Jean, 80-year-old farmer's wife, suddenly
started getting a terrible pain on the right side of her face. She had
unpredictable attacks of intense, electric shock-like pain, which would last
from a few seconds to a few minutes. Sometimes a light touch on the right side
of her nose could trigger the pain. Her doctor believed it was trigeminal
neuralgia, which could be related with her long standing condition of multiple
sclerosis (MS). In MS, trigeminal neuralgia is most often caused by damage to
the trigeminal nerve. Jean was given pain killers but they didn't seem to help.
Then her daughter brought her to me to try acupuncture. I examined her and
applied a combination of needling, moxabustion and acupressure. She had a
relief for a few days. As she had difficulty of movement due to the MS, she
only came to see me when the pain got bad. The pain-free period was getting
longer and longer, from a few days to a few weeks. After the fifth session she
said she was going to a skiing resort in Austria with her family. I got quite
worried that the journey and coldness could trigger her facial pain. But she
was fine for the whole holiday. Now it's two months after they got back and she
is still fine.