Study on 20 Clinical Cases of Trigeminalgia Treated with Acupuncture and Herb

Waikai Yuen

Primary trigeminalgia refers to trigeminal innervated region paroxysmal, lightening or piercing pain after the exclusion of ischemic and space-occupancy factors. The pain so severe that the patient use their hands or handkerchiefs to cover the affected area in each bout. Besides, sometime the bout is accompanied by the “painful spasm”. The frequency of occurrence ranges form several times per day to several times per minute. Each bout can be triggered by the facial mechanical stimulation such as eating, talking, brushing teeth, washing face and so on. Thus the patients’ routine life was severely affected. According to the theory of Chinese medicine, the mechanism of trigemalgia is due to the stasis of blood and gas circulation. The stasis is caused by the wind-coldness, wind-fire or the problems of the hepatic system due to emotional or diet disbalance.

Treatment Methodology:

Acupuncture: for the one with wind-fire pathological factors, the prescriptions are ST4, LI20, ST7 on the no affected side with both reinforcing and reducing method. Er Jian, on both sides with reducing method. For severe case, DU16, DU14, add with reducing method. For the one with wind-cold pathological factor, the prescriptions are: PC6, ST44, ST7 on both sides. If the pain is caused by the first trigeminal branch, SP3, BL2, Yu Yao, EX-HN5 is added. If the pain is caused by the second trigeminal branch, SI18, ST2, LI20 are added. For the pain caused by the third trigeminal branch, ST6, ST7, ST4, ST5 are added. Reducing method is applied. Retention the needles for 30 min. the above method is applied once a day. Herbs: For the one caused by the wind-cold pathological factors, the prescriptions are: Bai Zhi10g, Gui Zhi 10g, Bai Shao 40g, Chuan Xiong 15g, Xi Xin 6g, Quan Cong 5g and Gan Cao 10g. If the pathological factors are the wind-fire, the prescriptions are Quan Chong6h, Huang Qin 12g, Sheng Shi Gao 30g, Wu Gong 3g, Gou Teng 15g, Gan Cao 10g, Chuan Xiong 15g, and Sen Mu Li 30g. For the one with stasis of blood, the prescriptions are: Dang Shen 15g, Dang Gui15g, Bai Zhi 10g, Xi Xin 6g, Gou Teng 15g, Chuan Xiong 15g, Gan Cao10g, Chi Shao 15g, Bai Shao 6g, Quan Chong 6g and Wu Gong 3g. The dose is once a day.

Conclusion: In 20 primary trigminalgia clinical cases, the combination of acupuncture and herbs has a curative rate of 70% in one month with acupuncture and herbal medicine each day. 25% of the patients have prominent improvement of the symptoms such as the decrease of bouts frequency and the increase of threshold level of occurrence, and 5% of the patients are completely unresponsive to the above treatment.