Neuralgia – symptoms, causes and treatment

Neuralgia – symptoms

Pain which comes on suddenly, followed by intervals of freedom from pain. The pains are severe and seem to shoot along the course of the affected nerves. The nerve trunks become tender to pressure. In severe cases, there is twitching of the muscles of the affected part, with burning and tingling sensations in the skin. The attacks are rarely on both sides of the body at the same time. They generally continue from a few minutes to a few days, and may occur frequently for months. As time passes, the attacks tend to become more severe.

Causes

Neuralgia is nerve pain; neuritis (which see) is nerve inflammation. Neuralgia is an irritation of a nerve which can be caused by many factors, including trauma, nutritional deficiencies, herpes, shingles, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, or alcoholism.
Chilling an area of the skin is a frequent underlying cause, as well as nutritional deficiencies including the B complex (especially B1, B6, folic acid, pantothenic acid, and B12).
Other causes include decayed teeth, wrong diet, constipation, tension, insomnia, fatigue, exposure, lack of exercise, sinus infections, and eye strain.

 

A frequent cause of the problem in the various forms of neuralgia is chilling of part of the body over a period of time, when the rest of the body is relatively warm. This is most likely to occur in the winter months, when you are in bed sleeping. A current of cold air is passing across your face, and the rest of your body is tucked under the covers.
The result is tic douloureux (which see) or Bell’s palsy (which see) on the face or neck or, if the shoulders are uncovered, neuralgia of the shoulder or some other area. The cause can also occur as a result of regular commute driving. A window is kept open slightly to provide fresh air but a slight chilling breeze blows on the face for perhaps a total of an hour each day.
The formula for trouble is

(1) chilling draft to part of the body while the rest is warm

(2) over a period of several hours,

(3) day after day.

Now that you are aware of the cause, watch closely the situations you place your body in each day—and you will probably find the cause.

Treatment

• Give a high catnip herb enema. It should as warm as can be taken.

 

• Put alternate hot and cold applications over the painful area. The cold should be very short! This can be done for several hours at a time.
• Fomentations wrung out of mullein and lobelia, or chamomile, tea are also good.

 

• Place the hand and arm (which are on the opposite side of the body where the head and neck pain is) in very hot water for 20 minutes.
• Give attention to the points mentioned above, under “Causes.”

 

• Give close attention to the conditions you place your body under each day. You will learn some interesting facts.
• Make sure the diet includes lecithin and enough calcium and magnesium.

 

• Get sunshine, fresh air, and exercise.

 

• Helpful herbs include mullein, sage, hop, plantain, valerian root, skullcap, nettle, lobelia, black cohosh, poplar bark, and mint.