facial pain relief

I am new to this site and hope to find some answers here.

Over 20 years ago, I started experiencing severe nerve pain in the left side of my face after dental work (new crown). Over the years, but especially in the first few years, I consulted with many doctors and alternative health specialists. I was first diagnosed with trigeminal neuralgia and took Tegretol for years for that with little help. Also tried Neurontin with a little better results, but still not much.

Eventually I found my way to an orthodontist who specialized in facial disorders and he recommended braces, which I got in 2004 and had for about 5 years. This changed my life at first -- or at least reduced the occurrence of episodes and their severity.

But now, for the last month I have had the pain again in the worst possible way. Burning, searing pain. I thought perhaps I had an abscessed tooth but the dentist says there is no evidence of that.

So since I have previously tried acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, and others with little effect, I am trying to get information about homeopathic treatments or natural supplements that help with this pain.

My question is: have any of you with this type of pain experienced relief with supplements or other alternative treatments? Please let me know if you have and thank you for reading this and any comments.

Hello & welcome to Healing Well. We have had a lot of different people over the years come through asking questions about this type of pain. Everyone seems to have a different take on how to treat it. Some like you have some help with getting braces, I have heard of it being caused by clenching your teeth at night so guards were bought. I just think its a real mixed bag of what helps & for how long. To date I know of nothing that is permanent fix for this problem. I do hope that you can find something that will give you some relief.

Take care.

I also have TN. Back in 2010, I had both TMJs replaced, as well as much of the jaw itself. I get quite the looks when I walk through a medical detector. If you look down at my signature you'll see that I'm an avid collector of autoimmune diseases. Some people collect stamps or coins, but that is just so boring and unoriginal. Anyway, the he bones were fusing together and my mouth opening was down into the single mm.

The extensive surgeries created severe nerve damage. If I close my eyes, you can touch on area of my face, and I'll feel it in an entirely different area. While essentially all the nerves throughout the face are affected, the TN pain is the most severe.

As Straydog mentioned, there are a number of treatments that Drs use to try and treat the root cause. Those that involve a permanent change in the alignment or structure of the teeth/jaw are where there are completely treatment plans. That's something you and your Drs can discuss.

It sounds like you are looking for symptom management. We both know just how difficult this is to achieve. Seriously, amputating my head is something I've suggested many times. For whatever reason, I've yet to convince my Dr that this is a reasonable request. As far as supplements, there are few that I'm allowed to take. My immune system is wonky, and many of them interact with my meds.

In the past, Botox provided some relief. I also get nerve blocks every few months. In PT, an ultrasound/e-stem combo helps as well. As you know, any pain involving the head results in wicked neck, and the upper trap spasms as well. You mentioned acupuncture, but have you tried dry needling? Initially I didn't get much relief, but after it was done 3x a week for a number of weeks, there was definitely an improvement in the pain level. The muscles at the base of my skull are pretty much locked down in spasms. Needling, it's self helps, but if the spot is especially stubborn, e-stem can be used through the tiny needle itseof.

There are a couple of other techniques I've tried as well. As you already know, while there are options out there to help alleviate the pain, few(if any at all), provide any sort of lasting relief.

I'm still trying to convince my med posse that amputation is the best solution to provide lasting relief.