I read about acupuncture can help with facial pain, so I wandering about did anybody try it? Did it help?
There have been sessions on acupuncture at National conventions of the US TN Association. Some patients claim to have been helped by the technique. A few have cautioned against having the needles inserted near any known trigger zones. You may be better served by an MD who does acupuncture as one element of their practice, versus a practitioner of Chinese herbal medicine who won't have nearly as good training in neurology.
Regards, Red
Hi Marina,
Yes, I've tried acupuncture. I've done three sessions up until now, so it's still a bit early to evalute the effects. The doctor I'm seeing told me that after three sessions I should experience improvement - if not then it's just a waste of money to continue. Well, I felt really good after the 2nd session, but then I felt rather bad during and after the 3rd session, so I haven't really made up my mind as to whether acupuncture works or not. I want to give it a bit more time, also, my neuro encourages me to continue. I'm not sure if there is any difference in the treatment of TN I and TN II, my TN resulted from a long term inflammation of the jaw bone and I only feel pain in a particular place where the oral surgeons scoped out the infected tissue+bone; for some reason the acupuncturist was pleased with this; he says it's more difficult to tackle TN when there is no obvious reason for it to be there). At the same time, I've read more positive comments about acupuncture from TN I patients, you can take your pick, I guess:) In any case, it doesn't hurt to try, I suppose everyone is different and may respond to acu. in a different way. I hope it works well for you if you decide to go for it.
Hi,
Just a follow-up on my last post. I went to my fourth appointement with the acupuncturist this week and it went rather bad (not much pain during the procedure but loads of pain afterwards). He's a doctor with sound recommendations so I don't expect it would be him doing his job badly, rather I don't react to the treatment as well as his other patients do. Mind you, I have a lot of scar tissue and constant swelling in my gums where my pain is, and we both think the scarring may be the major problem. I don't think I'll go for another session in case it could trigger more pain, but I still think that some people could benefit from acupuncture. If I were you, I would also perhaps check acupuncturists who don't insert needles directly into your face but use distant points (legs, hands) instead, it's more gentle that way, I think. Good luck, Oli
I had about 6 acupuncture sessions having about 15 needles inserted in my face, arms, legs and feet. Unfortunately I saw no improvement at all.
There is a man in my local support group who has had 2 or 3 MVDs - so many procedures and pills -- and has found that a local accupuncture guru has helped with what other things could not help.
Many stories here locally in KC about this doctor and TN work.
Hit and Miss