Facial Neuralgia: A Torturous Pain

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

The pain from facial or trigeminal neuralgia can be horrendous. It certainly must be a curse on humanity! It can be so bad, in fact, that many sufferers resort to daily ingestion of synthetic drugs, even for years. And you know how I feel about those.

I wish I could tell you that there’s one big, fat homeopathic remedy that will always do the trick, but facial neuralgia is indeed rather tricky!

Granted, homeopathy does have a history of treating facial neuralgia with aplomb. But my, oh my, it can sometimes be trying to find the precise medicine for the precise TYPE of facial neuralgia. 

Let me explain how a homeopath would look at this condition.

The location of the pain will often dictate the remedy needed. For example, is the pain focused on the lower jaw or area around the nose, lips, eyes or ears?

Another consideration is on which side of the face the pain is located.

Then we must determine what kind of pain is experienced. For example, is it stabbing, burning, shooting along a nerve, cutting or jerking?

And lest you think that that’s all that needs to be taken into account when choosing a homeopathic remedy, hold on! Let me also throw in a few more factors to consider: When does it occur? Is it constant? Worse from touch? Worse from heat? Better from cold?

Okay. You think we’re done, right? 

Nope! More questions:

What brings on the suffering? What are the triggers? Cold wind? Allergies? At night, upon lying down? Did the pain follow a dental appointment or whiplash injury?

Okay. Okay. Don’t be discouraged. Indeed, there are ways for the at-home caregiver to tease this apart.

First and foremost, there is a Banerji Protocol for general facial neuralgia:

• Tarentula cubensis 200C, purchased as a liquid, taken every seven days
• Hypericum perforatum 200, twice daily; or, as an SOS, may be taken every hour for pain

Having a protocol allows those who practice Practical Homeopathy® to eliminate the guesswork. So, let’s look at those remedies, shall we?

Hopefully, by now, you’ve learned through my blogs and Monday Night Live events that Hypericum is a marvelous medicine for nerve pain in any part of the body. Consequently, Hypericum should always be included in any well-stocked collection of homeopathic medicines.

I’ve not written about Tarentula cubensis here on my blog before. So, it’s a medicine to consider adding to your quiver. One of my team members experienced outstanding success using Tarentula cubensis 200C for her husband’s geniculate neuralgia (severe, debilitating, stabbing nerve pain in the ear caused by a blood vessel compressing a small nerve).

Doctors had no solution to offer except surgery. But utilizing this homeopathic once a week did eventually uproot his relapsing-remitting neuralgia. It took some time  — but the result was well worth the investment in time.

However, as I mentioned before, facial neuralgia (and the myriad ways it may present) can sometimes require a bit more digging to uproot the condition completely. And that’s what I love about homeopathy! There is always more than one way to skin a cat.

So, let’s look at another excellent medicine for facial neuralgia.

Spigelia anthelmia can be especially useful in cases of trigeminal neuralgia (severe, excruciating, sharp, stabbing, burning or shooting pains along the side of the face that often feel like an electric shock). We would consider Spigelia most often for LEFT-sided facial pain along the temple, eye, cheek and even teeth — pain so severe the entire area becomes highly sensitive to touch. If the neuralgia is made worse from cold, rainy weather, then Spigelia should most assuredly be considered.

For this condition, generally, Spigelia is utilized in the 200th potency a few times per day depending on the severity of the attack. And of course, we all know to halt the use of a homeopathic when it's not helping at all.

Now, for RIGHT-sided facial neuralgia, Magnesia Phosphorica 30 every 3-12 hours, depending on the severity is a good consideration. When warm compresses help this type of facial pain, that is a good confirmation of the need for Mag phos. And when activating the jaw (opening the mouth) triggers the right-sided pain, it’s more often than not a slam-dunk for utilizing Mag phos.

Mag phos is a remarkable medicine for neuralgia and cramps, but in my clinical experience, I have found it becomes even more impressive when dissolved in hot water! That’s why I like to call it “Mug phos.” (To clear up any potential confusion, that article discusses its use for cramps in a 6X potency — not the 30^th potency that we are talking about here for neuralgia. But the concept is the same.)

If a sufferer knows they will require several doses over the course of a day, dissolving one dose (as stated on the outside of the tube or bottle) in a few ounces of hot water and keeping that mixture in a thermos nearby is a good way to use this medicine. A few sips every few hours for right-sided facial neuralgia is generally “just what the homeopath ordered” (to spin a phrase).

Now, before I close, one caveat about facial pain: Sometimes, a sufferer may think their facial pain might be caused by a dental infection, but in actuality, it’s neuralgia! Or vice-versa! It’s often very hard to tell because the nerves in the face and mouth can cause referred pain. We should always start with the obvious, but we have to be open to considering other options should we not find the answers. A diagnosis from a well-respected medical doctor or dentist can be invaluable.

And homeopathy provides many more medicines to be considered. Among them are Colocynthis, Verbascum, Hecla Lava, Plantago and Ranunculus bulbosus, etc., etc. But I can’t discuss them all in this short blog post format. As you can see, the details of symptoms do matter. So, I encourage everyone to own at least one materia medica in their homeopathic library to help discern which medicine is the best fit for their symptoms. In fact, there are some available online for free!

If you’re not quite ready for an intense deep dive into a traditional materia medica, I encourage you to consider A Materia Medica: Practical Homeopathy® for Busy Families. I wrote this book, containing over 150 of the most commonly used homeopathic medicines, specifically for you. In it, I present a description of each medicine written in plain English, accompanied by illustrative stories from my practice.

The more you learn, the more you can pass on the good news of homeopathy!

Warmly,

P.S. If pain is a concern in your family, might I suggest my very popular course, Make It Stop! Escape From the Prison of Chronic (and Acute) Pain Using Practical Homeopathy®: Learn Effective Methods to Uproot Pain, Often for Good. In it, I cover all manner of topics from neuralgia to plantar fasciitis, headaches to kidney stones, sciatica to shingles and everything in between.

And remember — all of my Mighties (Joette’s Mighty Members) qualify for a 10% discount on course purchases. If you need assistance getting your discount, email [email protected] for more information.