FACIAL NEURALGIA


In the past few years I have had a number of patients come to me with facial neuralgia who have been through some clinic and been told that as far as the clinic could find out they were one hundred per cent. However, as the pain was still doing business at the same old stand, the patient did not agree with them, and he was dead sure after setting the bill that he was not one hundred per cent financially.


In my experience facial neuralgia generally comes from one of three causes, syphilis, malaria or infection of the sinuses or teeth.

Of these malaria is the one most often overlooked, probably because it is frequently the result of an attack of the disease many years back, and only the toxins are present in the system. Sinus conditions are more easily located, but curing them is sometimes a very difficult proposition. I believe that the majority of sinus conditions is best treated with the indicated remedy alone, but there are undoubtedly cases in which surgical intervention is necessary.

The trouble is to get a specialist who will be satisfied to do the surgical part and quit. They generally want to do a lot of local treatment, much of which I thin is very harmful. Many of these sinus conditions follow attacks of influenza and the influenza may be so mind that the patient thinks that he has only had a slight cold and will deny ever having had it.

In the past few years I have had a number of patients come to me with facial neuralgia who have been through some clinic and been told that as far as the clinic could find out they were one hundred per cent. However, as the pain was still doing business at the same old stand, the patient did not agree with them, and he was dead sure after setting the bill that he was not one hundred per cent financially.

Recently I have had two very interesting cases from one of the leading clinics in this country. One of these cases was a man about forty years old, a teacher, who had attacks of left supraorbital neuralgia. The attacks came every three or four weeks, and were so severe that he was laid up for a day or two. He was told that as far as they could find out he was all right, that they did not know why he had the pain. They gave him a prescription of luminal to help him when it came on. This man had a strong malarial history. The prescription was easy, as it was a typical Spigelia case, and he was given the 200th. I have heard from him once and he was a good deal better. He will need another and deeper acting remedy probably.

The second case was a woman about 35, apparently in perfect health, but at intervals, often twice a month, she has attacks of severe pain from the temple backwards. The pain is unilateral and alternates, but not regularly. It is very severe, putting her out of commission for a couple of days. She was under observation at the clinic for quite a while and they finally decided on migraine. She is from a malarial section of the state and had it a great deal when a child. I think that if I can dig out the malaria, the migraine will disappear. I have only seen her twice and it is too soon to give any report on her progress. I gave her Sulph. 200.

In regard to the treatment of these cases especially the malarial and syphilitic I believe that the indicated homoeopathic remedy is their only hope, but that if there is any mechanical condition it should be removed.

RICHMOND, VA.

DISCUSSION.

DR. C.L. OLDS: There is one other source of neuralgia, the suppression of skin diseases. In fact, suppressions of any kind may do so.

DR. H.B. BAKER: I have been very much struck by the fact that the clinics, in going through a case routinely, fall down when they get to the toxins, a condition like that malaria toxemia, because they cant find the plasmodium but the pain is there all right. You may be interested to know that those two cases I reported come from Johns Hopkins which is supposed be pretty good.

harry B. Baker