2019 Volume 26 Issue 1 Pages 53-57
Trigeminal neuralgia results in severe pain from performance of daily living activities, such as eating and face-washing. Moreover, though carbamazepine, which is the initial drug of choice for the treatment of trigeminal neuralgia, has a high efficacy rate, its side effects, including dizziness and drowsiness, reduce mobility. Seven patients with trigeminal neuralgia were treated with scalp acupuncture alone or in conjunction with drug therapy, and their symptoms decreased significantly. The method of scalp acupuncture involves the application of needles to the subcutaneous tissues of the scalp, prior to hitting the periosteum, in the projection of the somatosensory area of Penfield's homunculus. The electroacupuncture are electrically stimulated for 20 min at a frequency of 150 Hz. We have previously reported the efficacy of scalp acupuncture in the treatment of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy. The possible mechanism of pain relief by scalp acupuncture is that the treatment affects brain neuronal plasticity.
