of Trigger Points
(http://www.triggerpoints.net/)
fits into the known terms such as TN or ATypical Facical Pain.
i recently hearing of doctors diagonsing patients that have "trigger points".
is this a different diagnosis from Tn/Atn or in general it all means the same ?
(and thanks for all the answers for my last post. everyone here are so full of knowledge., sorry for not responding - wasn't here for a while - so tired and depressed from all this)
Nir sorry to hear you have been suffering badly, Cleo thanks for that link, very informative and it mentions cosmetic surgery being a cause which very few articles do.
A few observations, Nir:
(1) The term Atypical Facial Pain is a garbage diagnosis equivalent to "facial pain of obscure origins".
(2) One of the characteristics of both Type 1 and Type 2 TN is areas of hyper-sensitivity to light touch, called "trigger points" or "trigger zones." It is common for these zones to shift around over time, or to disappear altogether only to reappear at later times.
(3) While trigger points might be associated with a discrete neuroma (a localized swelling of the nerve in a tumor or lesion), neuroma is not the only medical problem which can cause such trigger points. Nor should neuroma be assumed automatically when a trigger point is observed, as they can occur due to Central Nervous System effects as well as compressions of the trigeminal nerve remote from the trigger itself.
(4) Trigger points are a symptom which may confirm trigeminal neuralgia or neuropathy -- they are not a treatable medical entity in themselves. Unfortunately, some practitioners of so-called "myofascial release" techniques claim quite to the contrary -- and without consistent medical evidence -- that pressure of muscles on nerves can cause pain which is only treatable by "releasing" the pressure in a form of penetrating massage. In my personal view, these claims are simply not substantiated for pain in the face.
(5) The article from which Cleo quotes is potentially problematic. It makes no direct mention of trigeminal neuralgia as a modality of chronic face pain. Likewise, the authors are participants in a business which sells sensors that they represent as capable of determining pressure on nerves in the face as a presumed "cause" of chronic face pain. As far as I can determine, such sensors are not generally accepted by mainstream physicians as diagnostic aids in trigeminal neuralgia or neuropathy. Thus I believe we need to treat this reference with a degree of reservation.
Hopefully this will give you some clarity? Feel free to follow up.
Regards, Red
The neuroligist i saw told me i have atypical face pain would it be safe to say i need to find a another neurologist because of this?
Thank you for the info and explaination, Red! I, too, noticed that i couldn't find any mention of trigeminal neuralgia on those pages...although i did see mention of TMJ. (as close as it got, as far as i could see) And the "trigger points" they were talking about didn't seem to "mesh" with what i consider trigger points/zones.
Whether or not the info there is correct or just a sales pitch, if i had come across this on my own, i would have simply dismissed it as not applying to me. Their trigger points didn't seem to be TN related. *shrugs*
That's one of problems with the internet...so much info; it's hard to know what to trust/not trust.
Again, thanks Red for the detailed explaination.
~Mistee
Cleo: Is the Dellon Institute to which you refer, the same as discussed in the following patient threads at Neuro Talk, which specializes in peripheral neuropathy?
See http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/archive/index.php/t-148343.html
I certainly don't want to defame anyone, particularly by inaccurate attribution. But at least one Dellon Institute has a decidedly mixed reputation, as reflected in the thread above. Interestingly, the website server www.dellon.com is no longer active or reachable on the web.
How say you?
Regards, Red