Acupuncture Relieves Facial Nerve Pain Research
A 2012 research study established acupuncture’s effectiveness for treating trigeminal neuralgia. Trigeminal neuralgia (TN) presents as intense pain in the face and is considered one of the most painful conditions a person can experience. Luckily it is rare, affecting one in 15,000 people. However, that number is still too common. We treat many patients each year for this type of face pain.
TN involves dysfunction of the trigeminal nerve, which is located on the face in three branches: ophthalmic (toward the eye), maxillary (toward the nose) and the mandibular (toward the mouth). The trigeminal nerve is responsible for sensing pressure, temperature and pain.
Study Details
This facial nerve pain research study focused on patients who presented with a specific pattern imbalance of trigeminal neuralgia called Liver Yang Rising. It then compared deep needling versus shallow needling acupuncture techniques.
The acupuncture points used in the study included ST7 (Xiaguan), LI4 (Hegu), LV3 (Taichong), BL2 (Zanzhu), ST2 (Sibai) and Jiachengjiang (M-HN-18). Electroacupuncture was used in both the shallow and deep needle groups. Treatments lasted 30 minutes, and were given every other day.
Results
The following results were obtained from the facial nerve pain research study. The total effective rate in the deep needling group was 93.8 percent. In the shallow needling group, the total effective rate was 87.1 percent. The researchers concluded that electroacupuncture was an effective treatment for relieving facial pain due to trigeminal neuralgia. In addition, the outcomes reveal that deep needling is more effective than shallow needling.
Special Note on Acupuncture Point ST7
ST7 (pronounced Stomach 7) is a local facial acupuncture point with special significance. It is the meeting point of the Stomach (Yangming) and Gall Bladder (Shaoyang) channels. It has important functionality for relieving pain in the jaw, cheeks, ears, teeth, mouth and eyes. It is located at the lower border of the zygomatic arch in the depression in front of the mandible (jaw bone). It is often needled 0.5 cun anterior to its classical location for cases of trigeminal neuralgia.
Next Steps
Raleigh Acupuncture has been successfully treating facial nerve pain and trigeminal neuralgia for years. We have a high rate of success reducing pain in the face. Acupuncture is well suited for calming facial nerves and alleviating debilitating facial nerve pain.
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References
Trigeminal neuralgia of hyperactive of liver yang type treated with acupuncture at Xiaguan (ST 7) at different depth: a randomized controlled trial. HE Lan, ZHOU Wan-yu, ZHANG Xiu-mei. TCM Department,The Third Hospital Affiliated to Beijing University,Beijing,China; Department of Ophthalmology, Xiyuan Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences.
Trigeminal Neuralgia Acupuncture Research
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What our Clients are Saying
My jaw was broken 20 years ago and never healed right. I had constant pain all the time. Finally tried acupuncture for a lark. Ended up getting rid of 90% of the pain. Couldn’t believe it. I highly recommend Raleigh Acupuncture Associates.
My sister recommended Raleigh Acupuncture for my TMJ, after no luck with other types of treatment. I was surprised and pleased to see that acupuncture helped. My jaw pain is gone after 6 treatments. No pain at all. I recommend this practice to anyone with TMJ.
My dentist damaged a nerve in my face that triggered terrible trigeminal neuralgia. The pain in my face was way more than 10 out of 10. I could not think, could not work, could not sleep. I truly thought my life was over. But thanks to Raleigh Acupuncture Associates I am 95% better. It took three months of treatment, but it was worth it. My regular doctor had no solution for me. His pain medicine did not work. I tried an $8000 procedure of laser cutting, and that did not work. But acupuncture DID work. I’m telling you, if you have trigeminal neuralgia in your face, come to these guys. I love them!
I woke up one morning and started getting these excruciatingly painful shooting electric pains on the left side of my face. My wife took me to the emergency room and they said I had trigeminal neuralgia. They gave me some pain medicine, but a nurse there suggested I try acupuncture. She had this pain once and it was cured by acupuncture. She gave me the name of Raleigh Acupuncture. When I explained the situation they took me in the same day. After just one treatment I started feeling better. They saw me every day for six days, at which point the pain was completely gone. What a life saver. I strongly recommend getting acupuncture for trigeminal neuralgia.
