can send pain signals even when there’s no clear injury. Conditions like diabetic neuropathy and sciatica commonly cause this type of pain.

3. Buzzing sensation

Some people with nerve damage report a buzzing, vibrating, or humming sensation under their skin.

This feeling can happen when injured nerves fire signals on their own, without an outside trigger. It’s similar to static on a radio signal — the connection is distorted, so you hear noise even when no music is playing. Damaged nerves can behave the same way, sending false signals to your brain. Buzzing sensations are commonly felt in peripheral neuropathy and after nerve compression, like from a herniated disc.

4. Muscle weakness

Nerve damage can affect motor nerves — the nerves that control your movement. When this happens, it can lead to muscle weakness or coordination problems.

You might notice:

• Trouble lifting objects

• Difficulty walking

• Frequent tripping

• Reduced grip strength 

Over time, if your nerves cannot properly stimulate your muscles to move them, your muscles may shrink and weaken. This is known as atrophy and is a sign that nerve signals aren’t reaching your muscle effectively.

5. Increased sensitivity

Nerve damage doesn’t just dull your sensation — it can also make your nerves overly sensitive. This may cause you to feel intense pain from things that normally don’t hurt, like:

• Light touch

• Clothing brushing against your skin

• Mild temperature changes

• A breeze blowing against your body

This increased sensitivity happens because damaged nerves mistakenly heighten signals that would normally be harmless. This phenomenon, called allodynia, is a hallmark of neuropathic pain. Conditions like trigeminal neuralgia and shingles often cause this.

6. Changes in sweating, digestion, or heart rate (autonomic symptoms)

Some nerve damage affects autonomic nerves, which control automatic body functions you don’t have to think about. Because these systems work behind the scenes, symptoms can sometimes be subtle or easy to mistake for something else. Autonomic symptoms can include:

• Abnormal sweating

• Digestive problems (like bloating or constipation)

• Dizziness when standing

Autonomic nerve damage is less obvious than pain or numbness, but it can have serious effects if left untreated.

What can cause nerve damage?

Nerve damage can develop for many reasons. Common causes include:

• Diabetes: This is a leading cause of neuropathy. It happens because prolonged high blood sugar levels damage your nerve fibers.

• Nerve compression: A pinched nerve or spinal disc problems can push against your nerves, causing damage.

• Muscle or bone injury: Any type of injury, from a car crash to a fall from a ladder, can cause nerve damage.

• Autoimmune diseases: Your immune system can attack nerve tissue, causing damage. Examples include Guillain-Barré syndrome, multiple sclerosis, and lupus. 

• Vitamin deficiencies: Your nerves need certain vitamins, like vitamin B12 and folate, to stay healthy.

• Infections: Lots of infections can cause nerve damage, from shingles, to HIV, to Lyme disease.

• Toxins and medications: Exposure to some toxins and medications can cause nerve damage. Examples include alcohol and some chemotherapy medications.

• Surgery: Nerve damage from surgery is rare, but any surgery includes this risk.

How do doctors test for nerve damage?

Your healthcare team will usually start with a detailed history and physical exam. They’ll focus on your sensation, strength, reflexes, and balance. Depending on your symptoms, testing might include:

• Nerve conduction studies and electromyography (EMG) to measure how well your nerves and muscles transmit signals

• Blood tests to look for diabetes, vitamin deficiencies, or autoimmune conditions

• Imaging like an MRI to help look directly at your brain and nerves to evaluate for compression or other injury

Keep in mind that no single test can help diagnose all types of nerve damage. Doctors often combine the information they get from many tests to get a clear picture of what’s causing your symptoms.

What is the treatment for nerve damage?

Treatment depends on the cause, severity, and type of nerves affected. Some treatments include medications, physical therapy, and lifestyle modifications.

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Written by:

Farzon A. Nahvi, MD

Farzon Nahvi, MD, is an emergency medicine physician and author of “Code Gray: Death, Life, and Uncertainty in the ER.” He works at Concord Hospital in Concord, New Hampshire, and teaches at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth.

Edited by:

Karla Robinson, MD

Karla Robinson, MD, is a medical editor for GoodRx. She is a licensed, board-certified family physician with almost 20 years of experience in health through varied clinical, administrative, and educational roles.

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