It has been a while since i have been on, so I will start out by saying hello to everyone. Hope all is well with all of you. I also want to tell you guys about a wonderful doctor that my husband robert and i were refered to. Robert has had TN for about 3 years now, we have seen general practice doctors, neurologists and neurosurgeons. All of which just increase his pain meds, or try "something new". When Robert was out of work last september and october due to his headaches and the TN, we finally got refered to the pain management clinic at Kishwaukee Community Hospital where he was seen be Dr. Jeremiah Loch. Dr. Loch is wonderful. He did a thorough screening on Robert then sent us to another doctor. Dr. Bernadette Kohn, she is a medical doctor but also an Osteopathic doctor. Only 1000 of her kind are in the United States. However there are regular osteopaths world wide. Robert has had one treatment so far and already feels 200% better. They work with your mind, body, spirit and everything in between. These doctors are very knowledgable and talk to you about everything they do and ways to help you do some things at home and with the help of friends/family.
We live in Northern Illinois and it's still an hour drive to her office, but so worth it. If you can find one of these doctors, I promise you that not only will you love them, you will start to heal in ways that you have forgotten possible.
Did the osteopath give you any specific program of treatment directed to your husband's TN? I would be interested to hear what was actually done in osteopathy, as differentiated from medical treatments with drugs.
The first treatment was last Friday. They used a vibhammer, its used to vibrate the muscles to release tension so that everything else works better. Mainly used on the bottom of the feet, legs and back. A lot of pressure point massage was used as well.
Basically they do a complete overhaul of your body. Looking at the way you stand, sit, walk and lay down. All muscles are felt for tension and tightness. That’s on the first visit.
Once treatment starts they sort of look at your body as an onion, peeling the layers back to get to the root of the problem. Each layer peeled helps your body to heal itself. Since everyones body has the ability to heal itself. This just helps release the shock and tension in your body so it can start to heal. And as treatment goes on, more and more layers are peeled open, which lets your body do more natural healing on its own.
I will repost after his next visit on the 22nd. To let you know what was done then.
Your friend in TN, sasha
I have good news and bad news for you. The technique you describe won't hurt your husband and might help him relax a bit. But the body doesn't "heal itself" where trigeminal nerve pain is concerned, unless vascular compressions are in some way relieved. Specifically, in my somewhat informed opinion, no kind of massage or vibration that is done to the feet or extremities is going to do a darned thing for the trigeminal nerve in the area where it emerges from the brain stem. That idea is ludicrous, if not outright quackery.
Do what you feel is helping. But stay in touch with a mainstream practitioner who understands neurology. Your osteopath should have enough medical training to understand how the nervous system works. But I am simply amazed and appalled that he or she would propose to treat TN in the manner that you describe.