Nerve pain affecting the lower spine nerve roots, which may cause sharp or burning pain in the hand and fingers.
Because neuralgia is treated as wholly sensory involvement, records that document the nature and extent of your sensory symptoms carry the most weight. Medical records showing a confirmed diagnosis, nerve conduction studies or electromyography results, and clinical exam findings that describe the location, frequency, and character of pain or altered sensation help establish where your symptoms fall on the mild-to-moderate scale. Records from treating providers that describe how your pain affects your ability to stand, walk, sit, or carry out daily tasks are relevant. Your own statements, and statements from people who see you regularly, describing how nerve pain limits your work duties or daily activities can help show functional impact. If both sides of your lower spine are affected, records documenting symptoms on each side support application of the bilateral factor.
Conditions that are often caused or made worse by this one. If you have any of these, they may be claimable as secondary service connection.
