My Father had gamma knife surgery 2 years ago and it actually worked great for a year to cure his TN pain. However, after a a year he began to experience complete numbness on whole left side of face, extreme eye pain/pressure and difficulty tasting and eating food because of numbness. He is very depressed and is convinced there must be a cure for this. He has been to two neurologists/surgeons with no options given. Anyone know of anything he should be looking into?
Can they do MVD surgery. I had mine done 35 years ago with tremendous success. I suffered with TN pain for 8 yrs till found a Dr who knew what was causing my pain. Had surgery woke up pain free and with Gods blessing have been pain free for 35 yrs. It was a life saver. Good luck
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I have the same symptom, after a balloon rhizotomy. There really isn’t anything to do. I get some relief from topical lidocaine or a wet washcloth on my face, and some otc eye drops. In my case it’s always there, but gets more and less awful throughout the day.
I would not suggest MVD for this issue. I have the same symptoms almost 3 years after my MVD surgery. I did not have these issues before my surgery. The surgery also has left me deaf in my right ear. It did however cure me from the electric shock attacks that were destroying my life. So I have accepted the trade off!!! I have also been told there is not anything that can be done for this. I have even tried accupuncture to no avail. Ohio has just legalized medical marijuana and I plan to give that a try. Otherwise it’s calming thoughts, massage, and distraction that get me through.
Thank you so much for your response. I would love to hear if medical marijuana helps at all after you try it.
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I was left with a completely numbness on the left side of my face after MVD surgery. I didn’t have any large compressions but did have a few small blood vessels on the nerve which were cauterized. The numbness and constant burning agony was caused by the surgeon stripping my nerve and padding along it with Teflon. I did not know he does that routinely on patients who have worn places in the Sheath covering the nerve. My sheath is degenerative causing my TN. I too get strange taste sensations. The weirdest being if I rub peppermint oil on my hands it makes my lips tingle and I taste it with out coming near my mouth. Before MVD I couldn’t taste anything at all! Everything smelled like burning rubber or burnt popcorn. No dr or test could tell me why. That’s gone but from time to time food tastes like nothing at all Or just off from what it should be. i have constant burning in my mouth and lips on the TN side. My teeth feel like they are being pushed out of the socket. I still get random electric shock like pain but not as bad or often as I did before. So… I know this is a long reply but you guys got me to thinking. I’m so sorry anyone suffers this disease!!!
I am so happy for you!!! Don’t see many people post about success so it’s good to see someone giving hope! I wonder how often people who no longer have pain use stop looking at groups. It would be great to hear from more like you. God bless you.
I think you are right when cured everyone wants to put this behind them. There are so many successful procedures being done that you dont hear about and so many more today then 30 yrs ago. Dont let anyone tell you that this is not curable because it is. Stay positive and find yourself a top flight neurosurgeon with TN experience. I know what you are going through and it’s awful but don’t lose hope. Best of luck and God be with you.