I have read in at least two other discussions that others have had pinched ulnar nerves in there elbows. I believe one has had it fixed and another is waiting. I had my left elbow operated on in Dec 2012 and right April 2013. I have been a secretary since 17 and was able to retire at 61, so it was thought to be cause of compression. Does anyone think that this could be related to TN compression?
Scared, we've had some IT gremlins which I have resulted in six or seven identical copies of your discussion being posted. I have deleted all but this one. JulesG
Thanks Mod Support. Let me clarify what I meant above. I do not think elbow compression caused TN but was thinking if nerve compression elbows and trimengial nerve related somehow.
Well, I just had my stitches removed and cast from my transposition removed yesterday.
This is one of those instances where there CLEARLY is a relationship. Whats difficult is we are wired to think cause/effect. It usually isn't. There are a couple of things worth considering though.
1. Although we may have TN (or another disease.) We are NOT immune to the other things that happen in life. Ulnar nerve entrapment is a normal wear and tear type thing especially for those of us who spend a fair amount of our day doing office work. driving sitting behind a counter etc. We tend when we have a chronic condition to relate everything to the primary condition. Not so long ago I had a severe back ache. I have back pain normally so blew it off. After a week, it got really bad so I finally went in. Turned out my back ache was really a kidney infection. It was bugger to treat at that point..........
2. With neuralgias we have not only an injury or damage, we also have a chemical imbalance. If things get ripping and roaring elsewhere that chemical imbalance can be effected by a new occurrence of "something" and really get things going with a neuralgia. It may not be as complicated as an ulnar nerve entrapment, it could be as simple as the wrong water temperature taking a shower, the wind blowing, a change in outside temperature etc. These are triggers. We all have them, some of us track them, some of us don't. We all should. Its a part of learning our bodies.
3. We also have an another kind of trigger and these are the ones that get us into all kinds of trouble and send us all kinds of direction it shouldn't. If we have all the "things" that can make for TN but aren't symptomatic. A simple "trigger" like a dental work, an accident (fall, whip lash etc) can set things off. In the Autoimmune world this is called the Koebner Effect. But it exists everywhere. What happens is we end up spending thousands of dollars incredible amounts of time, and no end of frustration trying to fix the "trigger" with no effect on the TN. Its sort of like kicking a ball down a hill and trying to stop the ball from gaining momentum by tying up the guy who kicked so he can't kick it again. We have him completely tied up but the ball is still rolling down the hill gaining speed. Well meaning practitioners add to the problem - Denists who do root canals or pull teeth, tmj appliances, chiroquackers who do "adjustments", dieticians, PTs etc all who believe if they just fix the trigger all will be well. But the trigger isn't the problem. Something else is broken. Sure there is a connection BUT itsn't Cause-effect
Treating triggers or looking for triggers thinking eliminating them will fin out TN also leads to a lot of disagreements and debate here. It shouldn't. But someone says they had a GN procedure that worked for them and someone else gets bent out of shape because their problem was caused by a bad dentist, and off goes the "fight" There are hundreds of similar instances. Triggers are not disease. Whether the real problem is chemical or preexisting mechanics THAT is the issue. Sometimes it can fixed for many of us though it can only be treated. learning to cope through life long treatment is the issue at hand.
Not sure if that answers your question, but I'm sure others can relate and share..............
That is the mystery of this crazy thing called TN. What helps one hurts another. What causes one to get IT is not the same for others. We are all grasping at straws for an answer. Our body is an amazing thing that sometimes just goes haywire. I am so happy to have found this forum and to have fellow suffers out there to bounce ideas off of them.