Trigeminal neuralgia affects the trigeminal nerve located at the side of your head. This nerve is responsible for supplying the sensation you feel on the face. So naturally, if the trigeminal nerve gets damaged, your entire face will get the brunt of the pain and discomfort. The symptoms can also affect your daily life, especially if you frequently experience trigeminal neuralgia flareups. Thankfully, you now have the option to seek long-term care with a chiropractor for trigeminal neuralgia in Manila.
Additionally, you can explore simple lifestyle modifications like watching your diet to manage your symptoms and cope with daily challenges. We hope you can learn how to do basic and mundane things like brushing your teeth and putting on a blush without worrying about a potential trigeminal neuralgia flareup in our patient guide below.
What Causes Trigeminal Neuralgia?
While the leading cause is unclear to doctors, the source of pain points to trigeminal nerve compression due to a loop of artery or vein. When either the vein or artery consistently rubs against the trigeminal nerve, it can damage the myelin sheath or the insulating layer around the nerves. This can increase the pain sensitivity of your trigeminal nerve, making you more susceptible to worse flareups.
What Are the Symptoms of Trigeminal Neuralgia?
Life is no fun, especially when you constantly struggle with trigeminal neuralgia's painful symptoms. That's why it's extra crucial to seek a healthcare professional like a chiropractor for trigeminal neuralgia in Manila. It's also imperative to mention all the symptoms you experience during your appointment. By doing so, you can get the best care for your compressed or irritated nerve bundle.
If you are still unsure whether what you are feeling is related to trigeminal neuralgia or not, here are some symptoms to help you become more familiar with this condition.
Repeating episodes of sharp, intense, and short-trembling pain in the lower part of the face
Intense pain sensations after touching your face, brushing your teeth, speaking, or chewing
Pain that targets one spot of the face for a short time that spreads wider over a few minutes
To learn more about the connection between head and neck injuries and trigeminal neuralgia, download our complimentary e-book by clicking the image below.
How Does Your Diet Help Manage Trigeminal Neuralgia?
By now, we have already established that chewing and eating can bring excruciating pain to those suffering from trigeminal neuralgia. But did you know that your diet can work wonders in managing your pain and symptoms? If you have trigeminal fibromyalgia, there are diet options you can follow that can help you limit the pain significantly. Please find out more about these best diet practices below.
Consider Eating a Low Saturated Fat Diet
The low saturated fat diet is probably the most popular option for managing trigeminal neuralgia. In a 2012 study, most of the patients who participated and followed a low saturated fat diet reported reduced trigeminal neuralgia pain in about four weeks or less.
In addition, the same survey revealed that more than half of the participants have reduced or completely stopped taking prescription medications thanks to their improved symptoms.
If you would like to follow a low saturated fat diet, we recommend consuming whole grains, lean meats like fish and poultry, non-fat dairy products, berries, citrus fruits, and most vegetables.
Go Vegan
While switching to a vegan diet is not a popular choice, studies note that it works wonders for individuals living with trigeminal neuralgia. Notably, going vegan or even just eating a plant-forward diet limits the high-fat components associated with flareups. In addition, going vegan also limits inflammation linked to many types of chronic pain.
People who practice a vegan diet avoid food from animals, including byproducts such as eggs, milk, honey, and yogurt. A vegan diet is high in healthy fats and carbohydrates from whole grains, seeds, and nuts.
We know that going for this option is not easy, especially if you've gotten so used to eating animal products and their byproducts. Some of these products might not even be part of your favorite food list.
To cope and ease your mind into switching to a vegan diet, we suggest asking yourself how bad you want to live pain-free. Use this as your motivation to keep moving forward and choose healthier options for your nerves and the rest of the body.
Try elimination diet
Unlike the first two techniques we mentioned above, which encourage trigeminal neuralgia-friendly food consumption, the elimination diet focuses on identifying food or food groups that trigger flareups. By following this method, you can lessen risks for severe pain and even wean yourself off medications for an extended period. Here are quick examples to help you improve your meal plans:
Hot soups or drinks can trigger trigeminal neuralgia pain, so we advise patients to avoid or limit consumption of these food items.
Spicy food, sweets, caffeinated drinks, junk foods, processed foods contain ingredients that can aggravate nerve pain, so you should skip these items when you go for a grocery run.
Reach out to a Chiropractor for Trigeminal Neuralgia in Manila
If you've found the best diet to help reduce pain caused by trigeminal neuralgia, your next step should be addressing the cause of pain and eliminating your symptoms with upper cervical care. A chiropractor for trigeminal neuralgia in Manila, like Dr. Flores, can help restore the structural integrity of your upper neck bones. Consequently, fixing postural imbalances in your cervical spine can lessen trigeminal nerve compression and help your body heal faster.
Help is just one call away! Our upper cervical chiropractor can assess your neck bones and provide ample chiropractic adjustments needed to unlock total relief from trigeminal neuralgia pain. Book a consultation with our licensed chiropractor to start your care regimen.
Don't let the pain take over your life; call us now at (63 2) 553-6218 to set an appointment or book online by filling out this form.
To schedule a consultation with N8 Upper Cervical Chiropractic clinic, call (02) 855-36218 or just click the button below.
If you are outside of the local area, you can find an Upper Cervical Doctor near you at www.uppercervicalawareness.com.