Trigeminal Neuralgia

Besides verbal communication and body language, humans are able to relate to one another via facial expressions. However, people suffering from a disorder known as trigeminal neuralgia may not have it so easy as everyone else. You'll know this better than others, but those who have no idea what trigeminal neuralgia is have to be made aware of its connection to human faces and communication/sensation, as well as its impact on everyday living.

Simply speaking, trigeminal neuralgia (also called tic douloureux) is a disorder that causes people to suffer from varying degrees of facial pain, typically caused by a blood vessel exerting pressure on the root of the trigeminal nerve, also known as the largest of our cranial nerves. The trigeminal nerve has three components (hence, the name), in the following order: the opthalmic, maxillary and mandibular nerves. Basically, the trigeminal nerve allows us to feel sensations in our facial area (e.g., temperature, touch, pressure and pain) as well as do basic functions such as swallow, bite and chew.

Those suffering from trigeminal neuralgia are fully knowledgeable about the consequences. You know the drill: you often have a hard time eating, sleeping, talking, smiling, or even going about basic routines like shaving, brushing your teeth, or applying makeup --- essentially, it's difficult to do the little things we often take for granted. The disorder is also known for the muscle spasms and tics that are felt by patients, which last momentarily and preceded by a numb or tingling feeling in areas of the face like the lips, nose, cheeks, eyelids, eyebrows, jaw and/or forehead. If left untreated, the bouts of pain (comparable to a burning or shocking sensation) resulting from trigeminal neuralgia can be prolonged and severely affect your way of life.

Trigeminal neuralgia also has other characteristics. It occurs more often in females than in males, typically affects middle-aged individuals and senior citizens (although there are rare occurrences of the disorder in younger folks), and is felt on one side of the face (but in more severe cases, it can also be felt on both sides).

Since there is no medical test made specifically for trigeminal neuralgia, an official diagnosis is done by using tests for other disorders, e.g., magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), to rule out multiple sclerosis or the presence of a tumor. Your feedback regarding the occurrence and magnitude of your pain symptoms will be the main determinants of a trigeminal neuralgia diagnosis. Other medical exams ruling out any infections or abnormalities in the different parts of the face (as well as the rest of the body) should also be done by specialists, and it would do you good to ask your doctor or general physician for professional recommendations and a complete workup.

While this particular disorder can be managed with pain/seizure medication and antidepressants, it would also be a good idea to supplement medical treatment with more natural methods. If you're leaning towards this approach, you should consider osteopathy. It has been reported as one of the viable alternative therapies for trigeminal neuralgia. In 1975, the Journal of the American Osteopathic Association published a study by Edna M. Lay that tackles the effectiveness of osteopathy for this disorder. The outcomes are encouraging: if diagnosed early, pain can be significantly alleviated with a combination of osteopathic treatment and thorough medical checkups and procedures.

This is the cue for Peter Reid and the Crows Nest Complementary Health Centre to come in. Peter can personally attest to the positive effects of osteopathy --- after suffering a coccygeal spinal injury in 1983, he needed only two osteopathic sessions to recover. With this serving as his motivation, Peter went on to study remedial massage and osteopathy, and has been helping other people get rid of the pain in different parts of their bodies for the past 22 years.

If you want to treat your trigeminal neuralgia via osteopathy or other alternative therapies (or know someone who has the same disorder and is looking for supplementary treatment), Peter and the Crows Nest Complementary Health Centre can help! Pick up the phone and call 02 9964 9722 or send Reception an e-mail to pencil in your osteopathy appointment (Peter is available from Monday to Friday). Also, feel free to go directly to the Centre, located at Suite 208, 3 Bruce St. cnr. Pacific Highway, Crows Nest, Sydney.