Posted on: Sat, Jul 4 2009 10:49 AM
Posted by: saynono
Posts: 12
Hi Naomi. I live with chronic facial nerve pain from a botched root canal. My situation was so unavoidable that it adds to the pain... My doctors always told me to not have any surgery on the nerve, that just doing so can make it worse. They said it could get better right after the surgery but within a year, it would be back with avengence. I have seen this happen on folks who participate on a nerve discussion board so I am thankful (I guess) that I never did that. If my pain were worse or didn't respond to meds, I couldn't take it. I walk on the edge of sanity now anyways.
There is a surgery that some neurosurgeons are doing to help with facial nerve pain, Motor Cortex Stimulation. It is similar to deep brain stimulation used for parkinsons but the electrodes are put on the outer layer of the brain. A battery is implanted and a remote control to control it. The doctor who seems to be doing most of these is Jeffrey Brown in Great Neck, NY (long island). there is also a group in Chicago that I have tried to contact (Josh Rosenow) but in spite of telling me they will, they have never called me back. It is done for Trigeminal Neuralgia patients mostly and if you contact the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association, they have a list of people who have had it done and are willing to talk to folks about it. Generally its a 50% chance of it helping (so I understand) but it is completely reversable and does no additional harm to the nerves. I have watched while two internet fellow pain sufferer friends had it done. the first one says it worked great for her but for some reason just having the hardware in her made her really sick - nausea - even when the device was turned off. Another lady who has had a number of surgeries on her nerve, each with no effect or more pain, had it done recently. She didn't think it worked at first but she does think it helps now. It doesn't sound like it helps her pain as much as the other lady but there is some thought that all those surgeries she had too much impact.
I have toggled back and forth over if I will do it. I have insurance concerns now so until my insurance situation stablizes and there are no pre-existing condition concerns, I can't do it. I really think I will since it is reversible (just take the hardware out).
NEVER allow a dentist to use formaldehyde in a root canal. Even if you've gone to them for years, ASK and SAY NO. Serious and life threatening injuries are random. Problems can occur months or years downstream of the root canal and you never put two and two together. I wonder how many cases of jaw cancer are from this stuff. What was used on me also had lead and mercury in it....permanently sealed within my tooth and nerve canal until I had the tooth extracted. Don't walk in my shoes.
