Typical episodes of transient neurapraxia only last a few seconds and symptoms dissipate entirely. Though the severity of the injury can range, transient neurapraxia does not lead to permanent paralysis of the affected muscles. Subsequent spinal cord injury after an episode of cervical cord neurapraxia has not been observed. However, athletes who experience an episode of transient cervical neurapraxia face an approximately 50% chance of a repeat episode if they continue to participate in collision sports. American football
Cervical cord neurapraxia among American football players is commonly observed in athletes playing positions involving high-speed collisions and open-field tackling. Cases of neurapraxia in the National Football League were first described in 1986 by Joseph S. Torg, M.D., founder of the National Football Head and Neck Injury Registry (established in 1975). As a result of Dr. Torgs findings the NFL as well as other levels of American football have outlawed the act of spearing, or the lowering of the head and hitting an opponent with the crown of the helmet. The cervical spine cannot properly absorb the force of a collision when the head is even slightly lowered as is the case in spearing. In addition to outlawing acts such as spearing, prevention of neurapraxia on the football field relies on instruction and reinforcement of proper tackling technique by coaches and trainers. In popular culture
In M*A*S*H Season 4 Episode one, Benjamin "Hawkeye" Pierce claims that Walter "Radar" OReilly has neurapraxia as an excuse for driving past a military checkpoint.
Neurapraxia is a disorder of the peripheral nervous system in which there is a temporary loss of motor and sensory function due to blockage of nerve conduction, usually lasting an average of six to eight weeks before full recovery. Neurapraxia is derived from the word apraxia, meaning “loss or impairment of the ability to execute complex coordinated movements without muscular or sensory impairment”. This condition is typically caused by a blunt neural injury due to external blows or shock-like injuries to muscle fibers and skeletal nerve fibers, which leads to repeated or prolonged pressure buildup on the nerve. As a result of this pressure, ischemia occurs, a neural lesion results, and the human body naturally responds with edema extending in all directions from the source of the pressure. This lesion causes a complete or partial action potential conduction block over a segment of a nerve fiber and thus a reduction or loss of function in parts of the neural connection downstream from the lesion, leading to muscle weakness. Neurapraxia results in temporary damage to the myelin sheath but leaves the nerve intact and is an impermanent condition; thus, Wallerian degeneration does not occur in neurapraxia. In order for the condition to be considered neurapraxia, according to the Seddon classification system of peripheral nerve injury,  there must be a complete and relatively rapid recovery of motor and sensory function once nerve conduction has been restored; otherwise, the injury would be classified as axonotmesis or neurotmesis. Thus, neurapraxia is the mildest classification of peripheral nerve injury.