Trigeminal Neuralgia
If you know this name, you probably know someone who has experienced this or you are experiencing it yourself?If so, I really feel for you as it’s a horrible condition to live with.
I have recently come across this awful condition and am continuing to learn more about it. This condition causes excruciating pain in one, two or three of the nerves in the face and is usually on one side. The pain is like shocks of lightening in the side of the face lasting seconds to minutes, disappears then returns. The pain can be stabbing, burning and take your breath away. The pain can be throbbing, stabbing and are very debilitating. Pain can be worse with hot or cold, talking, yawning coughing, bending down etc
Some people only get pain during the day, others only at night and variations of both. The pain follows usually the lower two nerves, the maxillary - causing pain in the cheek and upper teeth, and the mandibular nerve, causing pain in your lower teeth and gums. As the pain is so excruciating it can feel as though your teeth - one or more - are infected. It’s no wonder then that this is often misdiagnosed as a tooth infection with people having the tooth or teeth removed with no relief of the Trigeminal neuralgia pain. This condition is thought to be caused by stress (isn’t everything?) but physically, this is usually caused by a blood vessel irritating the Trigeminal nerve and over time, the rubbing of the blood vessel irritates and erodes the myelin sheath - the outer covering of the nerve. It then causes the problem to worsen over time with more pain, more often. Other causes of this can be from a tumour or secondary to Multiple Sclerosis sufferers. This can also be a first sign of Multiple Sclerosis.
TREATMENT OPTIONS
Apart from tooth removal, which it may well be an infected tooth, other medical treatments include Gabapentin or other anticonvulsants, and anti depressants. Or there are surgical options available with varying success.
HOMEOPATHY
Homeopathy can be very effective at treating this awful condition. There are some acute remedies that may help slightly take the edge off such as Belladonna, Sanguinaria, Spigelia, Mag phos and a few others, however this condition is chronic and really needs the constitutional remedies to help the body heal from this.
OTHER MODALITIES
Other things you can do, include Acupuncture, Osteopathy and other body work treatments. Diet is always important, avoiding sugar, caffeine, alcohol and trying to do as much as you can to focus on relaxation.
If you or someone you know is suffering from this, I really hope to help them get their life back as Homeopathy can help as I have personally seen this condition turn around people’s lives with the right remedies.
