Laughing gas to ease painful nerve damage

LAUGHING gas is being tested as a way to relieve pain caused by nerve damage.

Forty patients with chronic neuropathic pain as a result of conditions such as diabetes and shingles will inhale laughing gas (nitric oxide) or a placebo gas (oxygen) for five minutes once a week for one month in a trial at the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Israel.

It’s thought laughing gas could block pain receptors in the brain.

Neuropathic pain doesn’t usually respond to painkillers such as paracetamol or ibuprofen, and even if a stronger medication such as tramadol worked, it could be prescribed only for a short time due to its strength.