神経痛(しんけいつう)

Compound of 神経(しんけい) ('nerve') and 痛(つう) ('pain'). Refers specifically to pain radiating along a nerve pathway, as distinct from muscle pain or joint pain. In casual speech, older speakers often use 神経痛(しんけいつう) to describe any persistent, weather-sensitive pain, even when the medical diagnosis is something else.

Usage

• Commonly paired with body-part modifiers: 坐骨(ざこつ)神経痛(しんけいつう) (sciatica), 肋間(ろっかん)神経痛(しんけいつう) (intercostal neuralgia), 三叉(さんさ)神経痛(しんけいつう) (trigeminal neuralgia).
• Often described as appearing in cold weather or on rainy days; the folk association with weather is strong enough that people joke about using their neuralgia as a weather forecast.

Common collocations

• 神経痛(しんけいつう)がする: to have neuralgic pain
• 神経痛(しんけいつう)が出(で)る: neuralgia flares up
• 神経痛(しんけいつう)に悩(なや)まされる: to suffer from neuralgia
• 神経痛(しんけいつう)を和(やわ)らげる: to ease neuralgia
• 坐骨(ざこつ)神経痛(しんけいつう): sciatica

Similar words

• 頭痛(ずつう): headache — pain in the head specifically.
• 腰痛(ようつう): lower back pain — a more general term that does not specify nerve involvement.
• 筋肉痛(きんにくつう): muscle pain; soreness — typically from exercise, unrelated to nerves.
• 関節痛(かんせつつう): joint pain — pain in the joints rather than along a nerve.