LymeNet Flash: Facial Pain - Does anything help?

This is topic Facial Pain - Does anything help? in forum Medical Questions at LymeNet Flash.

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Posted by SteveInMinnesota (Member # 6661) on :

My facial pain seems to be getting progressively worse every day. Does anyone have any suggestions? Is there anything that helps with this pain?

Posted by once bitten on :

what helped me and seems to help others is a change in treatment and continued treatment. Tx for babesia helped a lot, then tx for bart took the pain away. If I miss one dose of levaquin, I am back in hell. So I would suggest continuing with abx, and check out some changes in tx.
I also used and still do pain meds. What ever worked.
Lidocaine patches on my jaw, etc..there were days when that pain was just unbearable. It would probably best be described as trigeminal nerve pain. One great tx for the pain is toradol, either oral or IM...
but the IM is usually given in the ER...errrr

Posted by riversinger (Member # 4851) on :

Cranial sacral treatment by a good osteopath has been very important in managing my facial pain and headaches.

I go about every three weeks now, and it makes a big difference.

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Sonoma County Lyme Support
[email protected]

Posted by once bitten on :

oh I did forget to mention that I had seen my chiro too. He did some cranial stuff and that helped. I think its a bit hard to find someone that can do that, correct?

Posted by snowboarder (Member # 6346) on :

Cranial sacral has done wonders for me! You can find a good therapist by going to upledger.com and they list by state and you can screen them once you contact them.

The other thing that has helped is a night splint. Without that the pain would be unbearable.

Posted by lymster (Member # 5964) on :

Hey there!

I used to have horrendous facial pain with some sort of occasional bell's palsy. This symptom started to improve with the babesia treatment(noticed a lot of improvement on the 4th month) I am still doing mepron/zithro/artemesia for the babesia along whit omnicef/plaquenil and
the pain is just a numb sensation by now (this is my 6th month on babs treatment).
Take care, lots of luck
Lymster

Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :

There is an excellent Prolo Doctor in Excelsior...Twin Cities.

Dr Mark Wheaton. He isn't an LLMD and is on the internet...doesn't care if his name is on this list.

Trout

PS...I'm from Waterloo, IA...1 1/2 hours away. There are other natural ways to stopping the pain than drugs...keep looking. I know of more myself.

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Now is the time in your life to find the "tiger" within.
Let the claws be bared,
and Lyme BEWARE!!!
Iowa Lyme Disease Assoc. www.ildf.info

[This message has been edited by troutscout (edited 09 February 2005).]

Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :

quote:
Originally posted by troutscout:
There is an excellent Prolo Doctor in Excelsior...Twin Cities.
Dr Mark Wheaton. He isn't an LLMD and is on the internet...doesn't care if his name is on this list.
Trout
PS...I'm from Waterloo, IA...1 1/2 hours away.

Trout is this his web site?
http://www.wheatons.com/About_DrWheaton.htm

Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :

Thats it.

You are quick.

Trout

Posted by treepatrol (Member # 4117) on :

Fingers are about the only thing fast anymore hahahha

Posted by pab (Member # 904) on :

quote:
Originally posted by treepatrol:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by troutscout:
[b]There is an excellent Prolo Doctor in Excelsior...Twin Cities.
Dr Mark Wheaton. He isn't an LLMD and is on the internet...doesn't care if his name is on this list.
Trout
PS...I'm from Waterloo, IA...1 1/2 hours away.

Trout is this his web site?
http://www.wheatons.com/About_DrWheaton.htm

[/B][/QUOTE]

trout,

Have you been to Dr. Wheaton?

I researched the prolo doctors in the Twin Cities and found 2. Dr. Wheaton was one of them.

Jake has an appointment with Dr. C on March 8th, so we decided to wait until then.

He also has an appointment at a pain clinic to see if they have any options.

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Posted by SteveInMinnesota (Member # 6661) on :

I use hot and cold packs (whichever seems to work) in the evenings and it does help a lot.

In my case, I am still working at an office job everyday and the facial pain while I work makes it very difficult to talk, even on the phone.

I have never heard of the cranial adjustments that were mentioned here. Sounds like I need to do some more research.

Thank you for the feedback.

Posted by Sleepy (Member # 4656) on :

Hi There,
I too suffer from excruciating facial pain. It was (& can be) so bad, that my doctor had me on a combination of clonazepam/gabapentin/morphine. It just made me really high and I'd do to sleep.

I went for acupuncture which at first seemed to help a little, but then, wasn't so effected.

I reluctantly agreed to commit to a series of four cranial sacral treatments ove four weeks and it was a process, but I have not taken a pain killer (even an advil) for almost 2 weeks.

I even had some time yesterday where I was pain free in my face. That was a first in over a year.

Good luck!
I think there is something to cranial!

Sleepy

Posted by SteveInMinnesota (Member # 6661) on :

It's so hard to figure out what is real and what isn't especially with my brain running at about 25% (on good days).

I saw an article referencing the University of New England College of Osteopathic Medicine that dismissed Craniosacral Therapy completely. It's hard to argue with anyone though if it's actually helping.

Posted by riversinger (Member # 4851) on :

Steve, ther are lots of barely trained practitioners who claim to do "cranial sacral" therapy. Some take a weekend class to learn.

A good cranial sacral practitioner has extensive training. The bones of the skull are supposed to move with your breath. That movement is essential for teh movement of the cerebrospinal fluid.

All kinds of things can cause misalignment of the cranial plates, limiting that movement, and putting pressure on nerves. If you see someone good, one adjustment will convince you this is true.

My osteopath says that most people don't require the kind of long term treatment I am receiving. The imbalances Lyme creates keeps pulling things back out of line, so she has to keep doing adjustments. But I don't know where I would be without them. In the meantime I keep treating the infections.

Ask around and find someone with a good reputation. It's worth it.

------------------
Sonoma County Lyme Support
[email protected]

Posted by troutscout (Member # 3121) on :

Dr Wheaton is terrific..I recommend to everyone.

Yes...I see him.