Homeopathy for facial neuralgia

OH MY GOODNESS!

The pain of a facial or trigeminal neuralgia can be terrible. I'm sure it's a curse on humanity! It can be so bad that many sufferers reach for painkillers daily, sometimes even for years. And you know what I think about that.

I wish I could tell you right here and now that there is a really good homeopathic remedy that will help in every case, but unfortunately facial neuralgia is indeed a rather complicated matter!

Admittedly, facial neuralgia has often been treated very successfully with homeopathy. But it can take quite a while and try our patience before the right remedy is found for a particular FORM of facial neuralgia.

Let me briefly explain how a homeopath would view this complaint from their perspective.

Homeopathic symptoms

The spot where the pain is located is often an indicator of the correct remedy. Do the pains, for example, concentrate on the lower jaw, or do they occur more around the nose, on the lips, eyes or ears?

You also need to look at which side of the face the pains are located on.

Then we must determine what type of pain it is. Is it, for example, stabbing, burning, cutting, twitching, or does it shoot along a particular nerve?

And if you think we have now gathered all the information we need to choose the right remedy, you would be wrong. I throw a few more factors into the homeopathic balance: When does it occur? Is it constant? Worse on touch? Worse from heat? Better from cold?

Okay. You think that should be enough now?

No! There are more questions:

What is the cause? Are there specific triggers? Perhaps cold wind? Allergies? At night or when lying down? Did the pains first appear after dental work or after whiplash?

The Banerji protocol for facial neuralgia

First I want to present the Banerji protocol for the general treatment of facial neuralgia:

• Tarentula cubensis C200, in dilution (liquid solution), take one dose every seven days
• Hypericum perforatum 200, take twice daily; or – as an alternative – as an emergency remedy, which can be taken hourly for severe pain

Let's take a closer look at the two remedies. Hypericum is a wonderful remedy for nerve pain in all parts of the body. For this reason Hypericum should not be missing from any well-stocked home medicine cabinet.

I haven’t written about Tarentula cubensis on my blog yet, but it is a remedy you should also have to hand. One of my staff used Tarentula cubensis C200 with spectacular success against geniculate neuralgia (extremely severe, stabbing nerve pain in the ear, caused by a blood vessel pressing on a small nerve) in her husband.

The doctors had no other solution to offer than surgery. But the weekly intake of this homeopathic remedy was eventually able to eliminate the recurrent-remitting neuralgia. It took some time – but the result was worth it.

As I have already mentioned, one has to dig a little deeper with facial neuralgia to completely clear the complaints. After all, there are many roads that lead to Rome.

So let's look at another excellent remedy for facial neuralgia.

Spigelia anthelmia…

Spigelia anthelmia can be particularly helpful in trigeminal neuralgia (severe, tormenting, sharp, stabbing, burning or shooting pains along one side of the face, which often feel like an electric shock). We would mainly consider Spigelia for LEFT-SIDED facial pains that extend over the temples, the eye, the cheek and even into the teeth. The pains are so severe that the whole area becomes very sensitive to touch. If the neuralgia is also worse in cold, rainy weather, Spigelia should definitely be considered.

For this condition Spigelia is usually taken in the 200 potency several times a day, depending on the severity of the pains. Further information on dosing and potency can be found here. And of course we all know that a homeopathic remedy should be discontinued if you find it is not helping at all.

…or Magnesium phosphoricum?

For RIGHT-SIDED facial neuralgia, Magnesium phosphoricum 30, taken every three to twelve hours, is a good option. If the pains respond positively to warm compresses, that's a good confirmation that Mag. phos. is the indicated remedy. And if the right-sided pains are triggered by jaw movements (opening the mouth), that is even more reason to give Magnesium phosphoricum.

Mag. phos. is a remarkable remedy for neuralgias and cramps. In my clinical experience I have found the effect particularly impressive when the globules are dissolved in hot water! I wrote about this in this blog post "The Schuessler Salts Series: Magnesium phosphoricum". (To avoid any possible confusion, I want to make clear that we use the 30 potency for the treatment of facial neuralgia and not the D6 as used for muscle cramps).

If the patient knows that they need to take several doses during the day, the following method has proven effective: dissolve the number of globules or tablets indicated on the package leaflet in about 300 ml of hot water and transfer into a thermos flask. Every few hours a mouthful of the hot solution can then be drunk. Then you can say “My homeopath recommended this to me,” as the saying goes.

Finally, I want to leave you with a few words of caution regarding facial neuralgia: sometimes sufferers think their pain is due to a tooth infection, when in fact it is a neuralgia! Or vice versa! It is often difficult to assess because the nerves in the face and mouth can also refer pain. We should always start with the obvious, but remain open to other possibilities if we are unable to find the right solution. The diagnosis of a good physician or dentist can be invaluable.

Versatile homeopathy

And homeopathy has many other remedies to offer. These include Colocynthis, Verbascum, Hecla lava, Plantago, Ranunculus bulbosus etc., etc. Writing about each one here would be beyond the scope of my blog. But you can see that the details of the symptoms also matter. I therefore recommend having a good materia medica at home so you can always find which remedy best matches your symptoms. Free materia medicas can also be accessed online.

The more you know, the better you can help others. Homeopathy helps – spread the word!

Warmly,

Yours