How long does a nerve take to recover after repair?

Nerves regrow at roughly a millimetre a day after an initial delay. A cut nerve in a finger may recover over a few months, while an injury near the elbow or shoulder can take a year or more to reach the hand.

Will feeling come back completely?

Often not completely. Many people regain useful protective feeling, but fine touch and two-point discrimination may remain reduced, and cold sensitivity is common. Children and injuries near the fingertips tend to recover better.

What happens if a cut nerve is not repaired?

The area it supplies may stay numb or weak, and a painful lump (neuroma) can form at the cut end. Late repair is still sometimes possible but generally gives less recovery.

What is a nerve graft?

A piece of a less important sensory nerve, often from the back of the lower leg, used to bridge a gap between nerve ends. It leaves a small numb patch on the outer side of the foot.

What is a nerve transfer?

When the original nerve cannot be repaired or is too far from its muscle, a nearby working nerve branch can be redirected to the target muscle to restore movement.

Can a facial nerve injury be repaired?

Yes, when a branch of the facial nerve is cut, early microsurgical repair gives a better chance of restoring facial movement. Facial wounds with weakness need urgent specialist assessment.

Why do I feel electric shocks when the scar is tapped?

Tapping over a regrowing nerve often causes tingling or electric-shock feelings. A spot that moves down the limb over time suggests regrowth; a fixed, very tender spot may be a neuroma and should be reviewed.

Nerve Repair Surgery in Pune: Microsurgery

What is a nerve injury?

Peripheral nerves carry signals between the brain and spinal cord and the skin and muscles. In the hand and arm they lie close to the surface, so cuts from glass, knives and machinery often divide them, usually alongside tendons and arteries. Nerves can also be stretched, crushed or compressed.

Nerve injuries range from:

Bruising (neurapraxia): the nerve is intact and recovers on its own over weeks.
Damage to the nerve fibres inside an intact sheath (axonotmesis): recovery is possible without surgery but slow.
Complete division (neurotmesis): the nerve is cut through and needs surgical repair.

Signs include numbness in a specific area, tingling, weakness or loss of particular movements, such as spreading the fingers or lifting the thumb.

Who may benefit, and how is it assessed?

A cut with numbness or weakness beyond it suggests a divided nerve and should be explored surgically, usually within the first few days. For closed injuries, such as stretching or fractures, the nerve is often watched for signs of recovery, with nerve conduction studies and sometimes ultrasound over the following weeks to months.

The surgeon maps the numb area, tests individual muscles, and checks tendons and blood supply, because these are often injured together.

What are the treatment options?

Option	Suits	Points to consider
Observation	Bruised or stretched nerves	Regular review for signs of recovery
Direct repair	Clean cuts where the ends meet without tension	The standard repair
Nerve graft	Gaps between nerve ends	Small numb patch at the donor site
Nerve conduit or wrap	Short gaps in small sensory nerves	Selected cases
Nerve transfer	High injuries or late presentation	Redirects a working nerve branch
Tendon transfer	Muscles that will not recover	Restores key movements

Compressed (trapped) nerves are treated differently; see carpal tunnel surgery.

How is nerve repair performed?

Anaesthesia: a regional block or general anaesthesia.
Exploration: the wound is extended to find both nerve ends.
Preparation: damaged nerve ends are trimmed under the microscope until healthy bundles (fascicles) are seen.
Alignment and repair: the ends are lined up and joined with very fine stitches through the outer sheath, or a graft is inserted.
Protection: a splint keeps the repair free of tension, often for about three to four weeks.

Associated tendons and arteries are repaired in the same operation; see tendon repair surgery and blood vessel repair surgery.

How should you prepare, and what should you ask?

Seek assessment quickly after a cut with numbness or weakness.
Stop smoking, which slows healing.
Plan for regular hand therapy and long-term follow-up.

Questions to ask:

Which nerve is injured, and is it completely cut?
Will I need a nerve graft?
How long might recovery take, and how will we measure it?
How do I protect numb skin from burns and injuries?

What is recovery like?

Time	What to expect for most patients
Weeks 0-4	Splint; wound healing; protection of numb skin
Weeks 4-12	Gradual movement; hand therapy; tingling may advance along the nerve
Months 3-12	Feeling and muscle power return gradually, depending on distance
1-2 years	Recovery continues for injuries far from the target

A tingling sign that moves down the limb over time often shows that the nerve is regrowing.

What are the risks?

Incomplete recovery of feeling or strength.
Painful neuroma at the repair site.
Cold intolerance and altered sensation.
Donor-site numbness after a nerve graft.
Stiffness from immobilisation or associated injuries.

Protect numb skin from heat, sharp objects and pressure, because injuries may go unnoticed.

What results can you expect?

Results are better in younger people, with clean cuts repaired early, and with injuries close to the area the nerve supplies. Most people regain useful function, although some loss of fine feeling or strength is common.

What happens to a cut nerve without repair?

A divided nerve does not reconnect by itself. Fibres sprout from the upper end, but without the sheath to guide them they tangle into a lump (neuroma), which can be tender when knocked. The skin the nerve supplies stays numb, so burns from hot utensils, water or tools can go unnoticed. When a nerve to muscles is cut, those muscles waste: an ulnar nerve injury at the wrist can leave a weak, clawed hand, and a median nerve injury can stop the thumb turning to meet the fingers. Muscles left without a nerve supply for many months gradually lose their ability to recover, so late repair returns less strength. Watching and waiting is reasonable for bruised or stretched nerves after closed injuries, which often recover on their own. A clean cut with numbness is a reason to explore early.

Common myths about nerve injuries

“Tingling after the cut means the nerve is healing by itself.” Tingling can occur even when a nerve is fully divided, and a cut nerve does not rejoin without surgery.
“Feeling comes back as soon as the nerve is stitched.” The repaired nerve regrows slowly, roughly a millimetre a day, so feeling returns over months.
“Vitamin tablets or injections can heal a cut nerve.” Vitamins help only when a deficiency is present, and they cannot join the cut ends of a nerve.
“A numb hand cannot get hurt.” Numb skin is easily burnt or cut without you noticing, so it needs extra protection until feeling returns.

What affects the cost of nerve repair surgery in Pune?

Number of nerves and associated injuries.
Nerve grafts or transfers, if needed.
Theatre time, anaesthesia and hospital stay.
Hand therapy, splints and nerve studies during recovery.

Treatment after an injury is often covered by health or accident insurance, subject to your policy.

Nerve Repair Surgery in Pune: Microsurgical Repair of Injured Nerves